Tech | October 06, 2010 | 170 comments

Teen jailed for not giving police his computer password

source: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/361693/teenager-jailed-for-refusing-to-reveal-encryption-keys

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richjm
A 19-year-old has been jailed for four months after he refused to hand his computer password over to police.

Oliver Drage was arrested in May last year by officers investigating child sexual exploitation. Police couldn't gain access to his computer because it was protected by a complicated 50-character encryption password.

Drage was formally requested to tell police the password but failed to do so.

He was convicted last month of failing to disclose an encryption key, an offence covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and jailed for 16 weeks in a Young Offenders Institute.

Police are still trying to crack the code on Drage's computer to find out its contents 17 months after they seized it.

Detective Sergeant Neil Fowler, of Lancashire Police, said: 'Drage was previously of good character so the immediate custodial sentence handed down by the judge in this case shows just how seriously the courts take this kind of offence.

'Computer systems are constantly advancing and the legislation used here was specifically brought in to deal with those who are using the internet to commit crime.

'It sends a robust message out to those intent on trying to mask their online criminal activities that they will be taken before the courts with the ultimate sanction, as in this case, being a custodial sentence.'

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170 comments // Teen jailed for not giving police his computer password

  • tinHat
    • 0
      tinHat  

    • Do any of you know the time it would take to crack a 50 digit encrypted password? The sun would burn out before they get on his laptop. After he gets out he shouldn't get in any more trouble seeing as the only thing he did wrong that they can prove is not tell them his password. They can't prove he has anything on his computer simply because he has a hell of a long encrypted password. Sure you can speculate all you want but you can't prove it.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • tinHat:

      Actually it wouldn't take nearly that long. Keeping in mind that processors become more powerful with an exponential progression. And taking the constant developments of decryption algorithms into account, it is feasible the code will be broken well within our and his lifetime.

    • 1 year ago
  • tinHat
    • 0
      tinHat  
    • Image
    • Wriswith:

      http://www.dekart.com/howto/howto_disk_encryption/howto_recover_lost_password/

      yeah, there not getting in his laptop in his lifetime. The only way they can get his password is to brute force it or have him tell them it. And were pretty ahead at the moment on decryption algorithms as well.

      Random copy paste from that article

      This means that there will be 26^6=308915776 attempts. If you make the password one character longer, the previous value increases to 8031810176 (adding 7722894400 more operations!)

      Thats why there not getting into his laptop

    • 1 year ago
  • Klause
    • 0
      Klause  

    • First of all, Lancashire is in the UK, we have no written constitution, no 5th amendment and 'this kid', as so many have put it, is 19 so therefore an adult and would have been treated accordingly.

      His arrest was in conjunction with an ongoing inquiry into child abuse and online child pornography which led to the defendants’ PC and under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Part III, it is an offence to withhold passwords. The defendant was convicted last month of failing to disclose his password.

      This legislation was brought in to catch criminals who use the internet to commit crime.

      There are a great many people on commenting on this article that are clearly very clever and are putting their points across extremely eloquently and I, as most, enjoy a good debate on various thought provoking topics. Unfortunately, I feel people are missing a most valuable point; THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN.

      I feel, and suspect deep down most of the other commenter’s do, that any self respecting person would, if innocent of possessing child pornography on their pc, would be willing, if not happy, to co-operate with the law in order to clear their name and help in the ongoing investigation into child pornography.

      PEDOPHILIA IS THE VILEST OF CRIMES AND OUR OWN PERSONAL VIEWS MUST BE PUT ASIDE, NOT DISMISSED, IN ORDER TO RID OUR SOCIETY OF THE RISK POSED TO ALL OUR CHILDREN.

    • 1 year ago
  • corndog67
    • +1
      corndog67  

    • If you are peddling kiddie porn, you get whatever you deserve, hopefully, general population in prison, and they let everyone know what you did, and who you are.

      If he is a pedophile, hopefully, someone kills his ass. If it were you or me, I'd gladly let them look, unless I was hiding something. Eroding your rights? Well, I'd rather not go back to jail. So they can look at whatever they want. Why become a martyr is there is nothing in there.

