Law enforcement officials have received even broader powers thanks to recent antiterrorism legislation, such as the PATRIOT Act and cyber-terrorism laws, which allows wider application of electronic surveillance with less obtrusive warrant requirements.

Civil libertarians have focused much of their attention on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's e-mail scanning DCS1000, better known as Carnivore, and its deployment on large Internet service provider (ISP) networks.

In addition, the FBI admitted last week that it is developing a computer worm capable of recording and transmitting data to investigators -- the project called "Magic Lantern."

New Tech, Old Problems

Despite an unwillingness to criticize the government and its Magic Lantern plans, most antivirus experts assert that no computer worm is a good worm.

Concerns center on a lack of control over a virus on the Internet and the fear that Magic Lantern, which the government reportedly plans to ask antivirus vendors to allow through their security screens, would provide an attack avenue for other viruses that emulate it.

Electronic Privacy Information Center legislative counsel Chris Hoofnagle told NewsFactor Network that regardless of the technology -- Carnivore, Magic Lantern or anything else -- the same concerns apply.

"The FBI has always underestimated the amount of process they need, which is natural -- it's a zealous defense of law enforcement," he said. "What review or court oversight will the FBI deem appropriate for the use of new technology? The challenge is keeping the FBI honest about the amount of court oversight."

Beyond Government

Hoofnagle also expressed concern that any technology used by the government is likely to make its way into the hands of non-government individuals as well as foreign governments.

"These surveillance techniques are not limited to the American government," he said. "That needs to be thought through."

Hoofnagle argued for privacy protections, adding that government technologies -- such as Carnivore, which was discovered after its mention during an FBI trade show address -- are difficult to uncover.

"There is not a general way to figure out what the government or National Security Agency might be developing on their own," Hoofnagle said. "So you never know what's going on out there."

Insecure With Uncle Sam

Security Focus incident analyst Ryan Russell told NewsFactor that in addition to privacy concerns, there is a mistrust of government and its handling of personal or sensitive information.

"Nobody's real thrilled with the government's record of securing its own stuff," Russell said. "Even if you're not worried about abuse of authority, what about the computer the stuff is actually stored on? Is it going to be stored on one of the computers the [General Accounting Office] keeps faulting?"

Holding the Keys

Russell said that while the security community is predominately opposed to giving government the keys to encryption, a better model is to have private companies hold secure data and provide law enforcement with access to it.

Both Russell and Hoofnagle said the biggest concern for computer users is probably the fact that recent legislation has established lighter warrant requirements for e-mail and Internet surveillance.

"Once the U.S. Attorney certifies that the application of Carnivore is relevant to an ongoing investigation, the judge's discretion stops," Hoofnagle said.

"We're always skeptical, we're always questioning. 'Trust us' isn't sufficient."