Police Used BlackBerry to Solve Montagna Rubout

From the Windsor Star, we learn that Quebec police used the BlackBerry messages of those suspected as being involved in the assassination of a former New York mafia boss to crack the case; the newspaper report cited "several sources."

Will BlackBerry remain the
communication device of choice
for the mob following the Montagna
investigation?

And just think, the Wall Street Journal had only this week written an article about how the BlackBerry, in the age of the iPad, was on its way out. Not before solving a homicide, it would seem.

"Five suspects in the killing of mobster Salvatore Montagna, who was gunned down in November and had criminal links in Canada and the United States, were arrested last month. Incriminating messages sent by one of the suspects, Vittorio Mirarchi, a businessman with alleged ties to the mafia, led to the arrests," the La Presse newspaper reports.


"As a result, communications using BlackBerry Messenger are believed to be favoured by organized-crime figures." 



The article adds: "BlackBerry's purportedly unbeatable encryption capability is coveted by businessmen and politicians for its secure communications. Warrants for interception of communications remain sealed. Message encryption and email privacy for users have long been key selling features for the BlackBerry service."



Here is something we did not know: "As a result, communications using BlackBerry Messenger are believed to be favoured by organized-crime figures."

The suspects in the Montagna murder were reportedly surprised to learn that Quebec police had accessed their private communications, the paper said.

Police would not say whether they cracked BlackBerry's encryption or RIM, the BB suppliers, gave them access to its secure servers.

BlackBerry may lose its credibility with criminals now, but law enforcement has said the mobsters, gangbangers and other members of the underworld have been turning to Skype, a proprietary voice over Internet Protocol service and software application originally created by Niklas Zennströmand Janus Friis and owned by Microsoft since 2011.

The service allows users to communicate with peers by voice, video, and instant messaging over the Internet.

Skype had 663 million registered users as of September 2011.


Read more: Police use BlackBerry to solve Mafia slaying

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