- Also called:
- DCS1000
- Related Topics:
- Internet
Carnivore
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What is Carnivore software?
Carnivore was a controversial software surveillance system used by the FBI around 2000-02 to monitor the Internet activity of criminal suspects. Installed at Internet service providers (ISPs), it scanned data like e-mails and Web pages, discarding anything outside the FBI's search parameters.
Critics feared it could be used to spy on the public, while the FBI claimed it was vital for fighting Internet crime and was only used with a court order. In 2001, amid the controversy, the government renamed it DCS1000. An independent review ordered by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno concluded that Carnivore did not have enough power to spy on almost everyone with an email account. The FBI stopped using Carnivore in 2005, in favor of more advanced commercial applications.
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Who created Carnivore software and why?
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) developed the controversial Carnivore software surveillance system to monitor the email and Internet activity of criminal suspects during investigations around 2000-02. Carnivore was installed at Internet service providers (ISPs) to scan data, discarding anything that didn't match specific search parameters. The FBI aimed to target data from a suspect's communications while avoiding scrutiny of non-suspects. Janet Reno, then U.S. Attorney General, ordered an independent review of Carnivore in response to public concerns. By 2005, the FBI replaced Carnivore with more advanced, commercially available applications.
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How does Carnivore collect data from computers or networks?
Carnivore was a software surveillance system employed by the FBI to monitor the Internet activity of criminal suspects. Installed at Internet service providers (ISPs), it temporarily stored and scanned data like emails, web pages, and files.
Carnivore was designed to filter data based on specific search parameters, discarding irrelevant information. This capability allowed it to extract pertinent data from a large amount of internet traffic. The system's ability to potentially scan all data, not just that of suspects, raised privacy concerns.
Due to the controversy surrounding Carnivore, the FBI eventually replaced it with more advanced, commercially available applications.
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What kinds of information was Carnivore designed to find?
Carnivore, developed by the FBI, was designed to monitor the Internet activity of criminal suspects. Installed at Internet service providers (ISPs), it could scan emails, web pages visited, and files transferred. The system stored data temporarily, filtering it based on specific search parameters set by the FBI.
Carnivore aimed to extract essential data from the large amount of traffic passing through ISPs. While the FBI asserted it targeted only suspects with a court order, critics feared potential snooping on innocent citizens. The FBI maintained that Carnivore's technology could isolate data from specific suspects, minimizing scrutiny of non-suspects' online activity. In 2001, due to the controversy, Carnivore was renamed DCS1000.
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Why was the use of Carnivore software controversial?
The use of the Carnivore software, later renamed DCS1000, by the FBI between 2000 and 2002 stirred controversy because it raised concerns about potential privacy violations.
Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union and conservative senators, feared it could be used to spy on the public. Carnivore's ability to scan all data passing through Internet service providers, not just that of suspects, triggered legal and privacy issues. Though the FBI insisted it only used Carnivore rarely and with court orders, its reluctance to disclose details about Carnivore's capabilities fueled worries about government snooping on innocent citizens. An independent review recommended changes to make Carnivore safer, but critics remained skeptical due to the reviewers' ties to the Justice Department.
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What eventually happened to Carnivore and are there newer programs that replaced it?
The FBI eventually stopped using Carnivore in 2005, opting for more technologically advanced, commercially available applications. Carnivore, renamed DCS1000 in 2001, was a controversial surveillance system used to monitor Internet activity of criminal suspects. It scanned data, such as emails and web pages, and discarded anything outside the search parameters.
The program faced criticism over potential privacy violations, with concerns it could be used to spy on the public. While the FBI asserted it was a vital tool and used rarely with court orders, critics worried about potential snooping on innocent citizens.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Carnivore, controversial software surveillance system that was developed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which used the system to search the e-mail and other Internet activity of identified criminal suspects during investigations circa 2000–02. The system—which some claim became controversial mainly for its name rather than for its capabilities—came under fire from opponents ranging from the liberal-leaning American Civil Liberties Union to staunchly conservative U.S. senators, all of whom were worried that the technology could be used to spy on the public.
Carnivore consisted of a personal computer equipped with an array of special surveillance software. It was installed at the network sites of various Internet service providers (ISPs), where it would temporarily store and then scan certain types of, or possibly all, data—e-mails that were sent and received, Web pages that were visited, files that were transferred, etc.—that passed through those ISPs. It would then discard anything that did not meet the specific parameters of what the FBI happened to be searching for at the time. The potential for Carnivore to temporarily store and scan all data traffic, not just that of criminal suspects, created a massive tangle of unresolved legal and privacy issues.
The FBI gave Carnivore its name because of its ability to get to “the meat” of what would otherwise be a gigantic amount of data passing through ISPs. An earlier, slower version had an even hungrier name: Omnivore. But with controversy swirling around the investigative tool, in 2001 the government opted to change the name from Carnivore to something more generic: DCS1000.
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Critics charged that Carnivore created an unprecedented opportunity for the government to snoop on innocent and unsuspecting citizens. FBI officials countered by saying that Carnivore was used only rarely and only after the organization had obtained a court order. In spite of the reported limited use, the FBI argued that Carnivore was a vital surveillance tool because criminals were using the Internet to communicate and commit crimes in increasing numbers. It also asserted that the technology used in Carnivore was so advanced that it could be tailored to pluck data coming from a particular suspect’s e-mail communications and Internet activity from among all the traffic generated by millions of ISP customers, thus eliminating the potential for closer scrutiny of the e-mail and Web activity of non-suspects. Other than that, however, the FBI was reluctant to disclose further information on the extent of Carnivore’s capabilities.
In September 2000, in response to widespread publicity about the system, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno ordered an independent review of Carnivore by a team from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). That review’s final draft , released on December 8, 2000, concluded that Carnivore should remain in place and stated that it “does not have nearly enough power ‘to spy on almost everyone with an e-mail account.’” The review did recommend some changes to make Carnivore safer and easier to understand, but it stated that the system’s basic safeguards were essentially in place.
Privacy groups and others were highly critical of the review, as many of the IIT researchers had close ties to the U.S. Department of Justice, other governmental departments, and the then-current executive administration. They also noted that, because of tight Justice Department restrictions, several universities had declined to take on the job of reviewing the system.
The controversy surrounding Carnivore and the IIT report eventually faded, although some critics continued to fight for more information about the system and how it was being used. In January 2005 the FBI said that it had not used Carnivore in more than two years, relying instead on newer commercially available applications that were more technologically advanced than Carnivore.
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