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Russians Order Mobile Phone Encryption Removed

Posted by simoniker on from the static-still-encrypts-messages dept.

PenguinRadio writes "The Moscow Times is reporting that Russian security officers (The FSB, formerly the KGB) ordered all mobile phone providers to switch off their encryption systems for 24 hours, so the police could eavesdrop on all calls. An alert, either an exclamation point or an unlocked padlock, was sent to the phones in question. This is the second time such an order was given - the last time was after the hostage crisis involving Chechnya fighters in a Moscow theater. At least the Russian has the courtesy to warn all their phone users that this was going on. Not sure what the standard FBI procedure is on something like this..."

4 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. hey, fuck off. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    mr. funny man, take a nap.

  2. Sarge! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    We've got a valid channel here, but only garbage is coming through!

    Get a trace on it. It's probably encrypted. Those arab motherfuckers are as stupid as I thought.

  3. Re:The FBI by Gordonjcp · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    They still are. The USA doesn't really have digital mobile phones yet. Most of the phones only work in a really small area without incurring a roaming charge, and the digital phones they have devour batteries and have a short range.


    NTSC, CDMA, all these things that the USA insists are better, when they quite clearly aren't.

  4. Re:The FBI by shepd · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    >NTSC, CDMA, all these things that the USA insists are better, when they quite clearly aren't.

    Tell you what, why don't you set your monitor to 50 Hz for a while and see that you don't come crawling back for 60 Hz NTSC goodness.

    I ask everyone nowadays that I know who has been on a trip to europe if they felt their eyes bugging out on them when they watched TV over there. Without failure, the answer is always "Yeah, it's weird, their TVs hurt my eyes. How'd you know about that?"

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC