Punishing Security Breaches

Schneier has a story on his blog this morning about punishing security breaches. This one is in response to the tale of Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who left an important bit of technology in a bar recently. You might have heard of it. You also might have been on either the breacher or the corporate side. I'd hate to be in either position myself.

Comments

Gizmodo May Face Felony Charges

[eldavojohn]

I caught a an article on NY Times that outlines the San Mateo police's options for prosecuting Gizmodo for purchasing the leaked iPhone. From the article:

California law prohibits the sale of stolen goods and states that a person who uses someone else’s lost property without permission may be guilty of theft.

And since it's over $950, it's a felony. Even if they didn't know it was stolen, they could face a lesser charge of "misappropriation of lost property" which is a crime but not theft. Charges haven't been pressed yet but the police say they're investigating the options.

Re:Gizmodo May Face Felony Charges

[SharpFang]

The seller spent a pretty long time in the bar asking the patrons and the barman about the phone. He made it pretty certain this was a found item, not a stolen one and went to quite a bit of lengths to find the owner, and has a bunch of witnesses to confirm it.

Re:Gizmodo May Face Felony Charges

[stonewallred]

Which ever one that allows the DA to charge you with a felony. Unless of course you are connected, then it is which ever one that allows the DA to charge you with a misdemeanor which he'll drop under a prayer for judgment. The amount of leeway a DA has is what makes the US legal system appear to be so uncorrupted when compared to the rest of the world. But the corruption lies within the system, at the level of discretion the DA and judges have.