[Reformatted] Blueberry encryption for boston pigs?

[Anonymous]

nobody at xganon.com (xganon) writes:

> 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.