[mjevans]

They're probably following the legal description of the technology in question, not the actual method.

[suff]

Pretty sure the press would bump their forehead on a journalism bar set that high.

[Retric]

Journalists often use terms they don’t really understand in a context that’s not quite appropriate.

[mjevans]

Someone who did understand probably explained it IN lawyers terms to them; it may have been a tech-law focused lawyer they consulted on the ramifications, or the journalist covering navy laws in question.