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Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

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Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#11

Post by javanix »

ja27 wrote: post #9
something wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

let's also point out that in this example, the police did exactly their job. had they seized your car and belongings...

Well, if the bank robbers had left a note with their name and address on it, they would have been justified. D-bag kid's forged emails were traced back to his IP address, which then led to his SMB name and MAC address. It'll be hard to get out of that. Plus, unless I'm mixing up the censor squares, it's his roommate that made the accusation in the first place. So it's not really like they just picked on a random kid…

Glad to see I'm not the only one who read the document. I don't see how the police really screwed this one up that much outside of one poorly-worded section of the warrant.

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#12

Post by enneff »

chaosmachine wrote: post #4

I learned the hard way back in high school: Don't let anyone see you using a command prompt because the next time something gets hacked, you will be suspect number one. It's sad to see nothing has changed since the 90s.

I used to flaunt my computer skills back in school, because I knew if/when something got hacked I could explain exactly how it was done, and remind them that I'd warned them it could happen months earlier. (This exact thing did end up happening.) The authorities at my school seemed less prone to complete lapses of logic (as demonstrated by the police in this article) so I wasn't so afraid of being unable to defend myself in the face of unjust accusations. (Logic and reason sufficed, thankfully.)

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#13

Post by pingswept »

javanix wrote: post #11
ja27 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if the bank robbers had left a note with their name and address on it, they would have been justified. D-bag kid's forged emails were traced back to his IP address, which then led to his SMB name and MAC address. It'll be hard to get out of that. Plus, unless I'm mixing up the censor squares, it's his roommate that made the accusation in the first place. So it's not really like they just picked on a random kid…

Glad to see I'm not the only one who read the document. I don't see how the police really screwed this one up that much outside of one poorly-worded section of the warrant.

Poorly worded probable cause would be, "I saw him go into a room that was his with a gun and it was hidden," instead of, "I saw him hide a gun in his room."

I think including "Mr. Calixte uses two different operating systems" under the section "Basis of Probable Cause" for search goes beyond poor wording.

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#14

Post by frossie »

javanix wrote: post #11
ja27 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if the bank robbers had left a note with their name and address on it, they would have been justified. D-bag kid's forged emails were traced back to his IP address, which then led to his SMB name and MAC address. It'll be hard to get out of that. Plus, unless I'm mixing up the censor squares, it's his roommate that made the accusation in the first place. So it's not really like they just picked on a random kid…

Glad to see I'm not the only one who read the document. I don't see how the police really screwed this one up that much outside of one poorly-worded section of the warrant.

The issue is not how (or whether) the police "screwed up". The issue is whether a warrant of seizure should be issued on such flimsy grounds. That is quite orthogonal from the guilt or innocence of the suspect.

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#16

Post by [deleted] »

javanix wrote: post #11
ja27 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if the bank robbers had left a note with their name and address on it, they would have been justified. D-bag kid's forged emails were traced back to his IP address, which then led to his SMB name and MAC address. It'll be hard to get out of that. Plus, unless I'm mixing up the censor squares, it's his roommate that made the accusation in the first place. So it's not really like they just picked on a random kid…

Glad to see I'm not the only one who read the document. I don't see how the police really screwed this one up that much outside of one poorly-worded section of the warrant.

[deleted]

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#17

Post by frisco »

Has anyone actually read the warrant application? The allegations were made by a close acquaintance of the accused who directly observed him changing grades for students and cracking into other systems; the emails in question were traced back to the accused's hostname.

The EFF article completely mischaracterizes a 90% legitimate warrant.

http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/inresearchBC/EXHIBIT-A.pdf

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#18

Post by CaptainMorgan »

frisco wrote: post #17

Has anyone actually read the warrant application? The allegations were made by a close acquaintance of the accused who directly observed him changing grades for students and cracking into other systems; the emails in question were traced back to the accused's hostname. The EFF article completely mischaracterizes a 90% legitimate warrant. http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/inresearchBC/EXHIBIT-A.pdf

Yes. Though, allegations are allegations and what weight do they hold, especially in this case? I argue they don't hold much- it looks more like a civil dispute between two former friends. Plus, keep in mind, 10% is more than enough reasonable doubt- especially in a case where the law and the police are still considered noobs to the game.

But this part kills me: "Mr. Calixte has access into ""'s computer as he set it up for him when they were friends and he knows the password. The computer has been looked at by several experts and none of them can resolve the problem."

WOW- maybe Mr. Calixte is the ultimate cryptographer and completely disguised his activity so stealthy that the so-called 'experts' cannot find the problem! NO. The problem is that there is no problem. And what the hell is wrong with the computer owner? Someone needs a lesson in password management 101.

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#19

Post by javanix »

pingswept wrote: post #13
javanix wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who read the document. I don't see how the police really screwed this one up that much outside of one poorly-worded section of the warrant.

Poorly worded probable cause would be, "I saw him go into a room that was his with a gun and it was hidden," instead of, "I saw him hide a gun in his room." I think including "Mr. Calixte uses two different operating systems" under the section "Basis of Probable Cause" for search goes beyond poor wording.

My point was more that there was plenty of other valid probable cause claims in the warrant.

If a judge had rejected this warrant on the basis of that paragraph, the police could have just removed it and we and the judge wouldn't have anything to complain about.

The grounds for the seizure were plenty strong - the email traces and network authentication would be enough to get any laptop involved in a crime seized.

And as for people claiming it wasn't a crime - there is no possible way that there was no malicious intent in sending a personal-attack email anonymously to a large group of people. (edit)In this case(/edit), the free-speech argument kind of loses its luster when you send something without your name attached.

Re: Boston College Campus Police: "Using Prompt Commands" May Be a Sign of Criminal Activity

#20

Post by CaptainMorgan »

This warrant almost seems like a disguise for something bigger, something to use to make an example of this kid. There's talk about illegally downloaded content; movies, music, etc. But even copyright is still a touchy subject in the eyes of the law... and, the basis of the case is around "Fraud".

We all know the state of affairs with copyright and stealing things like movies and holding a cache of them... But ultimately, peer to peer sharing is not much different than going to your friends house, popping in a DVD you brought(and bought) so that you all could enjoy the entertainment experience. None of this should give the police the right to seize your TV, DVD player, entertainment system, detain you and your parties, couches, and popcorn since you were hacking with your microwave. The significant difference is that you cross the line when you make copies of your content and then try to sell it for a profit.

Later, it states that the suspect was traced back to the origins of the emails sent from the BC server and elaborates further about how uncommon Ubuntu Linux is in Gabelli hall and not to mention, the BC network. In the way it was mentioned, it implies that Linux was used as the foundation for an attack- Since the police have based their case on accusations, maybe those at Ubuntu should sue for defamation of character. I'm sure Mac users are feeling left out right about now.

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