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Spanish court acquits suspects denied access to ‘raw’ Sky ECC intercepts in landmark decision | Computer Weekly

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Spanish court acquits suspects denied access to ‘raw’ Sky ECC intercepts in landmark decision | Computer Weekly


A Spanish court has raised questions about the validity and reliability of intercepted phone data, acquitting multiple defendants of drug trafficking charges in a case that relied solely on intercepted evidence from the encrypted phone network Sky ECC.

The case is the most significant rejection by a court of the validity of electronic evidence intercepted during an international police hacking operation against an encrypted phone network used by criminal groups.

The provincial court in València found that prosecutors could not rely on digital evidence to prove their case when defendants had been refused access to the raw data harvested from Sky ECC – denying experts the ability to test the reliability and authenticity of the data.

The decision, released on 23 January, will have implications for future prosecutions that rely on interception from police hacking operations into the Sky ECC and EncroChat encrypted phone networks, where there is no other evidence to prove criminal behaviour.

Julio Sánchez, a lead defence lawyer on the case, told Computer Weekly that the court decision will set a new benchmark for future prosecutions based on intercepted phone data.

The court had recognised that “the right to a fair trial requires that the defence has access to the original data in order to adequately exercise their right to [challenge the evidence] and defence,” he said. “I know that there are already judges, police officers and prosecutors studying how to act right now. They certainly did not expect this.”

Defendants denied access to raw intercept material

Defendants in EncroChat and Sky ECC cases have been routinely denied access to the raw data intercepted by joint French and Dutch investigators from the phone network services hosted in the OVH datacentre in France. The French government has also refused to disclose details of how investigators obtained data from the network, citing French military secrecy.

Police investigators have been able to identify the users of Sky ECC and EncroChat phones by mapping their phone movements, placing suspects under surveillance, or using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to identify vehicles. In some cases, suspects posted “selfies” of themselves or colleagues, which allowed police to identify them as owners of anonymous “handles” assigned to each phone encrypted user.

However, there have also been a significant number of prosecutions brought in which the only evidence of a crime came from intercepted messages themselves, with no supporting evidence from drug seizures or recovered firearms. Many of the people charged in the UK have pleaded guilty to avoid longer sentences.

The València court ruling will make prosecutions based on intercept evidence alone more difficult and will put pressure on police to make the raw intercept data available to defendants so that they can independently assess the reliability of the intercept material – something that prosecutors have so far resisted.

Cocaine discovered in shipping container

The police investigation in València began in August 2020, when Spanish police and customs surveillance officers found an open shipping container at the APM container terminal in the city’s port. They discovered three black bags holding more than 100 tablets of high-purity cocaine among the cargo.

Spanish police were unable to identify who was responsible for the drug smuggling operation and dropped the investigation. But just over a year later, prosecutors applied to France for copies of phone messages intercepted by French investigators from the Sky ECC mobile phone network, which they used to identify and arrest suspects.

Electronic evidence lacked digital signature

The 44-page judgment reveals that the French authorities sent Spanish police an email containing a URL to a zip file containing intercepted messages from Sky ECC relevant to the Spanish investigation. Spanish investigators downloaded the files to a USB stick presented to the court.

Defence lawyers argued that the files had been downloaded without using a digital signature to record a hash value that would ensure the integrity and authenticity of the messages.

The court agreed that the digital evidence obtained from Sky ECC was the product of at least two filtering and selection processes, by French and Spanish law enforcement authorities, that lacked “intrinsic elements that guarantee their authenticity and integrity”.

“For this reason, the electronic evidence provided lacked the only elements capable of guaranteeing the integrity and authenticity of digital evidence,” the judgment added.

Only evidence from intercepted chats

Most importantly, the court said that digital evidence from chat messages on Sky ECC provided was the only evidence supporting the prosecutor’s claims that most of the defendants were involved in criminal acts.

