Download This Free Tool To See If The US Government’s Spying On You

Download This Free Tool To See If The US Government’s Spying On You

It’s been over a year-and-a-half since documents leaked by Edward Snowden shook our sense of privacy to the core. Those documents proved that government is spying on us pretty much all the time. And now that we know Congress isn’t going to do anything about it right away, it’s time to find the tools to protect yourself. Detekt is a good one.

The free, open source (PC-only) software is designed to spot malware infection caused by surveillance. Developed by security researcher Claudio Guarnieri, Detekt has the support of Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Privacy International. So it’s not just some trick to scare you into buying security software. Detekt is here to help you protect yourself from the government’s prying eyes — not to mention anybody else that’s trying to spy on you.

Specifically, the project’s website says, “Detekt is a free tool that scans your Windows computer for traces of known surveillance spyware used to target and monitor human rights defenders and journalists around the world.”

It’s worth pointing out that Detekt does not claim to be a catch-all solution. The EFF’s Eva Galperin explains, “Because Detekt is a best-effort tool and spyware companies make frequent changes to their software to avoid detection, users should keep in mind that Detekt cannot conclusively guarantee that your computer is not compromised by the spyware it aims to detect.” However, that should not stop you from downloading Detekt and scanning your PC. After all, it’s free! [Detekt via EFF]


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