Manhattan DA: Blocked phones continue to thwart criminal investigations
Manhattan DA: Blocked phones continue to thwart criminal investigations
The Manhattan district attorney's office says cell phones and encrypted tablets continue to hamper their investigations, preventing local prosecutors from solving crimes and winning cases.
From May to August, the Manhattan prosecutors forensic laboratory received 589 mobile devices connected to criminal investigations, according to a report released Thursday by the district attorney's office. Of these devices, 366 were blocked. Today, 165 of these remain inaccessible to researchers, the office said.
Manhattan prosecutors say that external providers continue to develop solutions to access blocked phones and tablets. That, in turn, is driving technology companies to find new ways to keep devices safe.
"We call it a game of cat and mouse," said Elizabeth Roper, head of the office of cybercrime and identity theft, in an interview. "Technology providers have responded to these software vendors by creating updates that prevent the way the software works."
Police authorities have criticized encrypted devices for years. Technology companies say they are protecting the personal information of their clients, including hackers and criminals.
The issue of blocked cell phones gained national attention during a Battle between Apple and the Department of Justice over a blocked phone Used by an armed man at a party at the 2015 office in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 and injuring 22.
The Justice Department had asked a federal judge to
to help you unlock the phone but Ultimately, he abandoned the case after finding another way to open the device.. In the report, the Manhattan district attorney's office said the problem is not likely to be resolved through litigation, but through federal legislation.
An Apple spokesman said the company has used increasingly strong encryption for the past 13 years to protect customers from attacks by hackers and identity thieves. The company's website says: "We believe that security should not be detrimental to individual privacy."
When the district attorney's office receives a blocked device, it often uses third-party software that continually guesses passwords. Since 2015, the office has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to external providers to try to unlock devices, according to the report.
Of the 366 blocked devices brought to the forensic laboratory during those four months, more than a third were related to cases of theft, forgery, fraud or cybercrime. According to the report, approximately 12% was related to drug charges and 20.8% to sexual crimes.
A case in which prosecutors believe that a blocked device has crucial evidence is that of a 7-month-old baby found dead in the East River in August. the The baby's father, James Currie, was arrested and charged With concealment of a corpse. Prosecutors tried to access the father's device but failed. They believe that internal evidence could establish the time and manner in which the baby died and lead to homicide charges.
A lawyer for Mr. Currie, who pleaded not guilty, did not respond to a request for comment.
In some cases, the report says, access to encrypted data has led to exemptions. In one case, at least 15 people were accused of being involved in a gang attack, said Michael Sachs, head of the office's research division. Two people who had been mistakenly identified by a witness were initially charged, but telephone evidence showed that these people arrived after the incident.
"By obtaining that evidence from the phone, we were able to exonerate and dismiss the charges against individuals," said Mr. Sachs.
Write to Corinne Ramey in Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
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