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European Police Hacked Secret Phone Network, Used AI for Major Bust

13 points by jbegley 6y ago

villgax 6y ago
Zero mention of any AI technique whatsoever. Bloomberg, everybody.
- andai 6y ago
  Used to filter the millions of intercepted communications. > According to the Gendarmerie Nationale, investigators had access to more than 100 million messages and were able to review, in real time, communications over a period of several weeks. > Europol, the European police coordination agency, set up a joint team to process, analyze and share information. It also established a system that used artificial intelligence to scan the texts for particular words or phrases that might indicate that criminal actions, including murders, were being planned, said Wil Van Gemert, Europol’s deputy director of operations.
  - toxik 6y ago
    Ah yes substring search, the hallmark of artificial intelligence. select * from messages where text like ‘%bomb%’; Reminds me of that video where the caption goes “they used coding and algorithms”.
    - wheelerwj 6y ago
      > Reminds me of that video where the caption goes “they used coding and algorithms”. nothing beats NCIS: https://youtu.be/u8qgehH3kEQ?t=15 https://youtu.be/u8qgehH3kEQ?t=15
    - superhuzza 6y ago
      >Ah yes substring search, the hallmark of artificial intelligence. I'm guessing they used AI to detect potential code words, or categorize potential crimes (whether by type, or timing, whatever). Seems like a pretty good use case to me.
      - toxik 6y ago
        Does pattern recognition, even sophisticated pattern recognition, ever constitute artificial intelligence? It reeks of popsci to me, and makes it out to be something more than it is.
ChuckNorris89 6y ago
Maybe AI for them is some sort of pattern recognition the police used. Not sure since the article is paywalled.
- cutler 6y ago
  Try Firefox reader.
  - andai 6y ago
    Reader mode on Safari worked for me.
- andai 6y ago
  Yeah, to filter millions of messages. > [Europol] established a system that used artificial intelligence to scan the texts for particular words or phrases that might indicate that criminal actions, including murders, were being planned, said Wil Van Gemert, Europol’s deputy director of operations.
netsharc 6y ago
Assuming competent E2E encryption, but a completely compromised backend, I'm guessing the cops deployed an app update that took the decrypted chat logs off the devices and forwarded them discreetly to the cops. I wonder if the app updater (surely they don't use the Google Play Store) checks the updates for a valid signature, and whether the developers just stored the signing key on their compromised backend server.
crusty 6y ago
What do you mean - it says right there, they used a "technical device" - duh.

13 points by jbegley 6y ago

villgax 6y ago

Zero mention of any AI technique whatsoever. Bloomberg, everybody.

andai 6y ago
Used to filter the millions of intercepted communications. > According to the Gendarmerie Nationale, investigators had access to more than 100 million messages and were able to review, in real time, communications over a period of several weeks. > Europol, the European police coordination agency, set up a joint team to process, analyze and share information. It also established a system that used artificial intelligence to scan the texts for particular words or phrases that might indicate that criminal actions, including murders, were being planned, said Wil Van Gemert, Europol’s deputy director of operations.
- toxik 6y ago
  Ah yes substring search, the hallmark of artificial intelligence. select * from messages where text like ‘%bomb%’; Reminds me of that video where the caption goes “they used coding and algorithms”.
  - wheelerwj 6y ago
    > Reminds me of that video where the caption goes “they used coding and algorithms”. nothing beats NCIS: https://youtu.be/u8qgehH3kEQ?t=15 https://youtu.be/u8qgehH3kEQ?t=15
  - superhuzza 6y ago
    >Ah yes substring search, the hallmark of artificial intelligence. I'm guessing they used AI to detect potential code words, or categorize potential crimes (whether by type, or timing, whatever). Seems like a pretty good use case to me.
    - toxik 6y ago
      Does pattern recognition, even sophisticated pattern recognition, ever constitute artificial intelligence? It reeks of popsci to me, and makes it out to be something more than it is.

ChuckNorris89 6y ago

Maybe AI for them is some sort of pattern recognition the police used. Not sure since the article is paywalled.

cutler 6y ago
Try Firefox reader.
- andai 6y ago
  Reader mode on Safari worked for me.
andai 6y ago
Yeah, to filter millions of messages. > [Europol] established a system that used artificial intelligence to scan the texts for particular words or phrases that might indicate that criminal actions, including murders, were being planned, said Wil Van Gemert, Europol’s deputy director of operations.

netsharc 6y ago

Assuming competent E2E encryption, but a completely compromised backend, I'm guessing the cops deployed an app update that took the decrypted chat logs off the devices and forwarded them discreetly to the cops. I wonder if the app updater (surely they don't use the Google Play Store) checks the updates for a valid signature, and whether the developers just stored the signing key on their compromised backend server.

crusty 6y ago

What do you mean - it says right there, they used a "technical device" - duh.