[ISN] FBI "hack" raises global security concerns

[Brewis, Mark]

> > "I wouldn't call it hacking," said Stephen Schroeder, assistant U.S.
> > attorney for the Western District of Washington in Seattle and the
> > lead prosecutor in the case against Gorshkov. "The implications of
> > hacking go far beyond what we did."
> >
A somewhat familiar argument, heard at dawn raids of teenage bedrooms
everywhere.  Keystroke logging, unauthorised access, data transfer... What's
the saying? What's sauce for the goose...

> > However, because Ivanov and Gorshkov are
> > not United States citizens and the data was kept in another country,
> > some legal experts say it's likely the data will be admissible in
> > court.
> > ...
> > In fact, a case from the United States' War on Drugs seems 
> > to support
> > the search of a server in a foreign country. In 1986, Mexican police
> > picked up the suspected leader of a narcotics ring and delivered him
> > to the Mexico-United States border, where he was arrested by U.S.
> > officials. Agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency and 
> > Mexican officials
> > later searched the suspect's homes in Mexico without a warrant.
> >
> > The U.S. Supreme Court ruled four years later that a search of a
> > non-U.S. citizen's foreign residence is legal, and no search warrant
> > is necessary.
> >
As long as the actions were legal within the jurisdiction of the country
within which they were taken?  We need the Supreme Court ruling clarified -
was no US warrant in place, or was there no warrant at all?  If there was no
Mexican warrant, is evidence seizure without warrant acceptable practice in
Mexico, and is evidence obtained in that fashion then admissible?

In this case, no Russian officials were present or assisting US actions,
unlike the Mexican example.  I think a distinction could be drawn between
these cases.

This is quite a development.

Mark