5 ms·

They installed back doors, he has to trash them anyway

by homero 11y ago

techthroway443 11y ago
But if the traffic gets encrypted what is the use? Or do you mean they install their own "special" tor exit node on his machine?
- homero 11y ago
  They probably used a root kit and a firmware
okasaki 11y ago
Seems unlikely if he was present and had witnesses.
- ArchReaper 11y ago
  If you read the article, you would know this is not the case.
- mtmail 11y ago
  He wasn't present. Last paragraph reads "he may now have to get rid of his computers because he can't be sure what the police did to them while he was being questioned outside his apartment"
NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
Them? The Seattle PD? They're not a spy agency, they're rent-a-cops.
- arjie 11y ago
  This was the police, not a private agency.
  - NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
    Yeh, that's my point. They're incompetent.
- freshhawk 11y ago
  The Seattle PD can plug a device they purchased into a USB port as well as anyone else. There have been various public and leaked catalogues of law enforcement tools put online now, these abilities are commoditized and packaged in a user friendly manner. This is pretty old news at this point.
  - NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
    Purchased from where? They probably couldn't find their asses with both hands, but if they could it'd cost several hundred thousand dollars, take 48 hours with the roads blocked off, and the scandal of them finding some soccer mom's ass instead wouldn't die down for 3 years. Do you think that they came up with this in their emergency war room, as they planned out the sneak attack on the Tor node, or was this a more general policy developed over the previous months and years and this was just one of the first times they got to practice it?
    - freshhawk 11y ago
      > Purchased from where? Most famously, because they were recently hacked themselves, the Milan based company Hacking Team. The intercept has a good breakdown of their software manual here: https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/hacking-team/#manuals https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/hacking-team/#manuals There are many others out there, this cell phone related catalogue is really interesting: https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-government-gear-for-spying-on-your-cellphone/ https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-go... Any company considered a "defense contractor" will probably offer tools along these lines. They are in high demand. Of course the FBI, Homeland security and the NSA have their own tools as well. And they share with local law enforcement (probably not the latest and greatest ones). > Do you think that they came up with this in their emergency war room, as they planned out the sneak attack on the Tor node, I don't really have any idea what the Seattle PD methods or procedures would be, but they knew what TOR was and tracked the traffic to his exit node. I doubt it was the same cops who did that part ... so how likely was it that this briefing didn't include anything like "Just plug the CriminalBuster(tm) box into the computer until the light turns green, then coordinate with Bob to get access to the information you want later. You can get things like X, Y and Z from the CriminalBuster. To requisition a unit fill out form TPS-01 and give it to John." The entire reason to commoditize these things is to make it easy to use within an inefficient bureaucracy that doesn't have a lot of tech training or a "war room". Just like they have done with phone taps or gps car trackers for years. > this was just one of the first times they got to practice it? Why assume this was the first time? It's standard practice for all sorts of infosec workers, journalists, etc to assume this was done to their laptop if it was out of their hands. You can literally download one of these and put it on a usb stick yourself (for your own personal use of course, anything else would be very illegal).

They installed back doors, he has to trash them anyway

by homero 11y ago

They installed back doors, he has to trash them anyway

But if the traffic gets encrypted what is the use? Or do you mean they install their own "special" tor exit node on his machine?

homero 11y ago
They probably used a root kit and a firmware

okasaki 11y ago

Seems unlikely if he was present and had witnesses.

ArchReaper 11y ago
If you read the article, you would know this is not the case.
mtmail 11y ago
He wasn't present. Last paragraph reads "he may now have to get rid of his computers because he can't be sure what the police did to them while he was being questioned outside his apartment"

NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago

Them? The Seattle PD? They're not a spy agency, they're rent-a-cops.

arjie 11y ago
This was the police, not a private agency.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
  Yeh, that's my point. They're incompetent.
freshhawk 11y ago
The Seattle PD can plug a device they purchased into a USB port as well as anyone else. There have been various public and leaked catalogues of law enforcement tools put online now, these abilities are commoditized and packaged in a user friendly manner. This is pretty old news at this point.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 11y ago
  Purchased from where? They probably couldn't find their asses with both hands, but if they could it'd cost several hundred thousand dollars, take 48 hours with the roads blocked off, and the scandal of them finding some soccer mom's ass instead wouldn't die down for 3 years. Do you think that they came up with this in their emergency war room, as they planned out the sneak attack on the Tor node, or was this a more general policy developed over the previous months and years and this was just one of the first times they got to practice it?
  - freshhawk 11y ago
    > Purchased from where? Most famously, because they were recently hacked themselves, the Milan based company Hacking Team. The intercept has a good breakdown of their software manual here: https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/hacking-team/#manuals https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/hacking-team/#manuals There are many others out there, this cell phone related catalogue is really interesting: https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-government-gear-for-spying-on-your-cellphone/ https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-go... Any company considered a "defense contractor" will probably offer tools along these lines. They are in high demand. Of course the FBI, Homeland security and the NSA have their own tools as well. And they share with local law enforcement (probably not the latest and greatest ones). > Do you think that they came up with this in their emergency war room, as they planned out the sneak attack on the Tor node, I don't really have any idea what the Seattle PD methods or procedures would be, but they knew what TOR was and tracked the traffic to his exit node. I doubt it was the same cops who did that part ... so how likely was it that this briefing didn't include anything like "Just plug the CriminalBuster(tm) box into the computer until the light turns green, then coordinate with Bob to get access to the information you want later. You can get things like X, Y and Z from the CriminalBuster. To requisition a unit fill out form TPS-01 and give it to John." The entire reason to commoditize these things is to make it easy to use within an inefficient bureaucracy that doesn't have a lot of tech training or a "war room". Just like they have done with phone taps or gps car trackers for years. > this was just one of the first times they got to practice it? Why assume this was the first time? It's standard practice for all sorts of infosec workers, journalists, etc to assume this was done to their laptop if it was out of their hands. You can literally download one of these and put it on a usb stick yourself (for your own personal use of course, anything else would be very illegal).