Yes and police spyware: Swedish police announced new techniques to combat crime this week. One of them is the ability to develop spyware on suspicious devices.
This software will be designed to block encrypted communications and enable microphones and cameras.
The decision was announced by Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg at a press conference on Tuesday 22 October.
The new techniques possibilities to be acquired by the Swedish police are part of a 34-point plan to upgrade law enforcement powers to investigate gangs or violent crimes.
Damberg said providing police with these techniques to intercept encrypted communications was one of the top priorities, as they were unable to track criminal groups that frequently use services like Signal and WhatsApp to coordinate their operations.
According to ZDNet the minister told the local press [1, 2, 3, 4] that 90% of all communications that the police have tried to intercept for investigations in recent years have been encrypted.
Spyware instead of backdoors in encryption
But unlike countries like Australia, where the local government has passed a law forcing their companies technology to get back encryption, the Swedish police will follow another route – also known as the German route.
More than a decade ago, the German authorities began developing a malicious software called Federal trojan (Federal trojan).
Sweden's police plan is similar as it plans to deploy malware with spyware capabilities on suspects' devices. This will help them listen to encrypted audio calls or watch videos in real time. They will also be able to export archives recording conversations from encrypted instant messaging apps.
The way the Swedish authorities will do this is not known, but there are at least two paths. They can create the malware themselves or buy it from third parties. The latest option is also the most popular in law enforcement services around the world and there is a growing market for companies that sell hacking tools as legitimate surveillance tools to law enforcement agencies.
The new features are expected to take effect on 1 in March of 2020. According to Damberg, the police will only be able to use them if the crime is worthy of a punishment of four years or more.
