Support NeoGAF

[BlastProcessing]

https://news.vice.com/article/exclusive-canada-police-obtained-blackberrys-global-decryption-key-how

A high-level surveillance probe of Montreal's criminal underworld shows that Canada's federal policing agency has had a global encryption key for BlackBerry devices since 2010.

The revelations are contained in a stack of court documents that were made public after members of a Montreal crime syndicate pleaded guilty to their role in a 2011 gangland murder. The documents shed light on the extent to which the smartphone manufacturer, as well as telecommunications giant Rogers, cooperated with investigators.

According to technical reports by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that were filed in court, law enforcement intercepted and decrypted roughly one million PIN-to-PIN BlackBerry messages in connection with the probe. The report doesn't disclose exactly where the key — effectively a piece of code that could break the encryption on virtually any BlackBerry message sent from one device to another — came from. But, as one police officer put it, it was a key that could unlock millions of doors.

Government lawyers spent almost two years fighting in a Montreal courtroom to keep this information out of the public record....

And if the global key is still sitting on a server in the RCMP's headquarters, the potential consequences could be significant. Although it wouldn't offer police a backdoor into most of its government and business clients, who make up BlackBerry's core constituency, it would mean that police enjoyed years of access to Canadians' personal cellphones without the public being any the wiser.

Oh RIM. You scamps. Tell me again how your phones are the pinnacle of security.

 

[Joyful]

thats a bit creepy

im an android man personally tho

 

[Mimosa97]

Now I feel less pity for Blackberry and their dying business.

 

[TsunamiOfSwagger]

2010 would have been the last time blackberry would have been relevant as a phone anyway.

 

[Syriel]

https://news.vice.com/article/exclusive-canada-police-obtained-blackberrys-global-decryption-key-how



Oh RIM. You scamps. Tell me again how your phones are the pinnacle of security.

RIM has been pretty open about being willing to share with govt agencies. Not a shock.

 

[Jonnax]

No shit. If you thought that governments didn't then you are totally naive.

Also assume stuff like Bitlocker is insecure.

 

[El Topo]

Reading the article it seems I was wrong. I assume the only way they could be in (legal) trouble is if they withheld information or gave up the key.

 

[subrock]

Fucking gross. I hope some top cops roast for this and wouldn't be sad if Blackberry just closed up shop. All the government employees using these things under the pretense of security just make me sad.

 

[aeolist]

bb messenger is on other mobile platforms too btw

 

[partyphone]

more like crackedberry

but seriously this is terrible and it's what every government wants to do with every communication platform. ugh.

 

[Minus_Me]

Ah right Operation Clemenza! Where I learned that the Italian Mob had a good old MG-42 for some odd reason.

 

[Vyer]

I'm sure it was only used one time, of course

 

[Boogie]

Fucking gross. I hope some top cops roast for this .

Why would top cops roast for intercepting communications pursuant to valid, judicially-granted Part VI wiretap authorizations?

 

[BlastProcessing]

Why would top cops roast for intercepting communications pursuant to valid, judicially-granted Part VI wiretap authorizations?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that gives the authorities the right to keep their actions secret indefinitely, which is what the Canadian Government was trying to do here.

 

[giga]

Word? Let's see what Crackberry users have to say.

 

[Boogie]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that gives the authorities the right to keep their actions secret indefinitely, which is what the Canadian Government was trying to do here.

There is common-law precedent for police to keep certain details of their investigative techniques from disclosure. It is not absolute, of course, and is always subject to these sorts of back-and-forth arguments in court, which happen all of the time.

 

[HanzSnubSnub]

Word? Let's see what Crackberry users have to say.

Haha, that's a crazy story.

Spoiler

So crazy it might be true..?

Though Google keeping his information is pretty scary.

Not really shocked. Any security firm has to cozy up to the gov't in order to stay in business and not have the gov't target them.

 

[Oppo]

man.

I'm remember telling BB-using friends years ago that they were fools for thinking PINs were secure. well I was more polite than that.

 

[neptunes]

Heh, the most "Secure" phone wasn't so secure? you don' say....

 

[BlastProcessing]

There is common-law precedent for police to keep certain details of their investigative techniques from disclosure. It is not absolute, of course, and is always subject to these sorts of back-and-forth arguments in court, which happen all of the time.

Interesting, so in Canada it's possible that a defendant would have to contend with evidence against them without being told how that evidence was obtained? A jury would be asked to make a ruling on evidence without knowing the chain of custody?

 

[Sarye]

Haha, that's a crazy story.

Spoiler

So crazy it might be true..?

Though Google keeping his information is pretty scary.

I don't feel like testing it out but the way it's worded it seems like he's misunderstanding what's going on. For example did he just uninstall Google Chrome or actually deleted his account? Or is his password cached and saved in his user profile locally so when he redownloaded Chrome, all his past data is still there on his PC?

I mean.. I do agree that Google probably stores your data secretly as that is their main source of business, but what he said is hardly proof of anything.

 

[Boogie]

Interesting, so in Canada it's possible that a defendant would have to contend with evidence against them without being told how that evidence was obtained? A jury would be asked to make a ruling on evidence without knowing the chain of custody?

Not to that extent, no.

As an example, if police obtained a warrant to install a tracking device on a vehicle, that would obviously be disclosed.

But the precise technical specifications of the device itself, or where it was installed on the vehicle might remain privileged.

 

[Simon Belmont]

Since 2010? Hasn't RIM's business been in the shitter since the iPhone launched?

 

[BlastProcessing]

Not to that extent, no.

As an example, if police obtained a warrant to install a tracking device on a vehicle, that would obviously be disclosed.

But the precise technical specifications of the device itself, or where it was installed on the vehicle might remain privileged.

And that information would remain secret indefinitely? Even during the trial? So they don't have to prove that they put a specific device on the vehicle and they don't have to prove that the specific device's accuracy and reliability? That is a much lower standard for Forensic devices than exists in the US. Thanks for clarifying.

Motherboard has a little more on the story today:

https://motherboard.vice.com/read/rcmp-blackberry-project-clemenza-global-encryption-key-canadaThe key, according to Boismenu, is so powerful that it could be used to “illegitimately” decipher any “prerecorded communications encrypted with that key” — so it’s striking that the RCMP had access to it.

Indeed, Crown attorney Robert Rouleau stated in an ex parte hearing: “So right now, with my device, if I’m not on the [Business Enterprise Server], I’m a dead chicken. That’s the reality of it, that’s what we don’t want the general public to know.”


RCMP inspector Mark Flynn testified in a heavily redacted transcript that BlackBerry “facilitated the interception process,” however, Flynn also stated that facilitation could mean mere information sharing or a physical action to aid interception.

Flynn further testified that revealing the key would jeopardize the RCMP’s working relationship with BlackBerry, and harm BlackBerry itself, since “it is not a good marketing thing to say we work with the police.”