The Feds Cracked El Chapo's Encrypted Comms Network By Flipping an Informant

[nsaspook]

I would not want to be that guy now that it's public he ratted out El Chapo. I hope he likes that remote cabin in Montana or whatever with that new identity.

https://gizmodo.com/the-feds-cracked-el-chapos-encrypted-communications-net-1831595734

As has been previously reported by Vice, Colombian drug lord Jorge Cifuentes testified that Rodriguez had forgot to renew a license key critical to the communications network of Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel in September 2010, forcing cartel leaders to temporarily rely on conventional cell phones. Cifuentes told the court he considered Rodriguez “an irresponsible person” who had compromised their security, with a terse phone call played by prosecutors showing Cifuentes warned the subordinate he was in “charge of the system always working.”But on Tuesday it was revealed that the FBI had lured Rodriguez into a meeting with an agent posing as a potential customer much earlier, in February 2010, according to a report in the New York Times. Later, they flipped Rodriguez, having him transfer servers from Canada to the Netherlands in a move masked as an upgrade. During that process, Rodriguez slipped investigators the network’s encryption keys.

I'm sure none of the 1500 drug lords and cartel members he ratted on bears him any grudge, they're known to be a forgiving and kind-hearted folk who don't take loyalty all that seriously.

 

[jim mcnamara]

There is a town, Rio Rancho in New Mexico US that had more than a few people living there under witness protection from the 1960's onward. Since the decade when the town first sprung up. My late wife had a DiCarlo last name. DiCarlos were the kingpins of the Mafia in New Orleans.

She was at the hairdresser Rio Rancho, lots of women talking, and somehow the topic of 'What was your maiden name?' arose. So, she said 'DiCarlo'. Dead silence. For the remainder of her visit. She never went back there again.

So the issue affects people who are totally outside of any wrongdoing, or outside of protection for cooperating with law enforcement.

 

[berkeman]

So, she said 'DiCarlo'. Dead silence. For the remainder of her visit.

LOL, although probably not so funny at the time.