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.

Main Take-aways

  • Encrypt your devices, drives, and USBs.

  • Use strong random passwords and password manager.

  • Have multiple backups.

  • intensely_human
    10·
    10 months ago

    So encryption really matters, totally agree. Protection at all times.

    But I’m also curious about this story. Why are the police raiding a newspaper and seizing computers? That is sketchy as hell.

    • RickRussell_CA@beehaw.org
      16·
      10 months ago

      Short version:

      • Police chief was accused of sexual impropriety, and the newspaper was investigating.

      • A prominent local restaurant owner got caught in a DUI and the newspaper got a tip and investigated. On investigation, they decided the story was not newsworthy.

      • Police raided the newspaper claiming that the DUI tip was the result of illegal computer hacking, and that they had to confiscate the computers to analyze for evidence of hacking.

      • The judge who signed the search warrant also had a history of DUI.

      • Critics believe that the police used this hacking claim as a thinly veiled excuse to cripple the newspaper and check to see what they really had on the chief.

      • Critics have also suggested that the police themselves may have leaked the information to set up the flimsy excuse for the search.

      • intensely_human
        3·
        10 months ago

        Thanks for the summary.

        That is kind of what I suspected which is:

        • There was some conflict between the newspaper and local government
        • Government found some flimsy excuse to attack the newspaper

        Overall that’s bad news. It implies the government’s gloves are coming off.