Magic Lantern really is an FBI project, according to a Reuters report. From earlier rumours and discussions on Slashdot, it looks like one of the spooks' sillier ideas: using a virus to hack criminals' computers. Denis Zenkin from Kaspersky Lab expects virus writers to use the FBI code or create viruses that exploit any loopholes that anti-virus companies might leave to allow Magic Lantern to work. Kaspersky's database already includes Malantern, a simple but rather amusing take on the idea from Agentlinux.