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Russians Order Mobile Phone Encryption Removed
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..."
No one cares about you and your puny little life and conversations. But you would certainly care if someone was planning on blowing up your train station or office building.
That's why they do this. To find out who is planning to do bad things that hurt lots of people. They certainly don't care that you are having a fight with your wife and calling your girlfriend to make arrangements to stay over tonight.
I have been pwned because my
That's why they do this. To find out who is planning to do bad things that hurt lots of people. They certainly don't care that you are having a fight with your wife and calling your girlfriend to make arrangements to stay over tonight.
Okay Mr Stalin. What if they hear you say "and I'll be bringin' over a boatload of pot so we can smoke the night away!", and they send a bunch of stormtrooper types to say hello, and oh by the way, you're under arrest.
You'd be bullshit, and rightly so(if you live in the US, for example)- it would be an illegal search to be listening to your conversation without a warrant(or, these days, suspicion of terrorist activities), and entering your premises would also be illegal- since the eavesdropping(considered a search) was illegal, there's no basis for a physical search/arrest warrant(no judge in their right mind would grant one, anyways). That doesn't mean that they can still listen, as long as they don't do anything. They can't listen, period- the mere act is illegal, and if anyone ever found out it was happening(supervisor or IA, for example), heads would roll.
If the police/FBI are randomly allowed to listen in on phone calls, what's next? I'll tell you what's next- East Germany, before the cold war, where the police DID listen in on everything, you could be stopped+searched at any time, your home searched, etc...and it was estimated that a substantial portion of the population itself were informants, spying on their neighbors. From your post, you could use a couple hours talking to someone from East Germany about how horrible it was to have the government spying into absolutely every aspect of your life. Where's the line, a listening device or camera in your bedroom, taping you having sex with your girlfriend? Hello 1984!
Some police departments in major cities were flying helicopters over residential areas using FLIR cameras, looking for heat sources from high wattage growing lights used by pot growers; these houses stuck out like sore thumbs on the video image. The Supreme Court bitch-slapped them and said "no, sorry, that's a search, you can't do that." There's a VERY fine line between observing and searching- and using a technological device such as an IR camera is considered a search because it reveals details about something inside the property that would otherwise be hidden.
Please help metamoderate.
What does the American constitution, FBI, and CIA have to do with Russian rights and this Russian governmental action?
Beware blue cats moving at
In Soviet Russia (yeah I know bear with me) if you had something secret to say, you whispered it into someone's ear.
I don't know why, but it seems the Russian Federation is returning to it's own vomit (so to speak) I used to like Putin, but lately, he seems to be returning to his roots.
Geez.. If you get caught, you deserve it. Keep your life legit and no worries.