How the FBI Hacks around Encryption

 

The Intercept tells about how little encryption slows down law enforcement despite claims to the contrary. 

 

 To hear FBI Director James Comey tell it, strong encryption stops law enforcement dead in its tracks by letting terrorists, kidnappers and rapists communicate in complete secrecy.

 

 But that's just not true. In the rare cases in which an investigation may initially appear to be blocked by encryption — and so far, the FBI has yet to identify a single one — the government has a Plan B: it's called hacking.

Hacking — just like kicking down a door and looking through someone's stuff — is a perfectly legal tactic for law enforcement officers, provided they have a warrant. 

 

And law enforcement officials have, over the years, learned many ways to install viruses, Trojan horses, and other forms of malicious code onto suspects' devices. 

 

Doing so gives them the same access the suspects have to communications — before they've been encrypted, or after they've been unencrypted.