SAPD Det Snow's affidavit read "like an engineering manual" to bust San Antonio union chief in felony stalking case

[Janice Rael]

haha, I *love* this!! He was behind 7 proxies (so to speak) and daaamn did San Antonio (Texas) Detective David Snow know everything to ask for in the WARRANT. Dude did sooo much to hide his tracks.

You gotta read this, I mean, we have reached Don't Even Try To Harass in some *jurisdictions*.

Clever sleuthing indeed. Det Snow knew every single possible thing a bad guy might also know.

He sure knew, word for word. You gotta see.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/stalking-arrest-christopher-steele-safd-sapd-19503320.php

Clever cyber-sleuthing led to stalking charge against former San Antonio union leader​

An SAPD detective used data from Google, T-Mobile and others to trace threatening texts and emails to Christopher Steele, ex-president of the city firefighters’ union, court records show.​

Christopher Steele, former president of the San Antonio firefighters' union, has been charged with sending threatening message to members of the Fire Department command staff to discourage them from applying to become fire chief.

... Det. David Snow used the data to trace the emails and texts to Steele, records show. Snow's affidavit of probable cause, which prompted a Bexar County magistrate to sign a warrant for Steele's arrest, reads in places like an engineering manual. ...

ohhhh my! Might be an understatement? OH YEAH. A little bit.

One of the alleged targets of the messages, a female assistant fire chief, called police on March 17 to file a complaint, records show. SAPD tapped Snow to investigate. He's assigned to the Southwest Texas Fusion Center, a local-state-federal intelligence hub managed by SAPD. It tracks terrorist threats and sophisticated criminal activity.

Snow determined that one of the phone numbers used to send the harassing messages was assigned to Bandwidth Inc., a North Carolina company that provides software interfaces for voice over internet communication.

From Bandwidth, Snow learned that Google was the current customer for the phone number in question. The detective then "served legal process" on Google seeking information about the number, and according to Snow's affidavit, the company told him it was a Google Voice number associated with a Gmail account that included the phrase "hiresafed."

Det Snow subpoenaed Google for the IP.

THAT IS SO FUNNY I LOL'd IRL.

Yo, this is a cautionary tale, too. Keywords: "Next, he "served legal process" ..."

Meticulous to the last, Snow foresaw one potential difficulty and framed the warrant so as to address it. He anticipated that some of the devices might have biometric security features that make it possible to unlock and operate them only with a scan of the owner's thumbprint, facial features or iris.
The warrant says that if investigators run into that problem with anything found in Steele's house, police are empowered "to obtain from the aforementioned person(s) the display of any physical biometric characteristics ... necessary to unlock the device."

June 7, 2024

My emphasis. I am impressed by Detective David Snow of the SAPD and the depth and breadth of his knowledge.

And what would I know? I'm crazy.

 

[Jarhyn]

haha, I *love* this!! He was behind 7 proxies (so to speak) and daaamn did San Antonio (Texas) Detective David Snow know everything to ask for in the WARRANT. Dude did sooo much to hide his tracks.

You gotta read this, I mean, we have reached Don't Even Try To Harass in some *jurisdictions*.

Clever sleuthing indeed. Det Snow knew every single possible thing a bad guy might also know.

He sure knew, word for word. You gotta see.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/stalking-arrest-christopher-steele-safd-sapd-19503320.php

Clever cyber-sleuthing led to stalking charge against former San Antonio union leader​

An SAPD detective used data from Google, T-Mobile and others to trace threatening texts and emails to Christopher Steele, ex-president of the city firefighters’ union, court records show.​

Christopher Steele, former president of the San Antonio firefighters' union, has been charged with sending threatening message to members of the Fire Department command staff to discourage them from applying to become fire chief.

... Det. David Snow used the data to trace the emails and texts to Steele, records show. Snow's affidavit of probable cause, which prompted a Bexar County magistrate to sign a warrant for Steele's arrest, reads in places like an engineering manual. ...

ohhhh my! Might be an understatement? OH YEAH. A little bit.

One of the alleged targets of the messages, a female assistant fire chief, called police on March 17 to file a complaint, records show. SAPD tapped Snow to investigate. He's assigned to the Southwest Texas Fusion Center, a local-state-federal intelligence hub managed by SAPD. It tracks terrorist threats and sophisticated criminal activity.

Snow determined that one of the phone numbers used to send the harassing messages was assigned to Bandwidth Inc., a North Carolina company that provides software interfaces for voice over internet communication.

From Bandwidth, Snow learned that Google was the current customer for the phone number in question. The detective then "served legal process" on Google seeking information about the number, and according to Snow's affidavit, the company told him it was a Google Voice number associated with a Gmail account that included the phrase "hiresafed."

Det Snow subpoenaed Google for the IP.

THAT IS SO FUNNY I LOL'd IRL.

Yo, this is a cautionary tale, too. Keywords: "Next, he "served legal process" ..."

