1 yr. ago • 99%

Security researcher warns of chilling effect after feds search phone at airport | TechCrunch

techcrunch.com Security researcher warns of chilling effect after feds search phone at airport | TechCrunch

Sam Curry says a grand jury subpoena ordering him to testify was later canceled following a US border search.

Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁) @feddit.it Sam Curry sostiene che dopo una perquisizione del telefono in aeroporto, da parte dell'immigrazione, ha ricevuto e poi si è visto annullare un mandato del gran giurì che gli ordinava di testimoniare

17 comments

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A U.S. security researcher is warning of a chilling effect after he was detained on arrival at a U.S. airport, his phone was searched and he was ordered to testify to a grand jury, only to have prosecutors reverse course and drop the investigation later.

On Wednesday, Sam Curry, a security engineer at blockchain technology company Yuga Labs, said in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, that he was taken into secondary inspection by U.S. federal agents on September 15 after returning from a trip to Japan.

In a post, Curry said that in December 2022 he discovered that scammers had inadvertently exposed their Ethereum private key in the source code of a phishing website that had stolen millions of dollars’ worth of crypto.

It was widely shared that the private key was leaked and my background as a security researcher wasn’t enough to dissuade using immigrations and a grand jury to intimidate me,” Curry said in his post.

Curry was flying into Washington, DC to attend an election security research forum set up by U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA to audit U.S. voting machines.

It’s not unheard of for U.S. authorities to target security researchers or journalists with threats of prosecution or other kinds of legal process to compel testimony, like grand juries, which convene in secret to determine if formal criminal charges should be brought against a person.

The original article contains 1,066 words, the summary contains 231 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

25
The concerning part of this is that he unlocked his phone. The Feds were certainly within their authority to stop someone they felt was involved in a crime, but I don’t believe you are obligated to unlock your phone for authorities unless they have a warrant. Kind of like when a cop pulls you over for speeding then asks to search your car, you don’t have to say yes, but a lot of people think it’s some sort of order, not a request. I’m no expert though.

19
- You're not obligated to unlock your phone, they're not obligated to let you cross the border. So you have a choice, turn around or unlock your phone.
  
  15
  
  If he was a US citizen he can’t be turned away at the border. Also still pretty sure a citizen has the right to refuse a search without a warrant.
  
  14
- I think it is self incriminating giving them your pin but they can force you to use biometrics.
  
  I heard that one time so don't quote me on that.
  
  10
The most secure thing to do is not travel with personal data.

Or factory rest your phone, restore from backup when you reach your destination

11
- Just out of curiosity: what info don't you want the authority to see? If I think about myself, there is none.
  
  3
  
  I don't want anyone to see anything. Not because there is anything to hide, but there is no reason to show.
  
  34
  
  Permanently Deleted
  
  13
  
  Family photos, payslips, medical records, browser history...
  
  3
I'm planning on bringing a spare phone only on my trips to the US.

8
- Many countries can and do image phones at the border. Better to bring a spare phone whenever you go through any customs.
  
  8
Yeah plug my phone in and see what happens... There is totally no virus on it...

7

You've viewed 17 comments.