Dave Thomas, former chief of computer intrusion investigations at FBI headquarters, and current Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division of the FBI has told the Scott Granneman of SecurityFocus, “that many of the computer security folks back at FBI HQ use Macs running OS X, since those machines can do just about anything: run software for Mac, Unix, or Windows, using either a GUI or the command line. And they’re secure out of the box. In the field, however, they don’t have as much money to spend, so they have to stretch their dollars by buying WinTel-based hardware. Are you listening, Apple? The FBI wants to buy your stuff. Talk to them!”
Granneman reports, “Dave also had a great quotation for us: ‘If you’re a bad guy and you want to frustrate law enforcement, use a Mac.’ Basically, police and government agencies know what to do with seized Windows machines. They can recover whatever information they want, with tools that they’ve used countless times. The same holds true, but to a lesser degree, for Unix-based machines. But Macs evidently stymie most law enforcement personnel. They just don’t know how to recover data on them. So what do they do? By and large, law enforcement personnel in American end up sending impounded Macs needing data recovery to the acknowledged North American Mac experts: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Evidently the Mounties have built up a knowledge and technique for Mac forensics that is second to none.”
Full article here.
Australian police uses Mac and QTVR. They have done it for sometime now. They saved huge amount of money with that so they hired more Police woman and men. What is next.. Apple JailBand software for the FBI?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
What’s out Gates
Naw Finland, the name of that software would be ContraBand.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
I’m not so sure I completely buy that story. The tech part seemd interesting, but the Mac part was a little off.
“In the field, however, they don’t have as much money to spend, so they have to stretch their dollars by buying WinTel-based hardware. ” …… sounds fishy.
Apple laptops are more price competetive than the desktops when it comes to power and features offered.
Interesting read though.
Missing from the article is any mention of whether fast-food chain Wendy’s also uses Macintoshes. Where’s the beef?
umm what parts were they buying i havnt really heard of macs needing too many parts and they seem to be as compettitavly priced as wintel parts but then again it’s the government they will go out of there way to make things more expensive than they should be. go figure!
Karl,
Yes, Apple laptops are more competitive, but a government or educational agency can buy Dell laptops in bulk, thereby getting a significant volume discount. not to mention the bias of the already installed IT dept. Same reason why fleet companies buy Chevy’s in bulk.
karl,
I think he means field offices versus the DC headquarters. In which case it would still mean desktops….
but i am basing this on absolutely nothing
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Karl
Maybe he was telling that you can run PowerPoint with Dell?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Serious action means Apple
Dave Thomas, why he’s a hoser. That Molson’s Took should have been a dead give away!
No, it’s the Dave Thomas from Wendy’s. The paper hat was a dead giveaway!
Macs with OS X are powerful…use it for good, not evil.
Call your local FBI office for an internet security presentation at your local MUG!
“I fought the law (with a Mac) …”
So the Mounties always get their mac?! Change their slogan.
I’ve often wondered about their knowledge base concerning Macs. How does this relate to filevault. Does the FBI have a key. I would think that that would be more of a concern than just general knowledge.
After thinking more about it I think it is strange that they don’t have Mac knowledge. It’s not rocket science and frankly I remember the same talk sin the 90’s.
I am with neilt. I have the same impression that the hardware he mentioned was not laptops. Maybe in the field offices, they use Dell’s $400 Piece-of-Crap.
However, the story tells us something. Your security is less important than money. If it wasn’t, FBI would get a bigger budget to buy a better, more secure computers, wouldn’t it?
CitizenX,
I don’t think it relates to FileVault, unless Apple secretly built some kind of master key for its encryption for the FBI, but that is just too much of a conspiracy theorist for me. Besides, there are commercial software for encryptions that are as strong as (if not stronger) than FileVault. Also, if it’s just a matter of keys, FBI can get it from RCMP. I think it’s just because more people involved in the infrastructure know more about the bolts and nuts of Windows than those of Macs. It’s time for FBI to hire OS X hackers!
BTW, whoohoo!! for the Mounties.
“I think he means field offices versus the DC headquarters. In which case it would still mean desktops….”
That makes sense..
I did not think of it that way.
Nobody,
Conspiracy theorist? What about the Clipper chip?
Do you really believe they are clueless. The finest computer forensics labs in the world? Private contractors at their disposal eager to “consult” with them. As I said, this information is not new, including the reference to the RCMP. It’s over 10 years old.
Sheesh. You take a drive, put it in a machine and see what is on it. If, and that is a big if, it is encrypted they have tools for that or if not then they “consult” with the RCMP.
Don’t believe that the Mac is a mystery. The DOD classified the G3 as a weapon based on something.
If they are that clueless, I need a job.
Lyod, They surely can buy Dell’s laptop but will people trust a product poorly made and that may include an explosive battery!
A colleague just bought the new 17ich dull aka Apple wanna be….. Quite frankly, it’s one of the ugliest piece of hardware I’ve seen in years. No wonder it’s sold for less than a 1000$
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Sir William Gates professed that the Windows OS is the most secure OS ever? Hmm…..
Oh, and by the way, that was an interesting read.
jadisOne,
Bill Gates received an honorary knighthood which means he *can’t* put ‘Sir’ in front of his name.
Couldn’t you just use Target Disk Mode to access the hard drive without logging in?
Dave Thomas FBI? Is that the same Dave Thomas from the Wendy’s commercials? Those laptops must be expensive… if the United States Government can’t afford them. No wonder only 3 percent of the world still owns a mac. Youd have to be bill gates or something to have that kind of cash. How did he get all that bling in the first place? Mac’s are not bunk!