U.S. judge orders defendant to decrypt laptop

[thewayne]

Said defendant is accused of bank fraud and used PGP to encrypt her entire laptop hard drive. Apparently the prosecutors don't have much of a case without the contents of said hard drive. And now the judge has given her until 2/21 to produce an unlocked hard drive. And, as a marvelous kicker, "The judge added that the government is precluded “from using Ms. Fricosu’s act of production of the unencrypted hard drive against her in any prosecution.”"

She unsuccessfully argued that this was a case of compelled self-incrimination.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/judge-orders-laptop-decryption/

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/24/024233/us-judge-rules-defendant-can-be-forced-to-decrypt-hard-drive

Comments

[silveradept]

I think the judge has a compelling interest to argue against it being a Fifth Amendment violation, mostly because forensics tools would not be able to decrypt in a short length of time. I doubt that you could get a judge who would rule in favor of an encrypted laptop.

And none of them would recuse themselves over it, either.