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The NY Times also just ran a story[1] on another serial swatter, including the immense effort (over 1000 hours across all involved) of a rankled Georgia detecti

by MrFoof 11y ago

The NY Times also just ran a story[1] on another serial swatter, including the immense effort (over 1000 hours across all involved) of a rankled Georgia detective to actually bring him to justice, since the swatter was a Canadian minor. Little help from the FBI until the victim count had surpassed 40. Extreme difficulty getting Canadian law enforcement to play ball until they were able to get video evidence of the swatter broadcasting his antics live on the internet. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/the-serial-swatter.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/the-serial-swatte...

meowface 11y ago
And all this for a guy whose full name and address is contained within a Pastebin entry on the first page of search results when you Google his username! Imagine how hard it must be to identify swatters who have serious OPSEC.
- MrFoof 11y ago
  I think the reality is when he was caught, that Pastebin page didn't have anywhere near the PageRank it does today. Moreover, the detective that did the bulk of the legwork wasn't tremendously savvy in regards to how online communities (and all the activity) work, which makes it a bit impressive that he was able to get his perp. He had a real ramp up there in order to be able to make real progress.
  - meowface 11y ago
    >I think the reality is when he was caught, that Pastebin page didn't have anywhere near the PageRank it does today. That may be so, but you would think one of the first things an investigator of cybercrimes would do is Google search. Searches of "[username] real name" or "[username] dox" could provide instant leads for tons of cases. >the detective that did the bulk of the legwork wasn't tremendously savvy in regards to how online communities (and all the activity) work Indeed, this is the real issue. It's unfortunate that cybercrime investigators did not even bother looking into this. I suppose they may have their hands caught up with admittedly worse crimes, like child pornography and theft.
mikeyouse 11y ago
Good lord, only 16 months for all the chaos that little dipshit caused? Get it together Canada.. There is no chance he suddenly becomes a useful person. I'd have no qualms at all for putting him in jail for 10 years.

by MrFoof 11y ago

meowface 11y ago

And all this for a guy whose full name and address is contained within a Pastebin entry on the first page of search results when you Google his username! Imagine how hard it must be to identify swatters who have serious OPSEC.

MrFoof 11y ago
I think the reality is when he was caught, that Pastebin page didn't have anywhere near the PageRank it does today. Moreover, the detective that did the bulk of the legwork wasn't tremendously savvy in regards to how online communities (and all the activity) work, which makes it a bit impressive that he was able to get his perp. He had a real ramp up there in order to be able to make real progress.
- meowface 11y ago
  >I think the reality is when he was caught, that Pastebin page didn't have anywhere near the PageRank it does today. That may be so, but you would think one of the first things an investigator of cybercrimes would do is Google search. Searches of "[username] real name" or "[username] dox" could provide instant leads for tons of cases. >the detective that did the bulk of the legwork wasn't tremendously savvy in regards to how online communities (and all the activity) work Indeed, this is the real issue. It's unfortunate that cybercrime investigators did not even bother looking into this. I suppose they may have their hands caught up with admittedly worse crimes, like child pornography and theft.

mikeyouse 11y ago

Good lord, only 16 months for all the chaos that little dipshit caused? Get it together Canada.. There is no chance he suddenly becomes a useful person. I'd have no qualms at all for putting him in jail for 10 years.