Meticulous to the last, Snow foresaw one potential difficulty and framed the warrant so as to address it. He anticipated that some of the devices might have biometric security features that make it possible to unlock and operate them only with a scan of the owner's thumbprint, facial features or iris.
The warrant says that if investigators run into that problem with anything found in Steele's house, police are empowered "to obtain from the aforementioned person(s) the display of any physical biometric characteristics ... necessary to unlock the device."

June 7, 2024

My emphasis. I am impressed by Detective David Snow of the SAPD and the depth and breadth of his knowledge.

And what would I know? I'm crazy.

And this is why I don't use biometric locks.

Ideally I would use biometric locks PLUS pin, but nobody makes two-factor phone authentication key, so I just use a long password instead.

That said, fuck that guy for harassing folks.

 

[Janice Rael]

And this is why I don't use biometric locks.

Ideally I would use biometric locks PLUS pin, but nobody makes two-factor phone authentication key, so I just use a long password instead.

Biometric never works for me, with my Bernie Mac eyes, Chrissy Hynde bangs, and saggy face. I can't seem to press the fingerprint button with fingers or thumb. Ehhhhfort.


@Jarhyn -
When you read this thread, did you click the link?
I'd like to know what you actually think.
Did you read it all; and were you thorough?
The affidavits from Detective David Snow?
Layers and lawyers? The warrant was framed
So cops were empowered and knew to obtain
Digital evidence, physical, too.
The magistrate knew just what to do,
Signed off on the warrants: diligence due.
The process was legal; authorities knew
Just what to look for, just what to write,
Ensuring the case against Steele is airtight.
I only know this from this one link I read,
Then came to this forum and posted this thread.
So yeah, screw that dude for being so rude,
But look at what courts and some cops now can do!

 

[Jarhyn]

And this is why I don't use biometric locks.

Ideally I would use biometric locks PLUS pin, but nobody makes two-factor phone authentication key, so I just use a long password instead.

Biometric never works for me, with my Bernie Mac eyes, Chrissy Hynde bangs, and saggy face. I can't seem to press the fingerprint button with fingers or thumb. Ehhhhfort.


@Jarhyn -
When you read this thread, did you click the link?
I'd like to know what you actually think.
Did you read it all; and were you thorough?
The affidavits from Detective David Snow?
Layers and lawyers? The warrant was framed
So cops were empowered and knew to obtain
Digital evidence, physical, too.
The magistrate knew just what to do,
Signed off on the warrants: diligence due.
The process was legal; authorities knew
Just what to look for, just what to write,
Ensuring the case against Steele is airtight.
I only know this from this one link I read,
Then came to this forum and posted this thread.
So yeah, screw that dude for being so rude,
But look at what courts and some cops now can do!

Well, I expect it's a case of parallel construction?

I already know what cops can do though. I have a friend who got their hands on a Cellebrite (and a few other nifty "LEO" toys) and dismantled everything about it and disassembled much of the code to figure out how it works. It was pretty clear that the phone manufacturers were kicking back info to the I's from the disassembly.

The funny part is that it's full of exploitable issues. There are a few files you can put on your phone in strategic places that will brick the Cellebrite device itself, for example, and delete all the data it recovers.

Then, the same guy has two current-gen electronic warfare cameras originally from French battleships that he purchased from a surplus/thrift store and somehow also the software to run them that he managed to get just by asking the MFR. Apparently only the cameras themselves are export controlled, and he already had those. Their output formats are raw video though, and all their controls are also raw input on standard formats.

I'm pretty sure just having them in my contacts got me onto a list somewhere but whatever.

 

[Janice Rael]

oooh, thank you for your very cool reply that you maybe should not have typed or tapped at all.

I like these kinds of stories, from as many angles as I can think of. Thrills galore and many more to my homebound, no-rent-payin ass.

I like that you recognized "code." The poem was off-the-cuff and I didn't have an instant rhyme for "code," so I backspaced.

Did you read my cop story, @Jarhyn ? The one about a rap song? I posted a few weeks ago. It's only relevant insofar as it colors *lol* my view of cops in a lot of ways. And this is just the parts of the story I can type and post online! Because "that cop" is retired, whew.

 

[Janice Rael]

a case of parallel construction

Can you elaborate on "a case of parallel construction"? I feel that I should know this term and its meanings and implications.

I do not think that Detective Snow was wrong, mistaken, corrupt, faking, lying, or fabricating evidence at all.

Not at all. I think Det Snow's affidavits and attention to detail mean a lot of *punchlines* to me, about how the po-pos are finally hiring autistic cops; so, I need funny talking points. And yes, "code" will be a few of these jokes; and also hiring internet people.

I need to SEE this Detective, how did he pass the physical, my gosh.

 

[Jarhyn]

a case of parallel construction

Can you elaborate on "a case of parallel construction"? I feel that I should know this term and its meanings and implications.

I do not think that Detective Snow was wrong, mistaken, corrupt, faking, lying, or fabricating evidence at all.

