Re: William was raided for running a Tor exit node. Please help if you can.

[Peter Kristolaitis <alter3d () alter3d ca>]

Drifting a big off topic for NANOG (but hey, that happens every /pi/ 
days anyways!), but I'll toss this in...

Like every other legal incident, it would be unique to your own 
situation.  Keep in mind that, should any of the charges you mentioned 
go to court, the prosecution would have to prove /mens rea/ (intent).  
They would have to prove that you intended to cause the drives to be 
wiped specifically because you did not want them admitted as evidence.

If you weren't even home at the time the warrant was executed, the worst 
lawyer in the world would be able to argue that you have the system in 
place to prevent sensitive data from leaving in the event of common 
theft, and that it's not your fault the police triggered it (and suggest 
that maybe they should add "scan for an intense EM field" to their 
standard procedures when dealing with computer equipment :p ).

If you were home at the time (or knew that a warrant was being executed, 
e.g. if the police show up at your workplace to inform you), things 
would be a lot dicier.  Actively hitting the "turn on the system" button 
would definitely be bad news for you. However, simply not turning it off 
as the officers are walking out the door, well... it was a VERY 
stressful situation for you, with all the police running all over your 
house, and you simply forgot about the system until much later (or so 
your lawyer could argue).

There would definitely be some unhappy people with the situation 
regardless, and either way you'll be contributing to buying your lawyer 
a new car.  ;)

Now, having said all that... I'm not sure I'd want to pay the 
electricity bill for keeping that degausser running... :p

- Pete



On 12/17/2012 02:52 PM, Kyle Creyts wrote:
> In most jurisdictions, wouldn't using a de-gaussing ring in the door frame
> to wipe any equipment being removed constitute "tampering with evidence" or
> interfering with an investigation if the authority in question is in
> possession of a warrant/subpoena?
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Jeroen van Aart <jeroen () mompl net> wrote:
>
> > On 11/30/2012 02:02 PM, Naslund, Steve wrote:
> >
> > > OK, there must be a lot more paranoid people out there than I thought
> >   for awhile?  I am sure he will let you out to go to the bank, get your
> > > stuff, and leave town.  I think you have seen way to many movies.
> >   So if the cops show up at his door tomorrow and say "Here's all your
> > > stuff back, there was no evidence of a crime.", you are OK with this
> > > guys keeping the "defense fund"?
> > I for one vote for installing a de-gauging ring in your door frame. any
> > removal of equipment you don't approve of will be wiped. That and
> > encryption possibly combined with hiding the "real" OS (truecrypt can do
> > that).
> >
> > Greetings,
> > Jeroen
> >
> > --
> > Earthquake Magnitude: 5.1
> > Date: Monday, December 17, 2012 17:46:48 UTC
> > Location: central East Pacific Rise
> > Latitude: -3.9682; Longitude: -104.0375
> > Depth: 15.70 km