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FBI failed to access 7,000 encrypted mobile devices
Agents at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been unable to extract data from nearly 7,000 mobile devices they have tried to access, the agency's director has said.
Christopher Wray said encryption on devices was "a huge, huge problem" for FBI investigations. The agency had failed to access more than half of the devices it targeted in an 11-month period, he said.
One cyber-security expert said such encryption was now a "fact of life". Many smartphones encrypt their contents when locked, as standard - a security feature that often prevents even the phones' manufacturers from accessing data. Such encryption is different to end-to-end encryption, which prevents interception of communications on a large scale.
Cyber-security expert Prof Alan Woodward at the University of Surrey said device encryption was clearly frustrating criminal investigations but it would be impractical and insecure to develop "back doors" or weakened security.
In a time when the government is committing criminal acts, is it not advisable for citizens to do what they can to protect themselves from that crime?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Tuesday October 24 2017, @05:06AM (3 children)
Which brands did they fail to access? That's what I want to know.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 24 2017, @07:27AM (1 child)
Sorry that information can not be revealed because it would help the terrorists and gangbanger pedophiles on PCP win.
You can't withhold secrets from the government but they can sure withhold secrets from you.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday October 24 2017, @02:43PM
Did you mean PHP? Oh, wait. Nevermind.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday October 25 2017, @01:37PM
The ones they decided weren't worth the cost/effort of full analysis.
7,000 phones that they "failed to access" could mean nothing more than a field agent hitting the unlock button, getting a password prompt, and deciding they didn't have enough evidence for a warrant or they had enough to lock the person up already and it therefore wasn't worth paying for their crypto experts to fully analyze that phone.