Who knew that phishing and malware would be one of the complications of big government? Of course, we shouldn't be surprised, because big government breeds unintended consequences.

In a case from this summer, one of those unintended consequences was discovered to be the threat that unwary government bureaucrats would be targeted by hackers in Russia and the former Soviet republics. 

According to an Associated Press report carried by the Nextgov.com website, some government officials had been on the receiving end of "emails purporting to be from the Homeland Security Department's intelligence division." These, however, were fake, and according to the report, "originated from Internet addresses in Latvia and Russia, according to a three page alert from the Homeland Security Department's counterintelligence unit." The legitimate Homeland Security alert about the fake Homeland Security emails notes that while those emails seem to be nothing more than part of a criminal enterprise, officials "cannot discount that targeting of DHS partners and DoD personnel may be for other purposes."

The emails, which were made to look "as if they had actual text from a department intelligence assessment," included "links embedded with spyware known for stealing banking data and protected passwords."

What makes the government and its functionaries such juicy targets? For one, the sheer size of the federal bureaucracy. When a hapless bureaucrat in a low level department of the unconstitutional Department of Education gets what appears to be an official email from the Homeland Security department, he or she is likely, or at least possibly, going to trust it. After all, it came through the government system, from Homeland Security no less. 

As to this possibility, Wired.com's Bruce Sterling paints an appropriately sarcastic scenario, writing:

I rather imagine this kind of spearphishing works pretty well. "Hey! Drone from the Commerce Department! Turn over your password right now, or we put you on the Watch List! You'll never fly domestic without relentless harassment again. What? 'Demand your civil rights?' With us, you don't have any

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