FBI’s search for bomb threat suspect highlights use of malware for surveillance

If yahoo sends you FBI made tracking and demasking cookies instead of a regular one that would work though they claim they didn't help. Could also have found out what vpn this guy used and had them redirect Iran originating traffic to the FBI fake yahoo MITM login full of java exploits or sent him a malware image and turned on image preview on his account.

So turns out this guy is just trolling on cruise control because why not, not like he's going to be extradited for harassing Americans. Likely there's a work station at every Iranian military base in the cafeteria that says 'troll FBI here'

Carnivore (a.k.a. DCS3000 and DCS6000) isn't exactly "malware" - it's the system that resides in phone company/ISP machine rooms to do CALEA "lawful intercepts" of email headers. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCSNet

There have been rumors to the effect that the DCS systems run on Solaris, and have been hacked and cracked so that other than FBI can monitor things using it (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a2003dcs...).

Also, calling a business that sells malware to Law Enforcement is something of a stretch. If you mean "legitmate" as "lawful", then you're strictly correct. If you want "legitimate" to also encompass "ethical", or "upstanding" or something of that sort, then I don't see it.