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Mafia Boss Using Crook Crypto Captured

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the never-heard-of-pgp-and-email dept.

boggis writes "Discovery is running a story on Bernardo Provenzano, the recently arrested 'boss of bosses' of the Sicilian Mafia. He apparently wrote notes to his henchmen using a modified form of the Caesar Cipher, which was easily cracked by the police and resulted in further arrests of collaborators. Discovery's cryptography expert describes it as a code that 'will keep your kid sister out'."

25 of 378 comments (clear)

  1. Or in other words by gowen · · Score: 2, Funny

    8 jqe3 y8j qh 9rr34 y3 d97oeh[5 43r7w3.

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  2. You didn't expect by WebHostingGuy · · Score: 3, Funny

    these people to be brain surgeons did you?

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    Quality Hosting e3 Servers
    1. Re:You didn't expect by Kadin2048 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I get the feeling that someone who dropped out of school at 8 and became a mob boss may not have been keeping up to date on the latest management training strategies.

      He was really just ahead of his time. You just wait, I'll be he'll write a tell-all book from prison: "10 Habits of Highly Effective Mobsters."

      I can just imagine....

      Manager: "Hi Joe, what's happening."
      Cubie: "Oh, hi Stan. ... What's with the baseball bat?"
      Manager: "It's a new team-building technique I'm trying out."
      Manager beats Cubie savagely with bat, until his head completely dissolves.
      Manager: (to office) I WARNED YOU, NO READING SLASHDOT AT WORK.

      --
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  3. Re:If only.. by networkBoy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm willing to bet he "discovered" this cipher on his own. Had he researched it at all he would have known better.
    -nB

    --
    whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  4. Re:Substituion Cipher? by holdenholden · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, but the Police were in clear violation of the DMCA ;-).

  5. High security. by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Funny

    Also seized from his rooms were records for bookies operations filling several Barbie diaries with real plastic locks, and hit orders folded tightly into paper origami footballs.

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    1. Re:High security. by dr_dank · · Score: 2, Funny

      Also seized from his rooms were records for bookies operations filling several Barbie diaries with real plastic locks, and hit orders folded tightly into paper origami footballs.

      Not to mention the little paper fortune tellers that ran the operation.

      Ok, ok, will Vito grow up to marry Rick Springfield?

      *fwip*fwip*fwip*fwip*fwip

      Yes! Oooooh!

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  6. I AM.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 4, Funny

    your kid sister you insensitive clod!

  7. Re:Not very smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, it only worked until the guy was 73 years old.

  8. Behold the power of ROT13 times 2! by Dark+Coder · · Score: 4, Funny

    Stand back!

    Behold twice the power of a ROT13 used twice!

    1. Re:Behold the power of ROT13 times 2! by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Funny

      Arrgh! I just see a sequence of ASCII characters now! B... e... h... What the hell did you do!?

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  9. Keep my kid sister out!? Impressive! by 2short · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Discovery's cryptography expert describes it as a code that 'will keep your kid sister out'."

    Considering my kid sister is a mathematician at NSA... Hmm, maybe he meant a hypothetical kid sister?

    1. Re:Keep my kid sister out!? Impressive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Tell her I said "xibu jt zpvs ovncfs?"

    2. Re:Keep my kid sister out!? Impressive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      you don't need to dial a number, and if you're in the US, I'm pretty sure you don't even need to pick up a phone.

  10. h4x0r by mdboyd · · Score: 2, Funny

    Looks like the mafia boss was pretty 1337 ;)

  11. Re:Svefg Cbfg! by umedia · · Score: 2, Funny
    "hold the power of Rot 13! It's ten times more powerful than that weak Rot 3."

    hear he tried yEnc but was flamed by henchmen that preferred uuencode.

    I have a feeling this was more about the man seeing himself as a "Cesar", than encryption methodology however.

    --
    "Humans are considered to be primitive, the third smartest species on Earth"
  12. And the secret message is... by rehtonAesoohC · · Score: 4, Funny

    Be sure to drink your ovaltine?!

    1. Re:And the secret message is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I saved a bunch of money by switching to Geico!

  13. DMCA to the rescue!!! by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thanks to the DMCA, he does not need to have a strong cypher, since this law makes it illegal to decrypt it anyways!!!

  14. like corporations... by Hatte · · Score: 3, Funny

    Even the mafia has its PHBoB's.

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    ... the original
  15. Re:If only.. by David+Mazzotta · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm just trying to imagine the look on Paulie Walnuts' face as you explain that.

  16. Re:Not very smart by starm_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    In the Provenzano code the key is the +3 shift," mathematics expert Alessandro Martignago told Discovery News.

    eh... They had to get the specialists of integer additions to crack the case?

  17. Re:Substituion Cipher? by Ced_Ex · · Score: 1, Funny

    What's amazing is that a gang can be formed *UNDER* a guy with a 3rd grade education?! What does that say about the members' education?

    If he was dumb, the lowliest member of that mafia must have been a retard!

    --
    Live forever, or die trying.
  18. Re:IT Consultant by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 4, Funny
    I wouldn't think it'd be too hard to find a bent IT guy to give advice on security, encryption, what can be recovered from a hard drive etc.
    Hmm.. you're right..

    Hello, mafia! For $250K/year, I am an IT guy who can give advice on security, encryption, what can be recovered from a hard drive etc. In addition to IT, I enjoy pasta, Chianti, parmigiano, and pitted olives (preferably all in one night). Salary is negotiable if you can provide an "Italian woman," something I keep hearing about but, being a geek, haven't figured out the details of just yet.

    References available upon request.
    --
    "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
  19. Re:If only.. by Fred_A · · Score: 2, Funny
    What if they used a pole that was one thickness at the top and a different thickness at the bottom?


    Umm, like for example Lech Walesa ?
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