JNN 05 Aug 2013 New York : Law-enforcement officials in the U.S. are expanding the use of tools routinely used by computer hackers to gather information on suspects, bringing the criminal wiretap into the cyber age.

People familiar with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s programs say that the use of hacking tools under court orders has grown as agents seek to keep up with suspects who use new communications technology, including some types of online chat and encryption tools. The use of such communications, which can’t be wiretapped like a phone, is called “going dark” among law enforcement.

The FBI develops some hacking tools internally and purchases others from the private sector. With such technology, the bureau can remotely activate the microphones in phones running Google’s Android software to record conversations, one former U.S. official said. It can do the same to microphones in laptops without the user knowing, the person said. Google declined to comment.

The bureau typically uses hacking in cases involving organized crime, child pornography or counterterrorism, a former U.S. official said. It is loath to use these tools when investigating hackers, out of fear the suspect will discover and publicize the technique, the person said.

The Security Analyst suggests that to keep your Personal , Private and Confidential life out or reach of the US and other spying agencies , then it is recommended that to keep their Mobiles switched off or even have the Batteries removed from the Mobile Phones , so you can maintain the secrecy of your Confidential conversations , and out of reach of the spying agencies. Who are in surveillance 24 x 7, and have created servers which record all the conversation of the suspects accessible through their Mobile Phones. As leaked by the Whistle Blower Edward Snowden , a former NSA Contractor .

The FBI has been developing hacking tools for more than a decade, but rarely discloses its techniques publicly in legal cases.