Posted on 04/24/2011 9:10:24 AM PDT by decimon
BUFFALO, N.Y. Lying on his family room floor with assault weapons trained on him, shouts of "pedophile!" and "pornographer!" stinging like his fresh cuts and bruises, the Buffalo homeowner didn't need long to figure out the reason for the early morning wake-up call from a swarm of federal agents.
That new wireless router. He'd gotten fed up trying to set a password. Someone must have used his Internet connection, he thought.
"We know who you are! You downloaded thousands of images at 11:30 last night," the man's lawyer, Barry Covert, recounted the agents saying. They referred to a screen name, "Doldrum."
"No, I didn't," he insisted. "Somebody else could have but I didn't do anything like that."
"You're a creep ... just admit it," they said.
Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. Their advice: Password-protect your wireless router.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The tactics described in the article including weapons are not those carried by regular officers or detectives.
It may go by different names in some departments (building entry teams...) but generically, it is still SWAT and still inappropriate for under the circumstances described.
Shhh, don't let anyone see this post. I've got a great one for you:
(Just remember to change the meat every 3rd hour...)
How about 3G/4G service? Do you know if that is more secure?
I don’t bother turning off SSID. Everything I’ve heard says it doesn’t make much difference. I have A WPA2 and a strong password. I’m sure there are easier targets around than me.
Re the unsecured linksys, we found out last week my son’s account was using it as the default connection. Not sure how long that had been going on. The only way I could change it was to make his XP account an admin, then revert it back to limited after I changed the default connection via the wireless card software.
Was this search post 9-11?
Many PDs now carry such weapons in the trunks of their patrol cars. M-16s. Shotguns with 14 inch barrels,etc.
Such weapons necessitated by today’s increasingly violent world. Some limit such weapons to the trunks of sector supervisors, sergeants, or detectives. But they are “out there.”
“that can be covered up with literally a mouse click or key stroke”
Take 500 non-CP pictures, put them on your HD. See how long it takes to get rid of them (I mean beyond forensic recovery), and also clean all of your browsing history.
The program “Evidence Destroyer” takes quite a while to work, considering the no-nock timeframe we are discussing.
Once you get that done, clean your externals and destroy a dozen DVDs.
A no-knock dynamic entry is not called for when dealing with computer-related crime. This is not like having a half-ounce of blow.
Early 1970s.
How often do they issue search warrants to get evidence of a misdemeanor?
The current explaination for the weapons and tactics used is that this is normal for any "felony search warrant". I see all kinds of mischief potential and unintended consequences in that.
Yeah, they deliberately allow criminal elements to invade our society so they can justify violating said societies rights....
Create the problem, violate the innocents under the guise of protecting them.....commie takeover.
But remember, they are just protecting you.
This is not directed toward you, just sayin.
That's entirely the point of not broadcasting the SSID. WiFi security is all about removing the "easy" ways of discovering a signal to keep the wanna-be hackers out, and using complex passwords to generate strong encryption keys, and having a complex password on the router to keep the "pro's" out.
LinkSys also has a switch to disable wi-fi access to the admin page on the router, I'm a huge fan if enabling that feature as well. (Forgot to mention that in my post.)
Their starter model costs about $50. The concept is that any “member” of the fon network can hop onto your network any time they are in range.
No, it’s not theft if it is offered to you. But if you are using the WiFi of another party without their knowledge and permission, it is prosecutable. The party who is unwittingly providing you with access may not be amenable to the situation.
In my business, I do a lot of WiFi setups. I always recommend that they use a password-protected system. You never know who might be driving by, looking for unprotected WiFi systems.
Lawyers will always say that, they generate fees that way.
Personally I'm a huge believer in if you've got nothing to hide, cooperate as fully as humanly possible so that any suspicion is quickly shifted away from you (or I..) and all energy is rightly directed towards finding the real culprit. Thats what I told my friend that morning on the phone. When one is truly innocent, it comes out pretty quickly and from all appearances the FBI were more interested in finding the ACTUAL person who sent the threat than they were in simply seizing equipment and making a quick arrest.
Most of them may not be aware thatthey are “sharing the service” and “giving away what they bought for free.” Most of my clients have no desire to do that, so we put password protection on their WiFi.
One user may be a great guy, and only use the WiFi connection of his neighbor to read FR and google. There are plenty of others who will use the free WiFi to download porn (as in the case here) or to steal copyrighted movies and music. At least I give my clients the choice as to whether they wish to be nice people or not.
“Wireless networking is inherently unsecure.”
Agree. But it comes in handy for my remote IP surveillance cameras. Too much Cat 5 cable to run.
Yes, if folks really wanted to screw things up, they could. As you say, Cash purchase for a laptop and you are well on your way. I didn’t get out of 4th grade as my father was an a$$h*le but I’m not stupid. My father was a crook....he would have given his right gonad to have the technology I have at my fingertips and if I wanted to I could do the same thing. My wife would beat the snot outta me so I dont :)
SOOOOOOOOOOO Many free access points and a lot of open routers. Like a kid in a kandy shop.... :)
As God as my witness, I believe you people will fall for anything.
I live on a corner in my neighborhood. One of my neighbors wi-fi is unsecured. I've told them about it, they didn't seem to care. One of these days they're going to get hacked and their identity stolen by one of the kids around here who are always looking for open networks. It's pretty easy to tell who those kids are, they typically have a small yagi somewhere clipped to their gutter or outside an upstairs window pointing somewhere.
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