Editorial Comment: Code is law

The Staatstrojaner (literally „state trojan“, colloquial German term for the government malware), whose self-destruct function obviously failed, was discovered, reverse-engineered and analyzed by Chaos Computer Club hackers. The findings, if the CCC’s analysis is correct, are conclusive and alarming: The government surveillance software not only contains illegal functionality, it also appears to be so significantly flawed, that anyone who can encrypt the key can also hack all similar versions and control them remotely. Should evidence captured this way have any legitimacy in a court of law? And, first and foremost: What does it mean when, as demonstrated by the CCC, anyone that knows the IP address of the infected computer can install fake „evidence“ without leaving so much as a trace or little chance of acquittal? The HSH Nordbank case, where child pornography was planted on a work computer by private detectives, is an omen of a new type of reputation-destroying strategy.