Page 11 - Aruba Today
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Apparent relaxation of security before drug lord’s recapture
FRANK BAJAK the meeting she arranged, A police truck sits parked outside the home where marines en- taken.
AP Technology Writer said Vigil, who was briefed. gaged in a gun battle during the search for Mexican drug lord In Rolling Stone, he de-
LIMA, Peru (AP) — As the Mexico’s attorney gen- Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in Los Mochis, Mexico. scribed “labeling Trac-
world’s most hunted man, eral, Arely Gomez, said Phones (burners), one per
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guz- Friday that cartel security (AP Photo/Christian Palma) contact, one per day, de-
man had to know the most had been compromised stroy, burn, buy, balancing
sophisticated information during contacts between ably used to arrange the article: He did not carry his levels of encryption, mirror-
and surveillance technol- El Chapo’s lawyers and visit. cellular phone to Mexico ing through Blackphones,
ogy available was mar- “actresses and producers” “Can’t speak to that,” Penn from Southern California. anonymous e-mail ad-
shalled against him: satel- hoping to make a biopic. responded curtly when “My comms were not in the dresses, unsent messages
lites, unmanned aircraft, She presumably meant asked via email if he knew mix,” he said. accessed in draft form.”
NSA and DEA eavesdrop- Del Castillo, who Penn said of the phone. Penn also re- Penn did not address spe- He also called himself “the
pers, malware-sowing Mex- was contacted by a Guz- iterated what he said in his cifics on security measures single most technologically
ican state hackers. man lawyer in 2014 on the illiterate man left standing.”
Yet Guzman may have let matter. Mexican agencies “OPSEC (Operational Se-
his guard down before re- possess commercial spy- curity) is not easy even for
ceiving Hollywood actors ware from firms including experts, bringing in a gross
Sean Penn and Kate del Hacking Team that could amateur like an actor is
Castillo three months ago have been used to infect just insanely reckless,” said
on a remote central Mexi- computers or cellphones of Nicolas Weaver, a Univer-
co mountaintop in appar- people involved. Such pro- sity of California, Berkeley
ent hopes of getting get a grams harvest keystrokes, cybersecurity expert.
biopic made to his liking. voice calls, emails and text While Blackphone calls are
Authorities are not identify- messages. encrypted, their location
ing whatever information Vigil said El Chapo’s nar- and an owner’s identity
security missteps may have row Oct. 6 escape from a can be determined. q
led to Guzman’s being re- government attempt to
captured Friday in a sea- capture him in the same
side town not far away. mountains where he met
“Whatever mistake or with Penn and Del Castillo
screw-up played a role, was not directly related to
presumably the govern- his meeting with the Hol-
ment is going to keep it se- lywood stars. The military
cret. Because if El Chapo was simply tightening the
made this mistake others noose, he said.
will make it in the future,” Penn said he felt he was
said Christopher Soghoian, being watched after ar-
a surveillance expert with riving in central Mexico for
the American Civil Liberties the meeting.
Union. “There is no question in my
Mike Vigil, a former head of mind but that the DEA and
international operations for the Mexican government
the U.S. Drug Enforcement are tracking our move-
Administration, said the ments,” he wrote.
Oct. 2 visit likely went unde- Mexican news media on
tected because Penn took Monday published images
“extraordinary” measures of him and Del Castillo that
beforehand, changing dis- apparently came from a
posable phones daily. security camera in Gua-
Neither actor took elec- dalajara. Penn said he was
tronics to the meeting. “bewildered” by El Cha-
Instead, previously inter- po’s willingness to risk the
cepted communications visit and imagined a “wea-
between Del Castillo and ponized drone” hovering
Guzman’s lawyers were above as he drank tequila
key — authorities knew with the capo.
about the movie plans and The Mexican newspaper
were closing on him well El Universal said Monday
before Penn, on assign- that a cartel lawyer in Sep-
ment for Rolling Stone, ac- tember gave Del Castillo a
companied Del Castillo to “special phone” presum-
