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How the FBI’S Carnivore System Works
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Carnivore, a Windows NT/2000 based application responsible for information capture – essentially a ‘packet sniffer’.
Packeteer, a program that appears to be an application capable of reassembling packets into messages which can be read.
Coolminer, an application that appears to have the ability for extrapolating and analyzing data.
How Packet Sniffing Works
Packet sniffing is nothing new. For decades computer network administrators have used this type of technology for network monitoring and to conduct diagnostic tests and repair problems. The kind of packet sniffing that is employed by the Carnivore System basically means that Carnivore is able to see all kinds of information as is passes over the network it is linked with. As the data moves across it Carnivore is able to ‘sniff out’ each packet of information.
In the scheme of things a computer usually only examines a packet of data that corresponds to the computer’s address but with a packet sniffer you set the network interface to ‘promiscuous mode’. In this case it examines ALL available information passing through it. The main domain server is a watchdog for all transmitted data.
Two methods of packet sniffing are used: Unfiltered packet sniffing, capturing all packets of information and Filtered packet sniffing, which captures only specified data.
As the data passes through the system it is copied and stored in memory or on a hard drive. The copies are then able to be studied and the information analyzed.
As soon as you connect to the internet, you ‘sign on’ to a network that is under the watch of your ISP. This network can communicate with other networks and in short forms the basis of the internet.
If a packet sniffer is located at a server owned by your ISP, it has the potential to gain access to:
The web sites visited.
What is searched for on the site.
Your e-mail recipients.
The contents of your mail.
Any files you download.
A list of your audio, video and telephony options.
A list of visitors to your website.
Packet sniffers, like Carnivore are often used by ISP’s as a diagnostic tool for their systems, so it is in fact a well-known form of technology.
Continue to Part 2 of How Carnivore Works
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