Since at least 2007, DEA agents and local police detectives have had regular access to a gigantic database that contains detailed records of every American phone call that’s passed through an AT&T switch in the past 26 years. The program, named the Hemisphere Project, also pays AT&T employees to work alongside drug-enforcement officers stationed in three states.
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The Drug Enforcement Agency has seized 11.02 Bitcoins—about $800—from a drug dealer in South Carolina who had been using Silk Road. It’s the first (known) time the government has taken control of the virtual currency like it were property or real-world cash.
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Apple mentioned back in 2011 that iMessage used encryption to safeguard conversations, but we’ve never had an exact understanding of how deep the security layer goes. It’s deep enough to stymie interception attempts at the DEA, according to an intelligence note gleaned by CNET. The agency warns its staff that it’s “impossible” to tap the messages through usual methods — great for privacy, but a worry for law enforcers. There isn’t much that officials can do, either, short of discovering a clever in-the-middle attack or enacting proposed changes to the law that would mandate backdoor access. And before you ask: BlackBerry Messenger isn’t necessarily as secure. While BES-based BBM chats are largely locked down, there’s a common encryption key for all BlackBerrys that makes it relatively easy to crack regular BBM discussions. We wouldn’t assume that any digital communication is completely private, but iMessage may have come closer to the target than most.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Apple
Source: CNET
We’ve all generally come to accept the fact that, in using iMessage, our correspondence runs the very real risk of being eternally damned to the iCloud ether. But at least now, we know we’re not suffering alone; a document obtained by CNET has revealed that the DEA has also been whining about their inability to access iMessages—but their problem is encryption. More »
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