    • 1 year ago
  • dariusvons
    • 0
      dariusvons  

    • what about protection against search and seizure? unless they have a warrant, or the kid is ordered to surrender the information by a judge, the COPS are, as usual, acting unconstitutionally here reguardless of WHY they are doing so.

    • 1 year ago
  • RojoGatto
  • ayipis
    • -4
      ayipis  
    • Image

    • http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-fresno-amber-alert,0,3949694.story?track=r...

      Abducted Fresno Girl Sexually Assaulted Before Escaping

      Gregorio Gonzalez, 24 (Fresno Police Dept.)
      320
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      Related
      PICTURE: Possible suspect vehicle
      Video: Girl at center of Amber Alert makes dramatic escape

      KTLA News
      3:52 p.m. PDT, October 5, 2010


      FRESNO (KTLA) -- Police say an 8-year-old girl who was abducted while playing outside a Fresno home was sexually assaulted before managing to escape her captor.

      Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says the child told investigators that 24-year-old Gregorio Gonzalez took her to a wooded area near a canal and sexually assaulted her after kidnapping her Monday night.

      Gonzalez allegedly stopped his truck and pushed out the girl Tuesday morning after a driver recognized his vehicle and cut him off in traffic.

      Police say the motorist recognized the suspect's truck from media reports, which showed surveillance video of the vehicle.

      The pickup truck was later spotted by authorities, who had received a tip about its whereabouts, and he was arrested in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

      Police say Gonzalez is a member of the Bulldog street gang.

      *****************************************

      lets say the police saw this guy and rescued the girl..and the ACLU would argue that the police does not have a warrant to search his car..would you allow this piece of garbage to walk??

      come on people..get off this giddy joy when it comes to law enforcement..

    • 1 year ago
  • ayipis
    • -3
      ayipis  

    • http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/oc-man-sentenced-in-child-porn-cas...

      O.C. man sentenced in child porn case
      October 7, 2010 | 5:26 pm
      A 24-year-old Orange County man was sentenced Thursday for possessing child pornography and annoying a 12-year-old girl at the Stanton Public Library, authorities said.

      Alejandro Lorenzo Contreras, a Stanton resident, was sentenced to one year in jail, three years’ formal probation and is required to register as a sex offender, the Orange County district attorney's office sad.
      Contreras pleaded guilty last month to a court offer to one misdemeanor count of possession of child pornography and one misdemeanor count of child annoyance, the Orange County district attorney's office said.

      Prosecutors said Contreras followed three girls into the Stanton library on July 13 and caused them to feel uncomfortable. He followed them outside and asked the 12-year-old to take a cellphone photo of herself and send it to his cellphone, according to prosecutors.

      Contreras was arrested after the girl told authorities. He had a pornographic photo of another child on his cellphone, prosecutors said.

      ***************************

      sometimes..people need to get over their disdain or distrust of authority..

    • 1 year ago
  • alicynx
  • RastusJr
  • vinicius
  • mik661
    • +1
      mik661  

    • so 17 months went by after they first arrested him and they can come up with anything else. If this crime was against someone (such as was stated in one comment his niece) you think that they could say something? Pete Townsend was given a caution just for looking at the home page of a pedophile web page why wasnt something similiar done with him if their was any real evidence?

    • 1 year ago
  • mik661
    • +1
      mik661  

    • The teenager, who was not convicted of any other offences, was arrested in May last year after police investigating a child exploitation network searched his home near Blackpool.
      .He was convicted in just 15 minutes at Preston crown court and sent to a young offenders institution for 16 weeks.

      Det Sgt Neil Fowler, of Blackpool Police, said: ‘This sends a robust message out to those intent on trying to mask their online criminal activities that they will go before the courts, with the ultimate sanction being a custodial sentence.’

      But Simon Davies, of lobby group Privacy International, said: ‘The problem is you’re jailed not for what could be on your computer but the simple fact you’ve refused to co-operate. What concerns me is that, over time, the power will be abused.’

      As well as child pornography cases, police say they use the powers to investigate suspected insider dealing and illegal file-sharing.

