Schneier on Security

Clive Robinson • October 14, 2025 11:41 AM

@ Bruce,

I don’t want to get into the politics or personalities of this as it’s really not relevant.

However what is relevant is the UK Police quite deliberately waiting for someone to cross into international space then detain them because they could then use “extraordinary powers” they did not otherwise have.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rpwkp9xz2o

It’s the reason I advise people not to cross into “air space” / “territorial waters” with any electronic devices.

And if they must, take electronic devices to first encrypt them with a “random key” that they have “posted ahead” and in no way attempted to memorise.

That way they can truthfully say they do not know what the key is and never did. Which under the legislation is about the only defence available to a person.

Yes there are ways to make it more secure such that you never see the key in any form and I’ve mentioned them before.

But the point is, in the UK the Police and other authorities are quite deliberately plotting how to go on what would otherwise be “unlawful fishing trips” and in other ways abuse the system put in place by the UK Parliament to protect UK Citizens. So they are quite deliberately thumbing their nose at the UK legal system, knowing they will almost certainly get away with it…

I just wish a judge would find an excuse to lock one or two of them up for a while, so the message that the protective legislation is there for a good and sufficient reason, and they should not abuse / break them just because they wear a uniform.

Clive Robinson • October 15, 2025 1:34 AM

@ Bruce, ALL,

This is “hot off the press and should be read.

Even though to some of us it’s not unexpected.

https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/surveillance-secrets/

It might or should make you concider changing your habits,

Underneth it is the issue of “Signalling System 7″(SS7) that I’ve mentioned before, and knew all about back in the very early days of Cellular phones (and it’s still there today).

Remember the old Joseph Heller saying,

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”

And in this day and age they are after everyone “just in case” with “Collect it All” they have as I’ve mentioned before the equivalent of a “virtual time machine”. A point few really get the significance of untill they take the time to think about it. Then they often “Change their Habits”.

For those that doubt, just remember at one point in my life I earned a living because of it, and I still could today because as was once observed,

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Clive Robinson • October 15, 2025 6:41 AM

@ not important, ALL,

You say,

“When anybody admitted to US on any type of visa, they accepted the principle of being law abiding resident.”

That fails for two reasons,

1, It’s not possible to know all the laws and regulations.
2, Most citizens break some of those rules just about every day or week.

Because this is the way the Politicians and legislators want things to be.

So in practice,

“There are no law abiding residents/citizens in any country, only those who have not yet been prosecuted.”

If you doubt this read Harvey A. Silverglate’s,

“Three Felonies a Day : How the Feds target the innocent.”

https://fee.org/articles/three-felonies-a-day-how-the-feds-target-the-innocent/

As a Civil libertarian attorney, he’s seen first hand the tricks the Federal prosecutor’s use to obtain convictions, or make bankrupt those that they chose to attack, and who fight back by going to court. With their behaviour all carried out on “The Public Dime” and with no fear of sanction even when they themselves break the law as they “knowingly do” multiple times a day.

From the Federal point of view “every trial is a show trial” and “the chosen victim must be slaughtered for the beast to feast”.

It makes the Roman “feeding to the lions” look positively humane in comparison.