5 ms·

Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of (not encrypted?) computer data.

33 points by crocowhile 15y ago

crocowhile 15y ago
From the article: “Hundreds of people are going through it now,” an official said, adding that intelligence operatives back in Washington are very excited to find out what they have. This suggests data were not encrypted, I guess. Amazing.
- jaredwill 15y ago
  Not all super villains have tech goons that read Hacker News
16s 15y ago
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?
- sgt 15y ago
  Perhaps he had a 3G connection? That would conflict with their statement about no internet connectivity though.
- lucasjung 15y ago
  This doesn't surprise me at all: the guy was notoriously paranoid and wouldn't have wanted any kind of electronic tether that Americans could have potentially used to trace back to him. Never mind how plausible such a scenario actually is, in his mind it was a threat. I'd bet that he had a dedicated sneaker-net servicing his compound with high bandwidth and acceptable (to him) latency.
- foobarbazetc 15y ago
  Could be satellite internet...
- jonknee 15y ago
  Could have been a sneakernet with the courrier system. He was able to move videos out, it would make sense data came in as well. When you're hiding out for years at a time, the increased latency of such a network probably isn't a pressing concern.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
rms 15y ago
Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.
- JonnieCache 15y ago
  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.
  - JoachimSchipper 15y ago
    Rubber hose crypto doesn't work on corpses. I was actually quite surprised that they didn't try/manage to get more people alive...
    - lucasjung 15y ago
      They were more concerned about keeping the American operators alive. When you're going after a zealous nutjob who welcomes death and seeks only to take as many others as possible with him, capture becomes significantly more dangerous than killing. The SEALs were mostly likely briefed that they were to attempt capture but not to endanger any of their team members for that purpose. The reports I read stated that he was offered a chance to surrender but declined. Since UBL was holding an AK and a human shield at the time, the SEAL who cornered him didn't waste any time going to "plan B."
      - michaelcampbell 15y ago
        > When you're going after a zealous nutjob who welcomes death and seeks only to take as many others as possible with him, ... What you say is 100% true, but if history is any guide, zealous nutjob LEADERS have their MINIONS take as many with THEM as they can. The leaders, oddly, need to stay and suffer on this mortal plane.
wilschroter 15y ago
There was talk that this information may expose deliberate ties to the financiers of Al Quida including Saudi royalty. Not that this is new information per se, but awfully damning evidence if its found on the hard drive of bin Laden.
aj700 15y ago
Now we should call this usability problem "Why [even] Osammy Can't Encrypt" http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/5/8/114540/8364 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/5/8/114540/8364
astrodust 15y ago
"One of the choppers developed a mechanical problem that caused it to lose lift[...] When he couldn’t get the bird airborne again, the SEALs blew it up and left in one of the reserves." What the hell? Is this Battlefield 2 or a multi-million dollar piece of hardware?
- michaelcampbell 15y ago
  Was that area considered hostile territory? (I honestly don't know.) Maybe the Pakistanis said they couldn't help, so they blew it up to keep anything from getting into foreign hands?
  - artmageddon 15y ago
    They landed in the compound where the fighting took place, and that's where the helo went down. There's no point in letting the enemy being able to strip down / repair one of your aircraft and use it against you.

33 points by crocowhile 15y ago

From the article: “Hundreds of people are going through it now,” an official said, adding that intelligence operatives back in Washington are very excited to find out what they have. This suggests data were not encrypted, I guess. Amazing.

jaredwill 15y ago
Not all super villains have tech goons that read Hacker News

16s 15y ago

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?

sgt 15y ago
Perhaps he had a 3G connection? That would conflict with their statement about no internet connectivity though.
lucasjung 15y ago
This doesn't surprise me at all: the guy was notoriously paranoid and wouldn't have wanted any kind of electronic tether that Americans could have potentially used to trace back to him. Never mind how plausible such a scenario actually is, in his mind it was a threat. I'd bet that he had a dedicated sneaker-net servicing his compound with high bandwidth and acceptable (to him) latency.
foobarbazetc 15y ago
Could be satellite internet...
jonknee 15y ago
Could have been a sneakernet with the courrier system. He was able to move videos out, it would make sense data came in as well. When you're hiding out for years at a time, the increased latency of such a network probably isn't a pressing concern.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

rms 15y ago

Even if they were using encryption, it was probably the kind the US government can very easily break.

JonnieCache 15y ago
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.
- JoachimSchipper 15y ago
  Rubber hose crypto doesn't work on corpses. I was actually quite surprised that they didn't try/manage to get more people alive...
  - lucasjung 15y ago
    They were more concerned about keeping the American operators alive. When you're going after a zealous nutjob who welcomes death and seeks only to take as many others as possible with him, capture becomes significantly more dangerous than killing. The SEALs were mostly likely briefed that they were to attempt capture but not to endanger any of their team members for that purpose. The reports I read stated that he was offered a chance to surrender but declined. Since UBL was holding an AK and a human shield at the time, the SEAL who cornered him didn't waste any time going to "plan B."
    - michaelcampbell 15y ago
      > When you're going after a zealous nutjob who welcomes death and seeks only to take as many others as possible with him, ... What you say is 100% true, but if history is any guide, zealous nutjob LEADERS have their MINIONS take as many with THEM as they can. The leaders, oddly, need to stay and suffer on this mortal plane.

wilschroter 15y ago

There was talk that this information may expose deliberate ties to the financiers of Al Quida including Saudi royalty. Not that this is new information per se, but awfully damning evidence if its found on the hard drive of bin Laden.

aj700 15y ago

Now we should call this usability problem "Why [even] Osammy Can't Encrypt" http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/5/8/114540/8364 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/5/8/114540/8364

astrodust 15y ago

"One of the choppers developed a mechanical problem that caused it to lose lift[...] When he couldn’t get the bird airborne again, the SEALs blew it up and left in one of the reserves." What the hell? Is this Battlefield 2 or a multi-million dollar piece of hardware?

michaelcampbell 15y ago
Was that area considered hostile territory? (I honestly don't know.) Maybe the Pakistanis said they couldn't help, so they blew it up to keep anything from getting into foreign hands?
- artmageddon 15y ago
  They landed in the compound where the fighting took place, and that's where the helo went down. There's no point in letting the enemy being able to strip down / repair one of your aircraft and use it against you.