Feds Decrypt Laptop of Defendant Ordered to Turn Over Hard Drive
- Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:20am by
Liz Klimas
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In early January we first brought you the case of Ramona Fricosu, a defendant in a case for real estate fraud in Colorado, who was pleading in favor of a judge honoring her Fifth Amendment rights that would protect her against self-incrimination when prosecutors were trying to force her to decrypt a laptop they believed held evidence.
From that time to now, the federal prosecutors were granted their request by a U.S. District Court judge to force Fricosu to open the laptop; Fricosu’s lawyer said there was the possibility she had forgotten the password and appealed the court decision; and, finally, the appeal was denied and a deadline set upon Fricosu to unlock the device.
Fricosu‘s deadline was today but she didn’t decrypt the laptop — the feds did. Wired reports that the feds have unlocked the laptop, which was legally obtained by a search warrant:
“They must have used or found successful one of the passwords the co-defendant provided them,” Fricosu’s attorney, Philip Dubois, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
[...]
The woman and her ex-husband co-defendant, Scott Whatcott, are accused of filing fraudulent documents to obtain home titles and selling the houses without paying the mortgage. Dubois believes Whatcott supplied the password to the police.
According to Wired, Dubois has been provided with information prosecutors have gleaned from the laptop, but he said he has not yet looked at the documents. Wired also notes that this news comes at an interesting time when just last week, in a separate case, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that forcing a person to decrypt a laptop was in fact a violation of Fifth Amendment rights.
If the laptop had not been decrypted by March 1, and Fricosu had not supplied a password or unlocked it herself, she could have been held in contempt.
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Arc
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 5:53amSomeone was discussing the probability of “ reading someones mind” in the future. I believe they said in 5 years??? If thats possible………might as well “do away with the 5th”.
Report Post »408 CheyTac
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:00amsimple answer is to encrypt everything, no matter how trivial, multiple nested hidden containers, and the longest random passwords you can possibly remember. send them on a goose chase with no end.
It’s damn hard to find a black cat hiding in a dark coal bin.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:14pmActually the simplest answer is just not to commit fraud or embezzle money in the first place.
Report Post »Sniper48
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 9:02amThat is a great idea. IF we overload the system, it may crash or get tied up enough to leave us alone. BTW, where can I get a 408 Cheytac?
Report Post »bruce_baker
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:34pmHow many hours, at taxpayer expense, were spent to collect how much from the defendants?
Report Post »OklahomaBound
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 7:50pmHaha, busted!
Report Post »omgfolks
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:53pmYou know is a way I am hoping that they find nothing on her laptop. The only thought something was there, no crediable evidence was ever reported in the news to say they new it was there, however with all of the Law Maipulation and Verbal Manipulation that went on during this time to allow them access to find nothing would be poetic justice. I think she did right in refusing it, I think the laws and the constitution was manipulated to allow to be incarcerate for protecting her right not to incrimininate herself. Every Article I read said THEY THINK ITS THERE, not one ever said the KNOW ITS THERE. What a person thinks should never take precedent over Probable Cause.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:21pmThe co-defendant in the case told them it was there. That IS probable cause. You weren’t paying very much attention if you read every article on the subject.
Report Post »eternalwolf777
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 3:58pmAs I stop and think about this, I can kind of see the governments position in it.
If a judge issues a Constitutionally friendly search warrant for someone’s home/ property, then the contents of a computer (if it is applicable to the warrant) is fair game. The owners of the property are compelled to comply with the search warrant.
Report Post »RejectFalseIcons
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 4:53pmThey cannot force you to unlock a safe, only to provide access to your private property. If they cannot cut/crack the safe, your 5th amendment rights protect you from being coerced into supplying the combination. Intellectual Property is still Private Property, and therefore access to it is protected by the 4th amendment, and your compliance in an investigation of ANY kind is ALWAYS protected by the 5th.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 5:13pm@REJECT
Wrong. If a search warrant specifically spells out that evidence pertaining to a crime is known to be locked inside your safe you don’t have a fifth amendment protection from opening the safe. It‘s just not made an issue because it’s rather easy to open a safe by force and just get the evidence rather than holding them in contempt and waiting for them to comply with the warrant.
Complying with a legally obtained search warrant is not equal to self incrimination. The only thing the fifth amendment protects you against is being forced to MAKE STATEMENTS that could incriminate you. That’s why you have the right to remain silent, and it’s why you are not required to take the stand in your own defense and can refuse to answer questions if you do take the stand. Those are the only protections afforded by the fifth amendment. People trying to stretch it to cover anything else are just trying to create protections out of thin air that don’t exist.
Report Post »devlin7
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:18pmOn the computer could be statements that could incriminate you. They can seize the computer and in doing that they have the data… they just don’t have what is in your head. They should not be able to force you to turn over info in your memory.