      Experts say password encryption is becoming increasingly sophisticated, using several layers including graphics and photographs

      I see. This sends a robust message that if we think you are a bad boy and wont help us convict you we will send you to jail for a make believe crime. Oh wait that was what he was accused of to begin with since they seem unable to provide any shred of evidence to support their claims. I would guess that any evidence they obtained was either collected illegally or they found it when somebody rich or politically connected got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

    • 1 year ago
  • antisocialnetworker
  • alicynx
  • mik661
    • +3
      mik661  
    • alicynx:

      Burn his hand in the flame and then wrap it up. If God doesnt heal him tomorrow then burn him at the stake. If we are wrong thats ok cause is soul will surely be with God.

    • 1 year ago
  • dalistuff
  • mik661
    • +1
      mik661  
    • dalistuff:

      It was along the lines of how in the past they tested people to see if they were witches. Some common ones were burning your hand in a flame then wrapping it up. They would unwrap it the next day. If it was healed it was sign from God that you were innocent. If it was still burnt then they would burn you at the stake. Or they would tie you up and throw you in the water. If you drowned you must have been a witch because God would have saved you. It was in reaction to the people commenting on this post who just absolutely know, i mean INFALLIBLY know that they young man is a sick pervert hiding horrid kiddy porn on his computer because no one but a guilty pervert would choose not to let the authorities rifle through their personal property because an unnamed snitch made undisclosed allegations. The seemed to beieve they had God like powers. so there you go no imaginary friends. I fooled you because I have no friends at all. buwaaaaaaahaaa!

    • 1 year ago
  • Klause
  • Ogaal
    • 0
      Ogaal  

    • Like in any situation:
      "If you've got nothing to hide, then why can't I/we take a look at it? After all if there's nothing you've done wrong you have no reason to not let me/us look. Right?"

    • 1 year ago
  • RastusJr
  • simguy665
  • billssqueeze
  • kulahptik
    • +2
      kulahptik  

    • In America we have the 5th amendment and in a similar incident the case was thrown out of court because it would be incriminating yourself. Say if they were looking for kiddie porn and found illegaly downloaded music what would they do? This just shows the ineptitude of the police and lack of respect for their citizens. Don't get me wrong kiddie porn producers should be shot, but the police are obviously outsmarted and just bullying someone and billing the taxpayers for it. If they had done their job right in the first place he would either be free or in jail for child pornography.

    • 1 year ago
  • randallr01
  • curtisreed
    • +4
      curtisreed  
    • Image

    • “Drage was previously of good character so the immediate custodial sentence handed down by the judge in this case shows just how seriously the courts take this kind of offence,” said detective sergeant Neil Fowler of Blackpool Police.

      Isn't that a little odd? the guy is being investigated for trafficking in child porn but he was described as "previously of good character"...?!

      if we was truly "previously of good character", then why would they arrest him for not providing the password, clearly they suspected him of a serious crime.

      there is just too much information missing from this article to support a lot of the conclusions drawn by commentators here. First, what exactly is the nature of the crime? Had he simply taken naked photos of his 16 year old girlfriend, or had he helped photograph 6 year old kids being raped by old men?

      What additional evidence do they have that links this kid to a crime? Was he caught with a camera containing child porn photos? Or did they just hear a rumor at school?

      My point is that we don't have enough info to just automatically presume his innocence nor to condemn him outright.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • -1
      Wriswith  
    • curtisreed:

      The original crime is irrelevant. This is a special case because the kid was convicted for not giving his password when ordered to. The moral question is if he has the moral right to refuse giving his password. What is clear is that he doesn't have the legal right.

    • 1 year ago
  • billssqueeze
  • sudopinion
    • +1
      sudopinion  

    • What information on your computer do you have to hide that would cause you to let yourself be jailed by the state for 4 MONTHS for?

      Also, the author does not understand encryption.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • sudopinion:

      Obviously this would be information that would land you in jail for more than 4 months.
      For example:
      - child pornography
      - credit card information
      - evidence of financial fraud
      - ...

      I do not get why anyone would give their password if they are guilty. If the police is going to go through the trouble of decrypting it you will probably land in jail for a lot longer. The only reason to give up the password is that your encryption is somehow flawed (weak pass) and they will brake it quickly.