Although the police had produced reports on security camera recordings, which prosecutors said implicated some of the defendants as possible participants in the removal of drugs, defence lawyers raised “serious and very reasonable doubts” about the report which the court said “cannot be ignored”.

The Sky ECC intercepts “were the only evidence that could prove the participation of each and every one of the defendants”, it said.

Defence should be given ‘raw’ intercept data

In the absence of any other evidence against them, the defendants should have been provided with access to the raw data intercepted by the French, so that independent experts could test its reliability and challenge the evidence, the court found.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) established in the case of Yüksel Yalçinkaya v. Türkiye that defendants must be allowed to access the raw data obtained from the interception of encrypted communications systems.

“The unavailability of such raw data, of such original digital evidence, in these proceedings…means that the digital evidence provided against them is not sufficient to rebut the presumption of innocence of the accused,” the court found.

Court had no choice but to acquit

The defence did not dispute the discovery of cocaine in a container at the Port of València. But the court found that in the absence of any valid evidence beyond Sky ECC that the defendants were involved in a drug trafficking operation, “there is no choice but to acquit them of the crimes of which they were accused”.

Julio Sánchez told Computer Weekly that the case was the first trial in Spain in which there was no other evidence apart from the decrypted intercepts from Sky ECC.

“The court also recognises that the digital evidence provided lacked intrinsic elements that would guarantee its authenticity and integrity, such as a digital signature or hash value,” he added. “Furthermore, the court considers that, according to the doctrine of the ECHR, when digital evidence constitutes the only incriminating evidence, the right to a fair trial requires that the defence has access to the original data in order to adequately exercise their right to contradiction and defence.”

He said that the case will set a benchmark for other Sky ECC cases regarding the value of digital evidence and the “necessity for it to be original, authentic and integral. In short, it must be reliable to be used in court. This will be crucial.”

The Spanish decision follows a ruling by an Antwerp court last year to adjourn a prosecution after unexplained changes were found in evidence files containing intercept material from Sky ECC. Two Italian courts last week also raised questions about the reliability of Sky ECC evidence.

Man-in-the-middle attack

Dutch and Belgium police began an investigation into the Canadian company Sky Global, which provided mobile phone encryption software, known as Sky ECC, after seizing encrypted phones during a drug trafficking investigation in 2016. Belgian investigators were subsequently able to buy a Sky ECC cryptophone from a distributor they met at the back of a “seedy” café, who insisted on receiving cash and refused to provide a receipt.

Investigators later established that the Sky ECC network was hosted on two BlackBerry Business Enterprise Servers at the OVH SAS datacentre in Roubaix, France.

In May 2019, Belgium, Dutch and French investigators met at Europol in the Hague to discuss a joint investigation into the criminal use of Sky ECC phones, while the US agreed to pause its own investigation into Sky Global.

Dutch developed decryption technique

French investigators obtained a warrant to install a “data capture device” on a Sky ECC which allowed them to intercept and decrypt messages posted in group discussions by intercepting the encryption keys shared by the group owner.

A team of Dutch researchers subsequently developed a technique to decrypt individual messages by installing a man-in-the-middle (MITM) server to intercept Sky ECC traffic before passing it on to the legitimate Sky ECC server.

The MITM server sent out a specially designed “push notification” to prompt Sky ECC handsets to transmit the cryptographic data needed to decrypt individual messages, allowing police to intercept and decrypt messages in “real time”.

Spanish police issued a European Investigation Order to France requesting Sky ECC data to assist in identify suspects connected to the cocaine discovered at the Port of València in 2021.

The court acquitted all defendants last week. It found that the only issue that remained unresolved is the lack of legal recourse for people accused of crimes outside of France to challenge the lawfulness of the French judicial operation against Sky ECC’s servers in France.

The judges said it was not necessary to consider the issue as none of the defendants had attempted to bring a legal challenge in the French courts. Prosecutors have 10 days from the date of the judgment to file an appeal.

