How Snowden's Email Provider Tried To Foil The FBI Using Tiny Font

[struggle4progress]

by Eyder Peralta
October 03, 2013 9:07 PM

... On Wednesday, the documents filed (pdf) with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia were unsealed ...

Wired Magazine details the ordeal, which began with a June 28 "pen register" order, demanding so-called metadata for one user ... Levison finally complied on Aug. 2.

But he ... sent over five, 2,560 character SSL encryption keys, but he did so on an 11-page printout in pretty much illegible 4-point type.

"To make use of these keys, the FBI would have to manually input all 2,560 characters, and one incorrect keystroke in this laborious process would render the FBI collection system incapable of collecting decrypted data," prosecutors complained.

The court ordered a $5,000 a day fine ...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/03/228878659/how-snowdens-email-provider-tried-to-foil-the-fbi-using-tiny-font

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. It wasn't sort of illegible, it was entirely illegible.

It looks like it was subject to a couple of fax transmissions prior to delivery.

[struggle4progress]

2. He's appealing to 4th Circuit, with a 10 October deadline for filing motions, but I expect

he'll lose there bigtime

And IMO he's in a weak place to get much public support: he was trying to circumvent orders from a standard court, not from the more hidden FISA court

[tridim]

3. It's all very "Fargo". nt