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Google Search Convicts Hacker

Posted by Zonk on from the scroooooood dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google search terms have helped convict a wireless hacker. The queries the hacker performed were introduced into evidence at court, where Matthew Schuster was charged with disrupting his former employer's wireless network and imitating other users' MAC addresses to obtain access. From the article: 'Court documents are ambiguous and don't reveal how the FBI discovered his search terms. That could have happened in one of three ways: an analysis of his browser's history and cache; an Alpha employee monitoring the company's wireless connection; or a subpoena to Google from the police for search terms tied to his Internet address or cookie. Google has confirmed that it can provide search terms if given an Internet address or Web cookie, but has steadfastly refused to say how often such requests arrive.'

4 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. AOL by celardore · · Score: 5, Funny
    Google has confirmed that it can provide search terms if given an Internet address or Web cookie, but has steadfastly refused to say how often such requests arrive. (Microsoft, on the other hand, told us that it has never received such queries for MSN Search, and AOL says it could not provide the information if asked.)

    No, they'll just give it all away anyway.
  2. MAC Address Filtering... by e4g4 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...is not a bloody security feature. This is why people who actually want to secure a wireless network use some combination of Radius and VPNs...

    --
    The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
  3. How to not get caught by troll+-1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Linksys router Schuster used at his home and its MAC address proved that he was accessing the CWWIS wireless network.

    Sounds like the MAC address was tied to his name somewhere and this was the evidence the FBI used to obtain the warrant. After that, everything was revealed by the contents of his computer.

    If you purchase a network card online with a credit card it's possible that the FBI can trace the MAC address of that card back to you, providing the seller keeps records. If you're a linux user you can change your MAC address with,

    ifconfig ethX hw ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

    As long as you don't pass traceable information (like logging onto a traceable email account) and you use an anonymous proxy like tor as extra protection, it's pretty difficult to trace you. It's possible, of course, to locate you physically by triangulating your radio signals but this requires a bit more effort.

    The above is provided for educational purposes only. I do not advocate breaking the law.

  4. Faulty Article Title by JasonKChapman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kudos on the post's headline being more accurate than TFA's headline.

    The article's headline says: "Google searches nab wireless hacker," but the article actually says:

    Wireless hacker pleads guilty when his Google searches are used as evidence against him.

    That may seem like simple semantics, but it's actually a pretty big difference.

    --
    Sorry, I'm a writer. That makes you raw material.