Police raid on Marion County Record underscores digital security threats to media orgs.
Summary
The Marion County Record newsroom in Kansas was raided by police, who seized two cellphones, four computers, a backup hard drive, and reporting materials.
A computer seized was most likely unencrypted. Law enforcement officials hope that devices seized during a raid are unencrypted, as this makes them easier to examine.
Modern iPhones and Android phones are encrypted by default, but older devices may not be.
Desktop computers typically do not have encryption enabled by default, so it is important to turn this on manually.
Use strong random passwords and keep them in a password manager.
During the raid, police seized a single backup hard drive. It is important to have multiple backups of your data in case one is lost or stolen.
You can encrypt USB storage devices using BitLocker To Go on Windows, or Disk Utility on macOS.
All major desktop operating systems support Veracrypt, which can be used to encrypt entire drives.
If you encrypt your device, and dirty cops like these decide they want in, they’ll just toss you in the slammer and forget about you until you either cough up the password or die of dehydration. Either way works for them.
Similarly when you cross a border… you don’t have to give them you password, but they can just keep you for a few days. Also note:
Currently, police officers have the authority to demand that you unlock your mobile phone using face recognition and fingerprint identification. When unlocking your phone, police officers have no right to demand that you disclose your passcode or pattern.
They can also kill you where you stand with total impunity, so I’m not sure I see how these limitations of their supposed rights are at all meaningful.
Law enforcement routinely makes demands that are intentionally impossible to comply with, such as the deadly game of Simon Says that was played by the officers who murdered Daniel Shaver.
It’s like a cat playing with its prey. The prey is not intended to survive.
It’s layers on an onion. Every extralegal step they take provides a possible mitigation if you go to trial.
Obviously, if they straight up murder somebody, that’s a whole different problem. But in general, you should invoke your rights at every step of the process, so that if they trample over those rights you’ll have an argument in court to get evidence or charges thrown out.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !technology@beehaw.org
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
If you encrypt your device, and dirty cops like these decide they want in, they’ll just toss you in the slammer and forget about you until you either cough up the password or die of dehydration. Either way works for them.
No I won’t give the password
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/security.png
Make the authentication a biological indicator of consensual, free, unhindered existence.
“Sorry officers I literally can’t unlock this computer while I’m in your custody. Unless you can find a way to make me want to be here, that is”
“Well then we’ll just torture you”
“Nope, as you can see pain I experience burns this fuse here. Once the fuse is consumed, data begins to progressively degrade”
Similarly when you cross a border… you don’t have to give them you password, but they can just keep you for a few days. Also note:
https://esfandilawfirm.com/can-police-unlock-your-phone/
They can also kill you where you stand with total impunity, so I’m not sure I see how these limitations of their supposed rights are at all meaningful.
Law enforcement routinely makes demands that are intentionally impossible to comply with, such as the deadly game of Simon Says that was played by the officers who murdered Daniel Shaver.
It’s like a cat playing with its prey. The prey is not intended to survive.
It’s layers on an onion. Every extralegal step they take provides a possible mitigation if you go to trial.
Obviously, if they straight up murder somebody, that’s a whole different problem. But in general, you should invoke your rights at every step of the process, so that if they trample over those rights you’ll have an argument in court to get evidence or charges thrown out.