FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry • Hacker News Board

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#81

Post by Alex3917 » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 4:12 AM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #71

mirimir wrote: post #47

Damn, you'd think that someone at that level would pay for better OPSEC support. But then, I guess that I'm not surprised. Blackberry does have a reputation, not at all deserved at this point. I'm pretty sure that the President's phone is just as poorly secured. Probably less, from what I've read.

This issue is huge in politics. The entire Clinton personal e-mail scandal was essentially her unwilling to give up her BlackBerry, something Obama was unwilling to give up too. These people learned how to use some technology decades ago, and will continue using it no matter what other issues it causes.

> The entire Clinton personal e-mail scandal was essentially her unwilling to give up her BlackBerry

The main scandal was her violating FOIA. There were some additional security concerns, but her running on a platform of undoing civil rights era legislation was the bigger issue.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#82

Post by muddi900 » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 4:27 AM UTC

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #50

oxide wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn't you be able to?

BB used to run a custom QNX-based OS, not Android.

Whatsapp was available on Symbian untill 2016, and they will support Gingerbread until 2020

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#83

Post by boomboomsubban » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 4:37 AM UTC

zacharycohn wrote: post #77

boomboomsubban wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This issue is huge in politics. The entire Clinton personal e-mail scandal was essentially her unwilling to give up her BlackBerry, something Obama was unwilling to give up too. These people learned how to use some technology decades ago, and will continue using it no matter what other issues it causes.

Check your timelines. Obama was elected in 2008, and BlackBerry was the dominant player in the market at that point. Also, he DID swap out his phone for a secured one, and his staff instituted a number of security protocols to keep it secure.

A dominant player, yet Obama needed a special highly modified version to securely access the White House network. A huge amount of work to keep using what he was comfortable with.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#84

Post by kasey_junk » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 4:45 AM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #69

torstenvl wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay so your answer is...

There are many security researchers who could do that. Even I know the basic issues to address, even if I don't know all of the implementation specifics.

Name one company you could call up and ask “hey I’m doing some dirt that might get me inestigated by the feds, can you secure my comms?” And they’d say yes.

Now name one that an average attorney could find.

I’m not picking on you, I’m serious. I have a couple of people I might ask, but if expect most of them to say “no thanks”

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#85

Post by steve_musk » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 4:50 AM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #83

zacharycohn wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check your timelines. Obama was elected in 2008, and BlackBerry was the dominant player in the market at that point. Also, he DID swap out his phone for a secured one, and his staff instituted a number of security protocols to keep it secure.

A dominant player, yet Obama needed a special highly modified version to securely access the White House network. A huge amount of work to keep using what he was comfortable with.

Was there another smartphone platform he could have used at the time that would have been less work to secure? A secure smartphone for the President seems well worth the effort.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#86

Post by onetimemanytime » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 5:02 AM UTC

kasey_junk wrote: post #84

mirimir wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many security researchers who could do that. Even I know the basic issues to address, even if I don't know all of the implementation specifics.

Name one company you could call up and ask “hey I’m doing some dirt that might get me inestigated by the feds, can you secure my comms?” And they’d say yes. Now name one that an average attorney could find. I’m not picking on you, I’m serious. I have a couple of people I might ask, but if expect most of them to say “no thanks”

>>Name one company you could call up and ask “hey I’m doing some dirt that might get me inestigated by the feds, can you secure my comms?” And they’d say yes.

No, "I'm doing sensitive work for a huge company and we fear that hackers are trying to penetrate our network and devices." How many would say yes now? Until the raid he was a big shot...and the personal "lawyer" to Trump.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#87

Post by onetimemanytime » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 5:10 AM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #47

Damn, you'd think that someone at that level would pay for better OPSEC support. But then, I guess that I'm not surprised. Blackberry does have a reputation, not at all deserved at this point. I'm pretty sure that the President's phone is just as poorly secured. Probably less, from what I've read.

>>Damn, you'd think that someone at that level would pay for better OPSEC support

I think that he thought himself as untouchable and neglected it. Maybe dodged so many bullets over the years.

Question for HN: did the FBI break the Signal encryption or just managed to open his device to find all the messages there? Maybe sensitive messages need to be deleted.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#88

Post by beojan » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 5:21 AM UTC

steve_musk wrote: post #85

boomboomsubban wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A dominant player, yet Obama needed a special highly modified version to securely access the White House network. A huge amount of work to keep using what he was comfortable with.

Was there another smartphone platform he could have used at the time that would have been less work to secure? A secure smartphone for the President seems well worth the effort.

BlackBerry was probably the closest, and I expect they already knew what modifications to make.

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#89

Post by scruple » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 5:23 AM UTC

warent wrote: post #80

zacharycohn wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check your timelines. Obama was elected in 2008, and BlackBerry was the dominant player in the market at that point. Also, he DID swap out his phone for a secured one, and his staff instituted a number of security protocols to keep it secure.

As an aside: wow that timeline makes me feel really old

Yeah, I had the same reaction. This sort of stuff makes me _feel old_. But I'm not actually "old," so what gives?

Re: FBI Recovers WhatsApp, Signal Data Stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry

#90

Post by kasey_junk » Sat, Jun 16, 2018, 5:27 AM UTC

onetimemanytime wrote: post #86

kasey_junk wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name one company you could call up and ask “hey I’m doing some dirt that might get me inestigated by the feds, can you secure my comms?” And they’d say yes. Now name one that an average attorney could find. I’m not picking on you, I’m serious. I have a couple of people I might ask, but if expect most of them to say “no thanks”

>> Name one company you could call up and ask “hey I’m doing some dirt that might get me inestigated by the feds, can you secure my comms?” And they’d say yes. No, "I'm doing sensitive work for a huge company and we fear that hackers are trying to penetrate our network and devices." How many would say yes now? Until the raid he was a big shot...and the personal "lawyer" to Trump.

I suppose we are now very much into personal bias.

Mine suggests that until very recently working as a personal lawyer for a reality star & planning for the “normal” security concerns therein wouldn’t be something high end firms would do (nor things lawyers would ask for) as a matter of course.

Remember by the time the feds come knocking it’s too late.