News

German Police Barred from Secret Internet Computer Searches

Police cannot secretly search suspects' computer hard drives over the Internet, a German court ruled Monday.

The decision of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe bars police from using software to search through remote hard drives unless parliament passes a law explicitly allowing the technique. Police, however, still will be allowed to seize evidence from PCs when conducting searches in person.

Arguing that stealth searches were indispensable to investigating criminals and terrorists, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, the country's top security official responsible for police, called on the government to seek swift changes in the law.

"It is indispensable for criminal investigators to be able to carry out online searches secretly and with a corresponding order from a judge," he said in a statement.

The decision came in response to a request by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which had sought to use Trojan horse programs to investigate a possible terrorist group. Prosecutors argued the legal reasoning used to allow telephone surveillance and other electronic eavesdropping techniques should be applicable to gathering evidence over the Internet.

Although the decision produces difficulties in evidence collection, the prosecutor's office welcomed the decision, saying it clarified the issue. Officials there also called for legislation enabling the remote searches.

Members of the opposition Left Party and Free Democrats said the court's decision was a victory for civil liberties.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.