Authorities release unclassified report on system used to crack mob (Scarfo) computer

AP | 10/11/01

[Native American Female Vet]

Authorities release unclassified report on system used to crack mob computer

By Associated Press, 10/11/2001 09:00

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Federal authorities have released an unclassified summary of how they used a secret computer system to crack the computer code of a New Jersey mobster.

The ''key-logger system,'' designed for sensitive national security investigations, allowed FBI agents to break an encryption code that Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., the son of imprisoned New Jersey mob boss Nicodemo ''Little Nicky'' Scarfo Sr., had allegedly used to protect gambling records.

Federal authorities resisted revealing details of the system, saying it would ''jeopardize both ongoing and future criminal and national security operations.'' Computer privacy advocates said the system could be an intrusion on private computer users.

As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Politan ordered that authorities boil down the technical details into an unclassified summary, which was filed Wednesday in Newark.

According to court documents, agents physically broke into Scarfo's office in Belleville to access the computer and install the system after they discovered that key information in files they had obtained previously through a search warrant was encrypted.

The system the agents installed enabled them to record keystrokes and analyze data without violating federal wiretap laws. Investigators say the system gave a record of the entire gambling and loansharking operation maintained by Scarfo.

The Scarfo defense maintained they needed all the details to determine if the bugging was illegal.

A three-count indictment by a federal grand jury in June of last year led to the arrest of Scarfo and alleged associate Frank Paolercio. Scarfo, 36, and Paolercio, 32, are accused of loansharking and running a gambling racket in northern New Jersey.

[eno_]

This indicates LEOs do not have technology capable of cracking cypto systems like PGP if they are carefully used. If such technology exists, it would not be shared with LEOs becuase news of its existence would leak too quickly.

[boris]

They probably installed a device between the keyboard and PC, which then recorded every keystroke, before passing it along to the PC. Internal encryption software like PGP has no chance against such a device.

--Boris

[boris]

See my #5.