Senator asks US government watchdog to review how feds use hacking tools

The earliest documented case of the FBI using spyware goes back to 1999. During an investigation for illegal gambling and loan sharking, federal agents discovered that Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo used the program Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to encrypt a file on his computer, which they believed contained key evidence.

To access it, the FBI installed a rudimentary malware designed to record the keystrokes on Scarfo’s computer, which allowed them to decrypt the file.