Analysis: Should the police hack your computer?

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“There are criminals who are taking huge advantage of the internet in keeping their activities secret from the police,” said Cluley.

However he reaffirmed his belief that it was wrong for a police officer to be allowed to hack left, right and centre, and that they would be able to police themselves.

His last warning was that if the police weren’t careful, criminals could determine that they had spyware installed and use it themselves.

Cluley said: “Effectively you could be putting a weapon in the hands of the criminals, who could then use it to spy on others with a little adaptation.”

So should anti-virus vendors be working with the police? In 2001 it was reported that the FBI had developed “Magic Lantern” software which was used to monitor computer use, similar to Trojan software.

It was alleged that the FBI approached various anti-virus vendors, asking them to turn a blind eye and not detect the Trojan.

Of Sophos’ position Cluley said: “We are happy to work with the police and have done on a number of occasions. But when it comes to turning a blind eye to their activities if they hack into computers, even with a judge’s permission, our software is hopefully going to detect it and stop it."

He added: “We’re not going to do anything to limit our ability to do that.”

In response to the media coverage and campaigners' outcry to the plans, a Home Office spokeswoman told IT PRO that it wasn't the case that new powers were being given to police by stealth, and that some of the the reports had proved slightly misleading.

She added that it still remains the case that anybody undertaking a search would be tightly regulated under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

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