Blueberry encryption for boston pigs?

[xganon]

We are interested in the 'encryption' used in these
over-the-air queries...

...........

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAUW7L9HWC.html


Handhelds Join Handcuffs at Boston 
    Airport in Fight Against Terrorism
           By Leslie MillerAssociated Press Writer
                     Published: Jan 15, 2002

      BOSTON (AP) - A pager-sized device that's more likely to be found in a 
 Wall Street briefcase than on a state trooper's belt may take its place in the war 
 against terrorism.

 Logan International Airport is the first in the nation to test the BlackBerry as an 
 electronic gateway to state and federal criminal databases, giving law 
 enforcement officers the kind of immediate information resource they've longed for, 
 but lacked.

 The wireless devices, made by Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion 
 since 1999, are ubiquitous in the corporate world, particularly by businesspeople 
 who spend a lot of time away from their desks and need to check e-mails or surf 
 the World Wide Web.

 The BlackBerries being tested at Logan are packaged with software that lets 
 officers send encrypted queries to state and federal databases over a wireless 
 network and get responses in less than a minute.

 State trooper Barry Newell carries his BlackBerry on patrols around Logan. With 
 the device, Newell can check whether a suspicious person is on the FBI's terrorist 
 watch list - without using a radio, dispatcher, cruiser or computer.

 "The beauty of this system is you can do it yourself," Newell said.

 Logan officials are using the system as part of their effort to strengthen security 
 after 10 terrorists boarded two passenger jets on Sept. 11 and crashed them into 
 the World Trade Center.

 The BlackBerry patrols began two months ago after Aether Systems Inc., which 
 makes the PocketBlue software, offered to let Logan try the $89-a-month devices 
 for free. Aether said airports in three other major cities are considering similar 
 tests, but declined to say where.

 At Logan, 10 troopers who'd been trained in counterterrorism were taught to scroll 
 through the BlackBerry's menu and send simple queries to a distant computer 
 about a suspect's criminal history. A "hit" automatically sends an alarm to other 
 troopers carrying a BlackBerry.

 It's more efficient than a phone or radio query.

 "If you go and ask for a couple of registration checks through a dispatcher, they'll 
 get a little upset because you're adding to the workload," said Gerald Burke, 
 director of the New England Law Enforcement Management Institute.

 Newell said he's identified several stolen cars in Logan's parking using the device.

 Whether the BlackBerries could have helped prevent the terrorist attacks isn't 
 clear because the watch list only came into being after Sept. 11, FBI 
 spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said.

 "There was intelligence information out there," she said. "But the watch list as we 
 know it, as of Sept. 11, that format did not exist."

 State Police Capt. Thomas Robbins, Logan's interim public safety director, thinks 
 the BlackBerry-toting troopers may become a permanent fixture at the airport, 
 which is trying everything from facial recognition systems to training ticket agents 
 to recognize suspicious activity.

 Aether's PocketBlue software was launched in June and is now being used by law 
 enforcement agencies in seven states, said David Grip, marketing director for the 
 mobile government division of the company, which has headquarters in Owings 
 Mills, Md.

 "Since Sept. 11, there's now a focus within airports and port authorities to use the 
 product," he said, adding Logan is the first airport to try it. Law enforcement 
 agencies are also using the software in Ohio, Florida, California, Minnesota and 
 the District of Columbia, he said.

 There may be a market for the software, but, "there's a little bit of a feeding 
 frenzy," said Tim Quillin, an analyst with Stephens Inc. in Little Rock, Ark.

 Federal transportation officials are open to the experiment.

 "We're interested and looking at anything that might improve transportation 
 security," said Paul Takemoto, spokesman for the Transportation Security 
 Administration.