NYPD Counterterrorism Official Worried About 'Anarchists' Who Are 'Good At Using' Encryption

Overhype

from the lolwut dept

With demonstrations against police brutality occurring all over the nation, cops dealing with protests are saying dumb things about encryption.

The NYPD invited CBS New York to come behold the power of its citywide surveillance system. The network is suitably impressive.

The NYPD’s Aviation Unit and cameras all over the city are the eyes and ears for officers interacting with protesters on the ground. All five boroughs are monitored 24/7 inside the NYPD’s Joint Operations Task Force.

Deputy Chief Ed Mullane was CBS’s host. After detailing the communications network that runs alongside the PD’s cameras and aircraft, reporters spoke to the NYPD’s Counterterrorism unit to see if it couldn’t conjure up some speculation about outsiders engaging in rioting and looting.

Here’s what was reported by NBC New York, which apparently didn’t get to tour the surveillance center.

Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said there is a high level of confidence within the NYPD that these unnamed groups had organized scouts, medics, and supply routes of rocks, bottles and accelerants for breakaway groups to commit vandalism and violence.

Here’s the kicker, delivered by a counterterrorism official who apparently believes this is somehow worth mentioning even though it’s indicative of nothing.

There are strong indicators they planned for violence in advance using at times encrypted communications, he said.

“Using at times encrypted communications.” Oh, you mean like anyone who has WhatsApp on their phone? Anyone using iPhone’s messaging app? Criminal or non-criminal, encrypted communications are pretty common these days.

Here’s a more direct quote, as supplied to CBS:

“One of the challenges we have is that these are loosely put together groups that have become good at using encrypted communication…”

Being “good at” using encrypted communications means little more than being able to use a smartphone. The only plausible reason anyone would bring something like this up in this context is to try to link encryption to criminal activity. There’s no other reason to do this, since NYPD officers themselves use iPhones for work. The NYPD obviously enjoys the benefits of encrypted communications and officers are probably pretty “good at it” by this point.

If encryption is a sign of potential lawlessness, we should perhaps be concerned that the NYPD is looking to encrypt many more of its communications in the near future.

After amNewYork reported this week of the NYPD’s plans to encrypt police radios in 2020, police officials said Thursday that it would likely not move forward with encryption for at least a year.

Moreover, police brass indicated that they are “open to discussion” as to who, outside of the Police Department, would have access to encrypted communications.

This would present a “challenge” to everyone who isn’t an NYPD officer. Journalists would no longer be able to monitor calls and would have to rely solely on post facto press releases and official statements. More concerning is the fact that other entities the NYPD relies on — volunteer fire departments and ambulance services — would not have access either, delaying their response time.

Encryption isn’t just a tool abused by — to use Miller’s exact words — “a number of anarchist groups.” It’s used by regular people all the time. And the NYPD obviously recognizes the benefits of secure communications or it would not be looking to encrypt radio traffic or supply its officers with iPhones.

The United States is a mess right now and it’s going to take a long time to sort things out. What we don’t need is public officials opportunistically muddying the encryption waters with vague assertions about anarchists and secure communications.

Filed Under: anarchists, encryption, going dark, nypd, protests