The 14 individuals acquitted were: Daniel Serrano Ramos, Fernando Moreno Sorní, Quintín Martínez Albalate, Jokin Larraona Ariño, Iván Torrijo Ríos, Onofre Garrido Rufino, Andrés Doménech Mocholí, Norman Pérez Galdón, Manuel Garrido Magdaleno, Javier Cutillas Riaza, Borja Manzano Ribes, and Lázaro Antonio Caparrós, Horatiu Armanca and Enrique Blanch Caparrós.



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Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray Is the Easiest Part of My Nightly Routine

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Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray Is the Easiest Part of My Nightly Routine


I’ve always approached taking melatonin supplements with skepticism. They seem to help every once in a while, but your brain is already making melatonin. Beyond that, I am not a fan of the sickly-sweet tablets, gummies, and other forms of melatonin I’ve come across. No one wants a bad taste in their mouth when they’re supposed to be drifting off to sleep.

This is where Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray comes in. Fellow WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins first gave it a go, and reported back favorably. This spray comes in two flavors, lavender and mint, and is sweetened with stevia. While I wouldn’t consider it a gourmet taste, I appreciate that it leans more into herbal components known for sleep and relaxation.

  • Photograph: Molly Higgins

Onnit

Instant Melatonin Mist

Keep in mind that melatonin is meant to be a sleep aid, not a cure-all. That being said, one serving of this spray has 3 milligrams of melatonin, which takes about six pumps to dispense. While 3 milligrams may not seem like a lot to really kickstart your circadian rhythm, it’s actually the ideal dosage to get your brain’s wind-down process kicked off. Some people can do more (but don’t go over 10 milligrams!), some less, but based on what experts have relayed to me, this is the preferable amount.

A couple of reminders for any supplement: consult your doctor if and when you want to incorporate anything, melatonin included, into your nighttime regimen. Your healthcare provider can help confirm that you’re not on any medications where adding a sleep aid or supplement wouldn’t feel as effective. Onnit’s Instant Melatonin Spray is International Genetically Modified Organism Evaluation and Notification certified (IGEN) to verify that it uses truly non-GMO ingredients.

Apart from that, there may be some trial and error on the ideal amount for you, and how much time it takes to kick in. Some may feel the melatonin sooner than others. For my colleague Molly, it took about an hour. Melatonin can’t do all the heavy lifting, so make sure you’re ready to go to bed when you take it, and that your sleep space is set up for sleep success, down to your mattress, sheets, and pillows.



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I Tested Bosch’s New Vacuum Against Shark and Dyson. It Didn’t Beat Them

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I Tested Bosch’s New Vacuum Against Shark and Dyson. It Didn’t Beat Them


There’s a lever on the back for this compression mechanism that you manually press down and a separate button to open the dustbin at the bottom. You can use the compression lever when it’s both closed and open. It did help compress the hair and dust while I was vacuuming, helping me see if I had really filled the bin, though at a certain point it doesn’t compress much more. It was helpful to push debris out if needed too, versus the times I’ve had to stick my hand in both the Dyson and Shark to get the stuck hair and dust out. Dyson has this same feature on the Piston Animal V16, which is due out this year, so I’ll be curious to see which mechanism is better engineered.

Bendable Winner: Shark

Photograph: Nena Farrell

If you’re looking for a vacuum that can bend to reach under furniture, I prefer the Shark to the Bosch. Both have a similar mechanism and feel, but the Bosch tended to push debris around when I was using it with an active bend, while the Shark managed to vacuum up debris I couldn’t get with the Bosch without lifting it and placing it on top of that particular debris (in this case, rogue cat kibble).

Accessory Winner: Dyson

Dyson pulls ahead because the Dyson Gen5 Detect comes with three attachments and two heads. You’ll get a Motorbar head, a Fluffy Optic head, a hair tool, a combination tool, and a dusting and crevice tool that’s actually built into the stick tube. I love that it’s built into the vacuum so that it’s one less separate attachment to carry around, and it makes me more likely to use it.