    • 1 year ago
  • sudopinion
  • Elevator
  • ayipis
  • passjay
  • Wriswith
  • RastusJr
  • CCorsair
    • +3
      CCorsair  

    • wow what a lame PD.. so it was encryption there people who can crack that in no time .. 17 month wow .. as for the guy if he is protecting people who harm children let him rot.. pour some corn syrup over him and find good size red ant hill ...he'll talk

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • +1
      Wriswith  
    • CCorsair:

      For some reason people think encryption is easy to crack. Anyone who knows even a little bit what he is doing can encrypt something and make it virtually unbreakable.

    • 1 year ago
  • dalistuff
  • Proud_Progressive
  • Proud_Progressive
  • Cubejam
  • RastusJr
  • Wriswith
  • Ogaal
    • +2
      Ogaal  
    • Wriswith:

      Correction, the orginal (suspected) crime is still realavant because it is what lead to the searching of his computer and the request for his password.

      Basicly being charged guilty with not complying and telling his "complicated 50-character encryption password", at legal request, is dependent on the first crime (if it did happen), therefore the first crime can't be irrelevant without making the second crime irrelevant.

      Besides no one is ever* charged with just 1 crime, it is always a myriad of crimes.

    • 1 year ago
  • toyotabedzrock
    • 0
      toyotabedzrock  

    • So they think the Minor was dealing in pics of what, his friends getting raped by old men?

      TrueCrypt allows plausible deniability to avoid just these types of issues! Plus the FBI was recently unable to break the encryption on a older version of it.

    • 1 year ago
  • nightmonkey
    • +1
      nightmonkey  

    • I want each and every person's user name and password who jailed him because I suspect you have illegal porn or your PC... If I don't get them to me, then please lock yourself up for not giving them to me.

      Now you see how moronic this is?

    • 1 year ago
  • toyotabedzrock
  • Wriswith
  • ImConcerned
  • RastusJr
  • billssqueeze
  • CalgarC
    • -1
      CalgarC  

    • stay strong my man... your internet porn is safe :D i would never give my password to police or any government agency.. lol thats probably more important then my sin number

    • 1 year ago
  • ImConcerned
  • RastusJr
  • ImConcerned
  • RastusJr
    • +2
      RastusJr  
    • ImConcerned:

      So, after finding this man quilty without due process, if it turns out that your assumptions based on no evidence were wrong, will you at that point admit that it was you who is the fool?

    • 1 year ago
  • ImConcerned
  • RastusJr
  • billssqueeze
    • -1
      billssqueeze  
    • ImConcerned:

      on what grounds do you have to make these accusations. just wait your turn will come, then you might get a clue. If he was guilty this would be a totally diffrerent story. I don't believe any of us would condone any child being exploited even the kid in jail.

    • 1 year ago
  • billssqueeze
  • PigFarmington
  • 5ka
    • 0
      5ka  

    • Is he even a registered sex offender? I'm glad the constitution is there to protect us, oh, wait...

    • 1 year ago
  • snarly
  • RastusJr
  • Ogaal
  • RastusJr
  • EmperorThan
    • -3
      EmperorThan  

    • Was in England no? Who knows what the fucking laws are there... We left there because the state can really do whatever it wants to you. I feel bad for him, in America this couldn't have happened but in England who fucking knows what's legal and illegal. They have a queen for fucks sake. "What's that got to do with anything?" EVERYTHING! Gah, haven't any of you seen the HBO series John Adams?!??!

    • 1 year ago
  • Cubejam
  • mik661
    • 0
      mik661  
    • Cubejam:

      Yes but he is right that civil rights in the UK are seriously degraded. The entire idea of civil rights originated in England but now if you shoot someone who attacks you in your house you will do more prison time than they will. Then they sue you for their pain and suffering.

    • 1 year ago
  • RastusJr
    • +1
      RastusJr  
    • Cubejam:

      It's not his fault. We are taught, by State school the media and politicians, to think that way. We are not even taught to question the ruse. Similar to the other embedded lies like global warming, government helps, and bovine milk is good for you. And no, JFK wasn't killed by a bullet that makes turns.

