After Endless Demonization Of Encryption, Police Find Paris Attackers Coordinated Via Unencrypted SMS

[Kiska]

I think this is tech news worthy seeing as it pertains to encryption and how currently governments are fighting to ban or back door it.

In the wake of the tragic events in Paris last week encryption has continued to be a useful bogeyman for those with a voracious appetite for surveillance expansion. Like clockwork, numerous reports were quickly circulated suggesting that the terrorists used incredibly sophisticated encryption techniques, despite no evidence by investigators that this was the case. These reports varied in the amount of hallucination involved, the New York Times even having to pull one such report offline. Other claims the attackers had used encrypted Playstation 4 communications also wound up being bunk.

 

Yet pushed by their sources in the government, the media quickly became a sound wall of noise suggesting that encryption was hampering the government's ability to stop these kinds of attacks. NBC was particularly breathless this week over the idea that ISIS was now running a 24 hour help desk aimed at helping its less technically proficient members understand encryption (even cults help each other use technology, who knew?). All of the reports had one central, underlying drum beat implication: Edward Snowden and encryption have made us less safe, and if you disagree the blood is on your hands.

 

Yet amazingly enough, as actual investigative details emerge, it appears that most of the communications between the attackers was conducted via unencrypted vanilla SMS.

 

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151118/08474732854/after-endless-demonization-encryption-police-find-paris-attackers-coordinated-via-unencrypted-sms.shtml

[dragoon20005]

what about the report saying they use PS4 to plan attacks?

 

so that report is kinda debunk

[Enderman]

proves how useless the NSA is

[deficitdisorder]

trying to outlaw encryption will prevent literally no crime. It literally makes it easier for criminals to steal information by not having to deal with security. 

[elfensky]

what about the report saying they use PS4 to plan attacks?

 

so that report is kinda debunk

 

There already has been issued an apology about misinformation. Sony also replied about the safety/security iof its own customers, whatnot.

source

source

 

[Belgarathian]

what about the report saying they use PS4 to plan attacks?

 

so that report is kinda debunk

 

That was unconfirmed... I think.

 

Source

[Sparviero]

what about the report saying they use PS4 to plan attacks?

so that report is kinda debunk

Afaik that was taken from an interview the Belgium pm gave several days before the attack.

[Kherm]

HOLY CRAP, we're garbage. The NSA is so damn helpless

[Godlygamer23]

You will need to edit your post to be in line with our requirements for Tech News. Until then, it remains in General Discussion.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/11724-read-before-posting-in-this-section/

[DigitalHermit]

thought so... *sigh*

[KemoKa]

trying to outlaw encryption will prevent literally no crime. It literally makes it easier for criminals to steal information by not having to deal with security. 

France knows this from experience in the 90s and with Windows NT.

If you go into a Windows NT machine with encryption enabled and you set the language and region to France, it just quietly turns off all encryption. and I mean ALL OF THE ENCRYPTION. No password hashing, nothing. and that was a disaster, it was a total trainwreck, and France legalized encryption soon thereafter.

 

So these governments are pushing to be in a situation that France decided not to be in. And uhhh, lemme tell you, it's gonna be really bad.

And we already know that that sort of anti-encryption legislation is a load of bullshit, and this report confirms that. Also shows that the government isn't as attentive to SMS communications as we thought.

[Overkilled]

You will need to edit your post to be in line with our requirements for Tech News. Until then, it remains in General Discussion.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/11724-read-before-posting-in-this-section/

It is in line

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

This just proves that the whole data collection scheme is useless.  We're dealing with suspects that are already known to the intelligence community, have been investigated and apparently it STILL is too difficult to read their friggin unencrypted text messages. 

The haystack has gotten so big that they don't even know if there's a needle in there anymore, and I'm betting that their "solution" will be to make it even bigger.

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

Watch this never hit mainstream media. Especially in the UK.

[PortentousLad]

This only proves one thing: surveillance isn't the answer. Cutting of income and recruitment lines is.

[zacRupnow]

Mods this absolutely belongings in Tech News.