It’s like the cops being able to search your home… you do not have to tell them were everything is hidden, just let them in and as any smart lawyer would tell you during a search… keep your mouth shut.
Report Post »EchoHawk
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:35pmI would disagree with you on one point Rowgue. In a criminal trial the prosecution has no way to compel the defendant to testify, that is unless the defendant chooses to take the stand in their own defense, which is ill advised. Once the defendant takes the stand in their own defense the prosecution has the right to cross examine and if they choose not to answer specific questions it can be very damning, not to mention additional penalties for contempt of court.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:19pm@ECHO
What you’re talking about only applies to witnesses. Other people can be compelled to answer questions if it’s already been determined that they have information that is relevant to the case. The DEFENDANT in the case cannot be compelled to do so. Sure if you take the stand and refuse to answer certain questions it can look bad to the jury, but you can‘t be compelled to answer them and you can’t be held in contempt for it.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:53pmI didn’t know they had permission or lawful authority to just “go head”. They didn’t need to know her password — there are complex programs federal authorities have that basically, in simple terms, just run and go through every single combination of letters and numbers, which with today’s processors, doesn’t take too long. And they have backdoors, thanks to people like Gates, that they can access. You‘re information isn’t NEVER safe when dealing with the government.
Report Post »Variable
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 4:29pmNo backdoor in TruCrypt. If you password is LONG enough they will never get it. Pick a password over 10 characters that is not a word in the dictionary and you are golden. You can also setup 2 passwords, one for the info you want to hide and one for a “plausible deniablity” operating system (with no incriminating evidence) Just make sure you give them the “right” one when they force you to give them your password.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 5:18pmBrute force password cracking doesn‘t really work anymore unless it’s really simplistic software where password protection is kind of a second thought. Everything else is smart enough to realize when a brute force crack is being attempted and have failsafes in place to protect against them. A brute force cracking program making a thousand attempts at inputting the password every second isn’t hard to detect.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 7:55pm[They didn’t need to know her password — there are complex programs federal authorities have that basically, in simple terms, just run and go through every single combination of letters and numbers,]
Complex programs eh? We have access to the same software boy wonder.
Report Post »Either the defendant had a lousy PW or quote: “They must have used or found successful one of the passwords the co-defendant provided them”
In other words this wasn’t some stupendous achievement by government software running on super computers.
FlatFoot
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:21pmThe Courts, Judges and attorneys, all across the country are following President Barack Hussein Obama‘s and Democrat’s prominent lead… the US Constitution is archaic, inapplicable in modern times, no longer has meaning, and no longer carries any weight or force of law. It is just an old piece of paper filled with little more than lofty desires, no rights, and all but the original are to be shredded and discarded. The original is to be kept only for historical antiques purposes and as a running joke that only Democrats are privy to.
Report Post »Epic Fail
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:31pmThat is until there is some part of the Constitution that helps them. Then they hold it up like it is their bible.
Report Post »EchoHawk
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:40pmIt’s as close to a bible as a constitutional republic has Epic Fail. That didn’t work out to well for you now did it?
Report Post »BlackCrow
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:55pmSecurity was not quite good enough. If you are sharp you set the computer up so that on the fourth failed attempt to crack the password the machine automatically runs a shredder on the hard drive.
Report Post »thriceconcussed
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:46pmIsn’t it odd that shortly after they get a ruling that violates our freedom, suddenly the laptop is easily decrypted?
Report Post »eternalwolf777
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 3:55pmJust so you know this won’t work either. Common procedure is to remove the hard drive; create a duplicate image on another drive; and then try to decrypt the copy. You never work with the original.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:32pmIf the laptop was gathered via proper warrant(s), then it becomes available as evidence. By analogy, if there was a warrant to search their house, and a locked room was found, with a combination lock, it would be permissible for a judge to order them to open the lock. Failure to do so would result in an additional charge, as well as the lock being broken.
Report Post »So far gaining access to the laptop (similar to the room), it is not so difficult to get at the hard drive contents, password, or no password. If the contents are encoded, then all bets are off…, the authorities have to address that situation on their own.
GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:50pmFalse.
You cannot be forced to self incriminate.
Thanks for playing.
Report Post »ghostsouls
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:33pmThank goodness you are not in law enforcement, clearly you do not understand the laws. If there is a combination lock on a door, inside a home they have a search warrant for, yes they may ask that the person give them the combination, but if they refuse, they cannot force or compel him to open it, but they can open it themselves, forcibly, since they have a legal warrant to go in there.
Report Post »ApostolicIlx
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:13amAnd what is the basis in law for your argument? case law that is?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:53pmHere is the matter as far as I am concerned – if all the proper procedures of the law have been followed, and I mean EVERY portion of the law without any fault to be found; warrents secured with proper evidence and due procedure, then yes they could decrypt the password legally.
