After Endless Demonization Of Encryption, Police Find Paris Attackers ...
#1
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:

Quote:"...News emerging from Paris — as well as evidence from a Belgian ISIS raid in January — suggests that the ISIS terror networks involved were communicating in the clear, and that the data on their smartphones was not encrypted.

European media outlets are reporting that the location of a raid conducted on a suspected safe house Wednesday morning was extracted from a cellphone, apparently belonging to one of the attackers, found in the trash outside the Bataclan concert hall massacre. Le Monde reported that investigators were able to access the data on the phone, including a detailed map of the concert hall and an SMS messaging saying “we’re off; we’re starting.” Police were also able to trace the phone’s movements.

The reports note that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the "mastermind" of both the Paris attacks and a thwarted Belgium attack ten months ago, failed to use any encryption whatsoever (read: existing capabilities stopped the Belgium attacks and could have stopped the Paris attacks, but didn't). That's of course not to say batshit religious cults like ISIS don't use encryption, and won't do so going forward. Everybody uses encryption. But the point remains that to use a tragedy to vilify encryption, push for surveillance expansion, and pass backdoor laws that will make everybody less safe -- is nearly as gruesome as the attacks themselves.

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#2
Nice post mate we live in a surveillance centric world. Angel Big Grin
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#3
'Twas a GREAT post!.. Btw., something to add ++

Code:
http://mashable.com/2014/06/05/edward-snowden-revelations/
Code:
https://www.startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html

  • "The 10 Biggest Revelations From Edward Snowden's Leaks"
  • "Giant US government Internet spying scandal revealed" ^^
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#4
shit! I thought there were more paris attacks that I missed. Please indicate when you are resurrecting a dead thread. Jeez. you scared me. :S
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#5
Que bono? Who benefits? ... should be your first point of questioning when somebody is trying to sell you something ( in this case : anti-encryption ). So if encryption is not used for the nefarious uses as advertised by mainstream media and most politicians, why is it being marketing like a tool of the evil?

If we are forced to live in weak/no-encryption society who benefits?
  • Politicians: Access to resources capable of tracking, sorting and engaging citizens information with the idea to promote their own agenda ( political careerism / helping friends ), information warfare, blackmail, opinion seeding
  • Companies: Low effort data mining with strong marketing and sales focus. Conglomerates easily engage in industrial espionage and tactics similar to the one of the politicians.
  • Prosection / Police: Another easily accessible data source for crime prosecution and establishing beyond reasonable doubt sentences with help of circumstantial evidence.
  • Criminal organizations or persons: Lower defenses against cybercrime, potential of exploitation and blackmail ( ransomware, identity theft , etc. )

If anyone can explain any situation where a citizen benefits in a state-of-no-encryption? I can't think of any.
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