Frank Schirrmacher on the eerie powers of government Trojans

Hackers working with the Chaos Computer Club claim to have discovered that software used by the German state to monitor VoIP communications can do more than the constitution allows. They say the so-called Bundestrojaner (Federal Trojan), can upload software onto infiltrated computers and even alter files. The discovery constitutes a major turning point, writes Frank Schirrmacher, co-editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in the Sunday edition of the conservative newspaper: "The uncovered software can apparently do anything. It's just a question of which of its functions are switched on or off. Only the function that enables it to do that is camouflaged. This means the programmers were aware that what they were doing was wrong. Who else knew this? And who can understand the machine texts that exposes this? ... All these questions remain unanswered. Not only people and business sectors are revolutionising their architecture through the web. We can see now: Even the state is doing this. The question of how it will reconcile the code and the law will determine the freedom of the individual. Now, since the success of the Pirate Party, there is a chance to put this on the realpolitik agenda. But to do this we must recognise that the brave new world is not just beautiful and new but also has the power to turn the state into a monster."

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