The amazing part to me is that the reports say there was no internet connectivity and no phone lines running into the compound. Did they have an internal network? Or, were these all just stand-alone computers where they kept notes?
Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
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Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#12Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
News reports claim that the FBI has said that they can not crack TrueCrypt. http://news.techworld.com/security/3228701/fbi-hackers-fail-... Some people argue that they want to encourage the use of certain encryption products (e.g. Clipper chips) while others argue they are being honest about their capabilities being limited in the face of strong encryption.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
What exactly do you mean here? ROT13? Some sort of crazy arabic version of pig latin? Just because they have DARPA doesn't mean the americans can just waltz past elliptic-curve cyphers. EDIT: Unless you mean the 'give me the key or I'll fetch the powerdrill' kind of encryption breaking, in which case, fair point.
Rubber hose crypto doesn't work on corpses. I was actually quite surprised that they didn't try/manage to get more people alive...
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#14The amazing part to me is that the reports say there was no internet connectivity and no phone lines running into the compound. Did they have an internal network? Or, were these all just stand-alone computers where they kept notes?
I'd bet that he had a dedicated sneaker-net servicing his compound with high bandwidth and acceptable (to him) latency.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#15The amazing part to me is that the reports say there was no internet connectivity and no phone lines running into the compound. Did they have an internal network? Or, were these all just stand-alone computers where they kept notes?
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#16Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
News reports claim that the FBI has said that they can not crack TrueCrypt. http://news.techworld.com/security/3228701/fbi-hackers-fail-... Some people argue that they want to encourage the use of certain encryption products (e.g. Clipper chips) while others argue they are being honest about their capabilities being limited in the face of strong encryption.
This is the same reason why they've never issued a denial about aliens at area 51, the same reason that they make random comments about truecrypt out of the blue, the same reason they've never released all the CCTV footage from the pentagon on 9/11 even though they could, the non denials around ECHELON, HAARP, etc. etc. etc.
They'd much prefer people keep wasting energy guessing about the infinite space of "unknown unknowns" than spending time talking about the less titillating abuses that happen in plain sight.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#17Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
News reports claim that the FBI has said that they can not crack TrueCrypt. http://news.techworld.com/security/3228701/fbi-hackers-fail-... Some people argue that they want to encourage the use of certain encryption products (e.g. Clipper chips) while others argue they are being honest about their capabilities being limited in the face of strong encryption.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#18Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#19Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
More likely, hiding out like that, one is probably worried more about physical security and being found and figures that's the highest problem they have, and being found probably means being dead, at which point the value of encryption is slightly less relevant to the user.
Re: Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.
#20The amazing part to me is that the reports say there was no internet connectivity and no phone lines running into the compound. Did they have an internal network? Or, were these all just stand-alone computers where they kept notes?