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Safety of Internet security software questioned [Dayton Daily News, Ohio](Dayton Daily News (OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 12--The local police department is among more than 250 law enforcement agencies across the U.S. that purchased and distributed Internet safety software for parents that some experts now warn could be an open door to computer hackers. "The Lebanon Police Department is pleased to introduce your family to ComputerCop software monitoring tool as part of your comprehensive Internet safety plan," former Lebanon Police Chief Gene Burns said in a statement on copies of the software purchased and distributed for free in 2011. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently published a report based on its research claiming that use of a "keylogger" included with the software can subject users to hacking. "The way ComputerCOP works is neither safe nor secure. It isn't particularly effective either, except for generating positive PR for the law enforcement agencies distributing it," investigator researcher Dave Maass said in the report published earlier this month. Burns could not be reached for comment. Lebanon police purchased 1,000 copies of the software in 2011 for $5,500, according to Jeff Mitchell, who replaced Burns as police chief. "This software was one component of a larger and continuing process to educate and assist adults who may be concerned with maintaining a safer environment for young people while accessing the internet," Mitchell wrote in an email. "This software is not a replacement for or marketed as the solution to computer security or claims to provide any level of computer protection. The software is presented as a software monitoring tool to be used as part of a comprehensive internet safety plan that each adult must create to fit their individual or family needs," Mitchell said. Mitchell said there had been no distribution of the ComputerCop software since 2012, but that copies of the software were still available at the station. Stephen DelGiorno, president of ComputerCop Software, dismissed criticism of the software and insisted it remained a tool for parents wanting to track their children's Internet activity. He said it has been distributed by more than 250 law enforcement agencies. "If a hacker is going to hack into a person's computer, ComputerCop does not make a person's computer more vulnerable to hacking," DelGiorno said. "We're trying to show parents if their kids are getting in trouble while they are on the Internet." Maass acknowledged he had found no examples of hacks traced to ComputerCop's "vulnerability," but said sources of data breaches leading to Internet fraud were often difficult to trace. In addition to Lebanon police, the software was purchased and distributed since 2008 by other law enforcement agencies around Ohio, according to the foundation, a nonprofit focused on privacy issues in the digital world. A survey by this newspaper found no other area law enforcement agencies that purchased or distributed the software. The Sheriff's offices in Montgomery and Clark counties and police departments in Springboro and Waynesville indicated they had never purchased or distributed ComputerCop. "It appeared to be unencrypted and I do not know who would have access to people's personal information. It could be a liability to an agency that distributes the software that could potentially put users information at risk," Waynesville Police Chief Gary Copeland said in an email. Springboro Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff said he was unfamiliar with ComputerCop. "The products we eventually choose are normally those recommended by other peers, products that different staff members recommend from their interactions with peers, or products forwarded via some of the professional organizations department members belong to," he said in an email. ComputerCop has also been bought and distributed in 34 other states, according to ComputerCop. In the past two years, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Arizona, the San Diego District Attorney's Office in California, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in Missouri and the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in Texas each purchased 5,000 copies at a cost of $25,000 per agency, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation investigation. Adam Shearer, a software analyst living in Warren County, contacted the newspaper about the issue. "I work in the IT field, so stuff like this makes me cringe. I don't believe there to be any malice on the police's part, just ignorance," Shearer said in an email. DelGiorno stood behind ComputerCop. "We've only done good for all these years," he said. "There's not been one misuse of the product." ___ (c)2014 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |