The FBI Tried To Plant a Backdoor in an Encrypted Phone Network (vice.com) 29
The FBI tried to force the owner of an encrypted phone company to put a backdoor in his devices, Motherboard has learned. From the report: The company involved is Phantom Secure, a firm that sold privacy-focused BlackBerry phones and which ended up catering heavily to the criminal market, including members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, formerly run by JoaquÃn "El Chapo" Guzman. The news signals some of the tactics law enforcement may use as criminals continue to leverage encrypted communications for their own ends. It also comes as Canadian media reported that a former top official in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who has been charged with leaking state secrets, offered to sell information to Vincent Ramos, Phantom's CEO.
"He was given the opportunity to do significantly less time if he identified users or built in/gave backdoor access," one source who knows Ramos personally and has spoken with him about the issue after his arrest told Motherboard. A backdoor is a general term for some form of technical measure that grants another party, in this case the FBI, surreptitious access to a computer system. What exactly the FBI was technically after is unclear, but the desire for a backdoor was likely to monitor Phantom's clients.
"He was given the opportunity to do significantly less time if he identified users or built in/gave backdoor access," one source who knows Ramos personally and has spoken with him about the issue after his arrest told Motherboard. A backdoor is a general term for some form of technical measure that grants another party, in this case the FBI, surreptitious access to a computer system. What exactly the FBI was technically after is unclear, but the desire for a backdoor was likely to monitor Phantom's clients.
The quote (Score:3)
Who is quoted in the second paragraph? The RCMP guy who was busted or the owner of Phantom Secure?
Disgusting. (Score:2)
If they were caught this time, imagine how many times they've already got away with it.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Many of these criminals use assassination and torture as terror tools. Putting hits on family members, lawyers, decimating entire villages.
There's nothing disgusting about spying on those kinds of people in my opinion. Hell, I think organized crime at some point has to be treated as a military target ... people like Guzman should be taken out with a Hellfire missile as much as any other terrorist.
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Many of these criminals use assassination and torture as terror tools. Putting hits on family members, lawyers, decimating entire villages.
There's nothing disgusting about spying on those kinds of people in my opinion.
You're wrong, in fact. The issue isn't about spying on these criminals (presumably with a warrant), the issue is that such power WILL be abused to spy on everyone, illegally.
Re: (Score:2)
Comment for bad mod. Sorry.
Re: (Score:2)
Covered in Tom Clancy's _Patriot_Games_.
Re: (Score:2)
How about a publicly accessible free open source software security application that any one can download and install, oh my God, the only way to be sure, nuke the entire planet from orbit, the only way to be safe from fear, kill everyone ;DDD.
Re: (Score:2)
You seem to be unaware what a "slippery slope" is.
from the lack-of-trust dept (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
"Trust no one." --The X-Files. Wait, that's FBI too. DOH!
Re: (Score:2)
Pretty much, and least of all the state.
Less time? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is he doing any time at all? He's not the criminal, right?
Re: (Score:2)
Yea, but when it is the FBI blackmailing you, then the lines start to blur fast.
Re:Less time? (Score:4, Insightful)
His mistake was offering management services, as opposed to just selling devices. If he managed the devices, he could be seen as taking an active part in a criminal enterprise.
Also, the US is a bully with worldwide reach.
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If he managed the devices, he could be seen as taking an active part in a criminal enterprise.
Um.... That is a weird distinction, because managing devices does not mean gaining the knowledge of conversations that occur on devices Or on how devices are actually being used: a phone provider does not even need to know or ask.
That is like saying if Verizon in addition to selling you your new Phone helps you get it activated, helps you move SIM cards and transfer your apps and contacts from your
Re:Less time? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Less time? (Score:4, Informative)
In early 2018, the FBI and its partners arrested Ramos and shut down the company in a large scale international operation. Ramos pleaded guilty to running a criminal enterprise that facilitated drug trafficking, and in May was sentenced to nine years in prison.
coerced false confession (Score:1)
"pleaded guilty"
How I do love the smell of coerced false confession in the morning!
Re: (Score:1)
Was that him pleading guilty because he was and couldn't reasonably defend his actions, or because he tool a plea deal to avoid dying in jail 40 years later?
fire editor (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: DATA ENCRYPTION PROBLEM (Score:2)
Criminals - especially successful ones - have always had access to private means of communication. The Constitution remains relevant today.
"The FBI Tried To Plant a Backdoor in an Encrypted (Score:2)
"The NSA Successfully Planted a Backdoor in an Encrypted Phone Network"
FTFY
Sloppy job, FBI (Score:3)
First, you arrest Ramos. All his customers (like the cartels) see this. Then he gets a reduced sentence. Because reasons. Do you think the cartels aren't just going to take all their phones and throw them in a lake someplace?
This is almost as stupid as Bush giving the telephone companies immunity. Immunity from what? Never mind. Nothing to see here, move along.
Should have followed GCHQ (Score:2)
Let police, media, courts, workers, staff, lawyers guess at where information originated.
Suggest a court did a deal and someone took the deal...
The tech stays secret and can be used for decades as everyone likes the encrypted sat/smartphone/VoIP/internet...
If FBI has this much data how do traders (Score:1)
I just wonder how exactly businesses do business without privacy? How can a stock trader operate without privacy? If there is no privacy then the FBI etc must be sitting on unbelieveable amounts of wealth with therefore utter domination over... well, by extension, potentially over the entire global economy. But it can't go that far...?
Re: If FBI has this much data how do traders (Score:2)
Stock traders operate on networks purpose built to protect against that sort of intrusion, and are ostensibly not staffed by people engaging in criminal activity and opening up their employer to government intrusion during a criminal investigation. And even if there were a criminal investigation, the stock market is sacrosanct and so any judicial review would have extreme scrutiny. And the final critical thing the stock market has is armies of lawyers to make sure everything happens as I suggest.