Not at all. I think Det Snow's affidavits and attention to detail mean a lot of *punchlines* to me, about how the po-pos are finally hiring autistic cops; so, I need funny talking points. And yes, "code" will be a few of these jokes; and also hiring internet people.

I need to SEE this Detective, how did he pass the physical, my gosh.

Let's imagine for a moment that a copshop has a Stinger cell tower simulator.

After the first instance of a complaint or suspicion, they park that fucker outside the house or workplace of the offender.

The Stinger has a lot of shit going on, but essentially functions by offering an old cell standard like Edge or some 2g bullshit. Because phone mfr.s don't want to replace old hardware in flyover country, phones will still connect to and use those insecure protocols, essentially talking in plaintext.

The thing is, the initial wiretap generally isn't legal.

Then, someone from the department calls in an anonymous tip, or perhaps someone from the force starts tailing them and getting evidence a more traditional way, leading to a legally collected bit of evidence and information they will need for the warrant (like a LEO just waiting for them to pull out and turn on their phone at a cafe).

Another example of parallel construction is that the FBI would put some active code on a darkenet website that then requests a "trackable action" that reveals where and who the person is, like an image from a clearnet website. This image request is then correlated with activity on LE nodes on the TOR network to track the final node. LE owns a LOT of TOR nodes!

The thing is, none of that is particularly legal, and they don't want to reveal their exact capabilities to folks, and they refuse to reveal that in court, so instead of doing that, they track the fucker going to to the local park, or watch them for traditional "drug/predator activities" or their frequent contacts, or look for likely drug activities and do a "controlled delivery" the next time they receive a package following the legally dubious wiretap.

From a judge's perspective it looks like "the FBI got a tip, started monitoring, and caught them doing a crime," when the reality is that the initial "tip" came from some really complicated trick shots.

Other times it's "we actually read the arguments the last time this kinda shit happened about what has spoiled the warrant and are correcting those oversights, learning from the past" (so, not parallel construction).

 

[Janice Rael]

ooh thank you. Now I wonder even more.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I already know what cops can do though. I have a friend who got their hands on a Cellebrite (and a few other nifty "LEO" toys) and dismantled everything about it and disassembled much of the code to figure out how it works. It was pretty clear that the phone manufacturers were kicking back info to the I's from the disassembly.

I figured the phone manufacturers were being ordered to embed security holes. Never mind that in the long run such holes are always found by the bad guys. They will be there until there's some spectacular leak traced to them.

The funny part is that it's full of exploitable issues. There are a few files you can put on your phone in strategic places that will brick the Cellebrite device itself, for example, and delete all the data it recovers.

That part surprises me. I would have thought they knew better than to trust user data!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The Stinger has a lot of shit going on, but essentially functions by offering an old cell standard like Edge or some 2g bullshit. Because phone mfr.s don't want to replace old hardware in flyover country, phones will still connect to and use those insecure protocols, essentially talking in plaintext.

It's not just flyover country, but what happens when a traveler takes the phone to a country with old infrastructure? Old standards live for a long time because of this.

 

[Jarhyn]

I already know what cops can do though. I have a friend who got their hands on a Cellebrite (and a few other nifty "LEO" toys) and dismantled everything about it and disassembled much of the code to figure out how it works. It was pretty clear that the phone manufacturers were kicking back info to the I's from the disassembly.

I figured the phone manufacturers were being ordered to embed security holes. Never mind that in the long run such holes are always found by the bad guys. They will be there until there's some spectacular leak traced to them.

Maybe, but the info is more about structure and where the system stores data and drivers and such rather than info about the exploits themselves. I would need to ask my peeps for more info on what collusion is obvious there, but I don't want to know; I don't want them to know how much is known and the less I know (other than that I fix my own phone by doing x), the less I could be a liability for the folks "doing gods work" of sticking it to the man.

The funny part is that it's full of exploitable issues. There are a few files you can put on your phone in strategic places that will brick the Cellebrite device itself, for example, and delete all the data it recovers.

That part surprises me. I would have thought they knew better than to trust user data!

Wel, a lot of it has to do with attacking the analysis part that looks for certain stuff after having done the rip, I think. It's more like "Bob is dumb and saves the data, Alice is smart and reads it, but Bob just handed it off to Alice and they both live in the same house so if Alice throws away the pile and burns down the house, it doesn't matter that Bob piled it properly."

 

[Jarhyn]

The Stinger has a lot of shit going on, but essentially functions by offering an old cell standard like Edge or some 2g bullshit. Because phone mfr.s don't want to replace old hardware in flyover country, phones will still connect to and use those insecure protocols, essentially talking in plaintext.

It's not just flyover country, but what happens when a traveler takes the phone to a country with old infrastructure? Old standards live for a long time because of this.

Yeah, that's the really hard part about this. A lot could be accomplished through software, but then it's a matter of old devices too.

This is why it's always been my position that developers of communication technology should have a high burden for satisfying privacy concerns, and it should absolutely be an option to disable such legacy connections.

The fact I can't disable 2g and edge network is the biggest sign of collusion I'm directly aware of TBH.