But Bosch does well in this area, too. You’ll get an upholstery nozzle, a furniture brush, and a crevice nozzle. It’s one more attachment than you’ll get with Shark, and Bosch also includes a wall mount that you can wire the charging cord into for storage and charging, and you can mount two attachments on it. But I will say, I like that Shark includes a simple tote bag to store the attachments in. The rest of my attachments are in plastic bags for each vacuum, and keeping track of attachments is the most annoying part of a cordless vacuum.

Build Winner: Tie

Image may contain Appliance Device Electrical Device Vacuum Cleaner Mace Club and Weapon

Photograph: Nena Farrell

All three of these vacuums have a good build quality, but each one feels like it focuses on something different. Bosch feels the lightest of the three and stands up the easiest on its own, but all three do need something to lean against to stay upright. The Dyson is the worst at this; it also needs a ledge or table wedged under the canister, or it’ll roll forward and tip over. The Bosch has a sleek black look and a colorful LED screen that will show you a picture of carpet or hardwood depending on what mode it’s vacuuming in. The vacuum head itself feels like the lightest plastic of the bunch, though.



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Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing

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Right-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing


Brandon Herrera, a prominent gun influencer with over 4 million followers on YouTube, said in a video posted this week that while it was unfortunate that Pretti died, ultimately the fault was his own.

“Pretti didn’t deserve to die, but it also wasn’t just a baseless execution,” Herrera said, adding without evidence that Pretti’s purpose was to disrupt ICE operations. “If you’re interfering with arrests and things like that, that’s a crime. If you get in the fucking officer’s way, that will probably be escalated to physical force, whether it’s arresting you or just getting you the fuck out of the way, which then can lead to a tussle, which, if you’re armed, can lead to a fatal shooting.” He described the situation as “lawful but awful.”

Herrera was joined in the video by former police officer and fellow gun influencer Cody Garrett, known online as Donut Operator.

Both men took the opportunity to deride immigrants, with Herrera saying “every news outlet is going to jump onto this because it’s current thing and they’re going to ignore the 12 drunk drivers who killed you know, American citizens yesterday that were all illegals or H-1Bs or whatever.”

Herrera also referenced his “friend” Kyle Rittenhouse, who has become central to much of the debate about the shooting.

On August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, traveled from his home in Illinois to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, brandishing an AR-15-style rifle, claiming he was there to protect local businesses. He killed two people and shot another in the arm that night.

Critics of ICE’s actions in Minneapolis quickly highlighted what they saw as the hypocrisy of the right’s defense of Rittenhouse and attacks on Pretti.

“Kyle Rittenhouse was a conservative hero for walking into a protest actually brandishing a weapon, but this guy who had a legal permit to carry and already had had his gun removed is to some people an instigator, when he was actually going to help a woman,” Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic strategist, said on Fox News this week.

Rittenhouse also waded into the debate, writing on X: “The correct way to approach law enforcement when armed,” above a picture of himself with his hands up in front of police after he killed two people. He added in another post that “ICE messed up.”

The claim that Pretti was to blame was repeated in private Facebook groups run by armed militias, according to data shared with WIRED by the Tech Transparency Project, as well as on extremist Telegram channels.

“I’m sorry for him and his family,” one member of a Facebook group called American Patriots wrote. “My question though, why did he go to these riots armed with a gun and extra magazines if he wasn’t planning on using them?”

Some extremist groups, such as the far-right Boogaloo movement, have been highly critical of the administration’s comments on being armed at a protest.

“To the ‘dont bring a gun to a protest’ crowd, fuck you,” one member of a private Boogaloo group wrote on Facebook this week. “To the fucking turn coats thinking disarming is the answer and dont think it would happen to you as well, fuck you. To the federal government who I’ve watched murder citizens just for saying no to them, fuck you. Shall not be infringed.”



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