The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone.

Included in the search and seizure warrant for the raid on Natanson’s home is a section titled “Biometric Unlock,” which explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it. In other words, a judge gave the FBI permission to attempt to bypass biometrics: the convenient shortcuts that let you unlock your phone by scanning your fingerprint or face.-

It is not clear if Natanson used biometric authentication on her devices, or if the law enforcement personnel attempted to use her face or fingers to unlock her devices. Natanson and the Washington Post did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

    • Phoenix3875@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Android has an equivalent lockdown mode. Open the power menu by holding Power and Volume Up. Then select lockdown.

      • Dionysus@leminal.space
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        3 hours ago

        Don’t forget to stand on your left leg and twist your right in a circular motion not to exceed 45 rpm.

        Otherwise you need to start the panic mode process all over.

    • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org
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      6 hours ago

      Can you rapid fire power button 5 times faster than a nazICE agent can rapid fire a submachine gun at you?

  • hector@lemmy.today
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    12 hours ago

    As I understand it even the alphanumeric passcodes they can break with password guessing, they make Limitless clones of the phone encryption bit so it getting shut down after a certain number of attempts doesn’t stop them from Limitless guesses until they get it.

    • _‌_反いじめ戦隊@ani.social
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      9 hours ago

      This is why folks need to use encrypted keys + binary paraphrases (p¶), so you can insert as many Unicode characters as you want as your p¶.

      Too bad not many 📱manufactures require a dedicated SD key slot for digital keys.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Deleting the reply because I realize now this is about people breaking into your house, so the info I provided wouldn’t be that useful.