Supreme Court Quietly Approves Rule to Give FBI 'Sprawling' Hacking Powers

Absent action by Congress, the rule change will go into effect in December

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday quietly approved a rule change that would allow a federal magistrate judge to issue a search and seizure warrant for any target using anonymity software like Tor to browse the internet.

Absent action by U.S. Congress, the rule change (pdf) will go into effect in December. The FBI would then be able to search computers remotely—even if the bureau doesn't know where that computer is located—if a user has anonymity software installed on it.