CNBC: Federal investigators say they used encrypted Signal messages to charge Oath Keepers leader. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/13/feds-say-they-used-encrypted-messages-to-cha... PUBLISHED THU, JAN 13 2022 3:19 PM ESTUPDATED THU, JAN 13 2022 8:40 PM ESTLauren Feiner@LAUREN_FEINERWATCH LIVEKEY POINTS - Federal investigators say access to encrypted Signal messages helped them to charge the leader of the Oath Keepers, an extremist far-right militia group, and other defendants in a seditious plot on Jan. 6, 2021. - Encryption scrambles messages for recipients so that no one else — not even the platform itself — can read them. - It's not clear how investigators gained access to the messages, but encryption has been a point of tension between law enforcement and the tech industry for years.