Remember the defendant in that fraud case who claimed to have forgotten the password for her encrypted laptop? Well, the Feds have gone ahead and cracked it right open, without her permission.


The move ends what has been a lengthy legal battle, and makes a judge's order that the defendant unlock the laptop herself somewhat of a moot point, reports Threat Level.


The laptop was originally seized from defendant Ramona Fricosu in 2010 while authorities were investigating alleged mortgage fraud. The battle to get Fricosu to provide the password for the laptop has been a long, hard slog, as current legislation has never faced this problem in the past.

According to Fricosu's attorney, authorities "must have used or found successful one of the passwords the co-defendant provided them". He added that a copy of the information discovered on the drive was delivered to him on Tuesday.


The move flies in the face of a decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated that demanding the password for an encrypted hard drive is akin to asking for the combination to a safe: off limits and the equivalent of forcing testimony. [Threat Level; Image: Tatiana Popova / Shutterstock]