    • 1 year ago
  • Klause
  • DeBa
  • richjm
  • versasrev
  • Wriswith
  • EmperorThan
    • +1
      EmperorThan  
    • versasrev:

      "Let's play bad cop, bad cop. You be the bad cop and I'll be the other bad cop. After we start threatening him for the password by saying we'll ruin his life if he doesn't give it to us then we'll regroup and go with another strategy if that doesn't work... but it usually does."

    • 1 year ago
  • dalistuff
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • dalistuff:

      You obviously have no clue what you are talking about. Encryption is not weak, on a normal computer you can use military grade encryption on files. There is no way to crack encryption except brute force or guessing (dictionaries etc).

    • 1 year ago
  • dalistuff
    • 0
      dalistuff  
    • Wriswith:

      In this Universe there's a term called "sarcasm" and I know what I'm talking about, html or c++ orc++/cli or java script. So much anger for nothing serious. May I suggest to rotate cheeks, they tend to fall asleep if u lean on them too long.

    • 1 year ago
  • alicynx
    • 0
      alicynx  

    • no backdoors? seriously? Is this a linux box, or a PC? I'm pretty sure pedos LOVE Mac, but if he's into super-encryption I doubt he'd go that direction...

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • alicynx:

      I think the article isn't entirely correct. If it is actually the files that are encrypted instead of the OS, it is indeed (near) impossible to crack. File encrypting schemes are rather simple. They completely rely on the strength of the key(/password) instead of the strength of the algorithm. This way there are no back-doors or exploits.

    • 1 year ago
  • Stever_B
  • alicynx
    • -1
      alicynx  
    • Stever_B:

      Macs are stupid simple to operate, difficult to infect with viruses and harder to hack into than a Windows box. If I were someone with highly sensitive illegal data on my computer and limited knowledge about how they work, I would go for a Mac. Pedos, in my limited knowledge and experience, have these qualities, and as such, I'm sure they LOVE Macs. That's all ^_^

    • 1 year ago
  • ii386
  • Wriswith
    • +1
      Wriswith  
    • ii386:

      He is not found guilty of the original crime he was accused of. In Europe you are required to let police access your computer systems if they have a court order. Obviously this kid has something on his system that will get him more than 4 months. That is why he doesn't help the investigation, he hopes the cops wont be able to crack his system in the next few years.

    • 1 year ago
  • ImConcerned
  • CalgarC
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • ImConcerned:

      The entire concept of innocent until proven guilty is that everyone has all their rights until proven otherwise. So it doesn't natter what you think he did he has the exact same rights you do.

      But in Europe not giving your password when asked by court order is a crime. He is proven to be guilty of that so he is convicted.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • CalgarC:

      Why do you assume he is using 32 bit encryption? Why not AES-256 for instance? Or 2048-bit RSA encryption with his private key encrypted with the heaviest encryptions available?

    • 1 year ago
  • ImConcerned
  • Wriswith
    • 0
      Wriswith  
    • ImConcerned:

      1) There is no defending or condemning him. He is convicted for one crime and accused of another.

      2) The entire point of innocent until proven guilty is that the people who are affected by the crimes don't get to punish suspects. It needs to be objectively proven, the family of the victims are the last people that should get any say in what happens.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • mik661
    • +1
      mik661  
    • ImConcerned:

      The police allege that they have information from a secret witness that they will not divulge because of matters of national security. Guess they have some other child molesting spy who ran across this kid in pedo chat rooms on his goverment lap top. hahahahahahahahaha. Wait. I know. They got the info from his priest at a sleep over.

    • 1 year ago
  • mik661
    • +1
      mik661  
    • Wriswith:

      Yes and using RIPA means that you can make up anything you want and cite national security so you dont have to show any underlying evidence to support the warrant. Again this is what they used to call Star Chambers.

    • 1 year ago
  • mik661
  • Klause
  • mrbeckett81
    • -1
      mrbeckett81  

    • Okay...does anyone know what this kids computer is being searched for? Did I miss that in the article? This seems a bit over-the-top, especially if they can't get into the computer to find evidence of criminal activity.

    • 1 year ago
  • ImConcerned
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