2002 US Wiretap Report

GMontag writes "Full report:2002 WIRETAP REPORT Administrative Office of the United States Courts Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Director I especially like this part: 'Public Law 106-197 amended 18 U.S.C. 2519(2)(b) to require that reporting should reflect the number of wiretap applications granted for which encryption was encountered and whether such encryption prevented law enforcement officials from obtaining the plain text of communications intercepted pursuant to the court orders. Encryption was reported to have been encountered in 16 wiretaps terminated in 2002 and in 18 wiretaps terminated in calendar year 2001 or earlier but reported for the first time in 2002; however, in none of these cases was encryption reported to have prevented law enforcement officials from obtaining the plain text of communications intercepted.'"

Comments

Indeedyay...

[Hayzeus]

however, in none of these cases was encryption reported to have prevented law enforcement officials from obtaining the plain text of communications intercepted.

... it'say orthway ememberingray atthay igpay atinlay isay ayay esslay anthay idealay ormfay ofyay encriptionay.

Makes me glad....

[JayAndSilentBob]

This makes me glad I ordered a whole slew of phone tap warning stickers from CrimeThinc. I can't wait for them to arrive. Maybe it can help make a difference against the evil Patriot Act.

Oh my!

[burgburgburg]

Does this mean that my ROT 13 phone is not the security answer I was looking for?

Am I going to have to filter everything through my Swedish chef filter? Bork bork bork, bork, bork bork?

Re:Hey

[Anonymous Coward]

HEY! We can see you, so stop playing with that.

um...I was just straightening my pants... O_o

[...while thinking of michael... -_-]

Old joke: "Need a job?"

[Tackhead]

"NSA is now funding research not only in cryptography, but in all areas of advanced mathematics. If you'd like a circular describing these new research opportunities, just pick up your phone, call your mother, and ask for one."

- [source unknown, seen in .sig files for at least 10 years]

Re:Encryption

[Surak]

It doesn't. That's the point. :)

Hardware keysniffers are easy to take care of. Simply make sure no one has physical access to your keyboard. It's impossible to install a keysniffer on a keyboard that you don't have physical access to.

Re:Encryption

[Anonymous Coward]

It was just some law enforcement agents trying to watch DVDs on Linux.

Re:Hey

[FroMan]

You ceratinly don't want to be sniffing my keyboard. I have like 5 years of cheerios and milk and other food living/dying in there. I have it willed to science when I die. Granted the longer I use the keyboard the better chance I have of being killed by it. Like last night it went out on the town and didn't come back until the wee hours of the morning all tipsy and drunk. Damn, I think my keyboard has a better social life than my wife and I. Just to reiterate, my keyboard is not safe to sniff. So, any FBI agents, just be careful around my keyboard. And wear nasal protection if you try to smell it.

Re:When will they ever learn?

[symbolic]

'muffy' is NOT a good encryption key. Either that, or get a better name for your pet.

Re:Encryption

[Surak]

Or better yet, get one of these keyboards and as an added bonus, cybersex is now 1000% easier. :)

Re:They probably got the keys from the users

[Mawbid]

I, V, X, L, C, and M. You're welcome

Ummm

[Mondain98]

So if they got around the encryption to decypher the conversations, they violated the DMCA and should be punished. Right? Hillary where are you now, bitch!??

Re:Stupid bad guys.

[lamber45]

what passwords do drug dealers use that are easy to guess?

3m1n3m
pot
money
big_high

Or mabey the encryption was by financial insiders, but they wrote their passwords on notepads by their desks...