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A federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled that the user of any computer that connects to the Internet should not have an expectation of privacy because computer security is ineffectual at stopping hackers.
"Hacking is much more prevalent now than it was even nine years ago, and the rise of computer hacking via the Internet has changed the public's reasonable expectations of privacy," the judge wrote. "Now, it seems unreasonable to think that a computer connected to the Web is immune from invasion. Indeed, the opposite holds true: In today's digital world, it appears to be a virtual certainty that computers accessing the Internet can—and eventually will—be hacked."
The judge argued that the FBI did not even need the original warrant to use the NIT [Network Investigative technique/Toolkit] against visitors to PlayPen, a hidden service on the Tor network that acted as a hub for child exploitation.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday July 02 2016, @08:09AM
if they hack your computer and find a torrent file, what are the chances ALL your computers get comfiscated when they arrive in person, even your "air gapped" devices?
Does anyone here have any "air gapped" machines?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday July 02 2016, @08:13AM
Air gapped machines are useful for storing Bitcoin or running centrifuges,
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday July 02 2016, @08:30AM
Cue TLA: "see, we *knew* he was up to no good!"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @10:45AM
Maybe with enough digging and "interpretation of the law" they might be able to find stuff to "hang" us with.
FWIW in my fucked-up country "normal" porn is illegal, so probably even instagram /imgur photos in caches would be enough to send me down.
In your country maybe baby/child photos would be enough (if you're unlucky even fully clothed ones might be considered child porn).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @11:13AM
if they hack your computer and find a torrent file
I don't think you're as cynical (or realistic, but I repeat myself) as your name suggests.
Try this: "when they hack your computer and plant some child porn"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Saturday July 02 2016, @11:22AM
all they need to do is convince the judge *something* is "encrypted".
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @06:52PM
Damn, that's cynical. *looks at username* Very well, carry on.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday July 02 2016, @07:11PM
Yes, two. One's an MSWind95 machine and the other's a Mac OS10.4. Both are kept because I have some data in proprietary formats that I can't convert into portable formats. Both are increasingly rarely used.
It's too bad, because Deneba Canvas was the best graphics program for my purposes that I've ever encountered...except for the proprietary file format.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.