Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by playpause on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:02AM
(#27821079)
What does ‘rubber hose’ mean here?
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Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by jacoblambda on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:09AM
(#27821191)
A rubber hose attack is also sometimes called a wrench attack. It's the use of physical action (often implied as violence or torture) to gain some secret.
Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by hx2a on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:29AM
(#27821418)
And the reality of a "wrench attack" is illustrated in this xkcd comic:
Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by 1986 on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:04AM
(#27821124)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-hose_cryptanalysis
> In cryptography, rubber-hose cryptanalysis is a euphemism for the extraction of cryptographic secrets (e.g. the password to an encrypted file) from a person by coercion or torture[1]—such as beating that person with a rubber hose, hence the name—in contrast to a mathematical or technical cryptanalytic attack.
Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by 0xcde4c3db on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:57AM
(#27821771)
The "beating with a rubber hose" thing, in turn, comes from allegations that this method is favored by the likes of secret police, intelligence agencies, and organized crime because it leaves minimal marks on the victim compared to other forms of physical abuse.
Re:Met Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency in London
by cyberge99 on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @11:26AM
(#27822124)
Along the same lines: To “”throw the book at him” is a double entendre euphemism (American) for both bringing a lot of charges against someone, and/or beating them with a phonebook because it (purportedly) doesn’t leave bruises.