Cybersecurity

FBI Admits It Used National Security Hacking Tools for Ordinary Criminal Cases

A special report for the US Department of Justice has confirmed the existence of the FBI’s Remote Operations Unit – a super-secret team of hackers who used classified exploits reserved for intelligence operations in ordinary criminal cases.

The existence of the Remote Operations Unit (ROU) has been a favorite of conspiracy theorists since 2013, when American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) principal technologist Chris Soghoian uncovered the group's existence by piecing together LinkedIn profiles and sections of documents released through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The ROU is a team of professional hackers with hacking tools and tricks so cool and classified they are usually reserved for matters of national security; i.e., intelligence and counterintelligence.

An Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report issued in March for the US Department of Justice, however, officially acknowledged the group's existence for the first time. The reports also says the ROU used their super-cool hacking techniques in ordinary criminal cases — twice.

According to the report, the ROU manager "sees a line in the sand" regarding using intelligence tools in a criminal investigation, but this line can be crossed with approval from the Deputy Attorney General.