What comes down to the cases like this in the end is the view and decisions of the Supreme Court as we have seen in the combat against Obama-care how sone courts upheld it hands down, others overrode parts and one nullified it completely – now the SCOTUS will settle the matter.
Report Post »2GodBeTheGlory
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:29pmThe judge should still be charged with breaking the highest law of the land.
Report Post »Chris
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:28pmRegardless of the guilt of these parasites, if they are guilty, the 5th is a right enshrined in the constitution for a reason. Making the authorities prove beyond a reasonable doubt my guilt is THEIR job. My job isn’t to make that easier.
Report Post »Flyingfish
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:05pmPart of the responsibility of maintaining our rights falls on the individual. Even when the gov’t makes threats or at a minimum makes life inconvient or hard you have to stand your ground.
Police “May I search your person, your car, your house, your property, your thoughts”
You “No”
You may spend a small time in custody, but 9 times out 10, unless of course you actually are a criminal and they have evidence of such, they are going to let you go on your merry way with nothing more than a bluff of a threat.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:10pmVery true, but in this case the woman and her husband are probably guilty. Pleading the fifth was certainly indicative of the hard drive containing damming info. No doubt the company would probably help the government in order to get more lucrative government sales and contracts.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:53pm@JRook
There is no “probably guilty”, there is innocent until proven guilty, and guilty. There are no in between statuses conferred by the Constitution, the law or tradition. Pleading the 5th by definition cannot be used to indicate guilt and cannot be used as probable cause to investigate wrongdoing. Have you ever taken a Constitutional law class before?
As to the hard drive: Clearly she was using a crap encryption program or didn’t know how to encrypt it correctly. Her bad on that. If you are going to protect privacy, you have to use the correct tools, and use them correctly.
Report Post »RayOne
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:37amBlackberry has a better encryption program. A Senate Sub-Committee can‘t have anything the owner doesn’t want them to have.
Report Post »TomTraubert
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:30amThe Bill Of Rights…Gone.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 7:46pmfor quite some time now
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:29amNever, EVER, put anything on a harddrive that you don’t want found by the Feds. The backdoors are everywhere.(There are much better places for such information. Just sayin…)
Report Post »tugdiver
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:15amI was going to guess the password was the joke the Judge sent out to himself and six friends
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:03amWelcome to the United Socialist States of America.
Report Post »joeyos1971
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:03amShe should have used Derik’s boot and nuke program, then it would have made it impossible for the feds to recover any data. it makes the data irrecoverable!!
Report Post »neocon1
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:27amYup
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:32amNope, not if they got to the laptop before she decided to wipe it.
Report Post »Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:01amThe password was “password” – Go figure
Report Post »SageInWaiting
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:34amIt was much more difficult than that: pASSw0rd.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:55pmOr maybe ever “12345”.
Nah, only a moron would use that as a password!
Gratuitous Spaceballs reference FTW!
Report Post »leo346
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:56amDepends on if they got the lap top with a legeal search warent . In any case I dont see how they can force her to incrimante herself . The goverment can open files on a computer if they are there any way why would you make it such a legeal issue to be used in trial procedings.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:03amSo as to TRAMPLE on our rights in any way possible. Muddy the waters with precedent and then the gov’t can do whatever it wants
Report Post »JWINK56
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:54amJust another example of the Nazi left ignoring the Constitution. Wonder what they offered or threatened her X with to give them the password! Just like the Gestapo did to get info. Obummer hates the Constiution not because it tells him what to do, but because it says what you CAN’T do!
Report Post »SoundStride
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:45amAre we living in Nazi Germany these Gestapo police and judges are out of control.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:38amMakes you wonder if whatever she used to encrypt her machine has a built in backdoor.
Report Post »WeekendAtBernankes
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:24amShe probably had the password written down somewhere.
Report Post »neocon1
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 11:36amALL computers have back doors
Report Post »ICanComment
Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:09pm“ALL computers have back doors”
Yep. This is especially true if one has physical access to the computer. It most cases it makes the job much easier. There are several ways they could have decrypted said laptop, ranging from crude to very sophisticated. I’m guessing that they probably used a crude one.
Examples of “crude” methods:
“Brute force” – plug the hard drive to another computer, use a list of known dictionary words and common passwords, and go through all the passwords in an automated fashion.
“Social Engineering” – Ask or hunt around for clues and extrapolate or discover the password that way.
Sophisticated Method:
Use a supercomputer to break the encryption. (Very unlikely in this case)
What’s more, if the hard drive isn’t truly encrypted and the PC is just password protected, it’s ridiculously trivial to obtain access to files with restricted permissions. If one has physical access to a Windows PC, for instance, it’s a five minute job with little knowledge required.
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