[vox-tech] Wi-fi issue

[Bob Scofield]

On 04/16/2015 08:28 AM, Chris Jenks wrote:
>
>   Connecting isn't controlling. Instead of being scared you could do 
> like me and just leave your wifi wide open and not worry about it. 
> Excessive worry about security has been draining the life from people 
> in every area of my life.
> _______________________________________________

Here's one reason I'm in the excessive worry camp.  As a legal research 
and writing attorney for criminal defense lawyers, I have worked on 
several search warrants for child porn.  I even worked on one case where 
the San Jose Police Department thought it worth their while to travel 
through five counties to execute a warrant in Vallejo.

If someone downloads child porn through your wifi connection, there's a 
good chance that the police will search your house and seize all of your 
computers.  And while child porn searches might not be as messy as 
others, some search warrant executions can leave a house in shambles.

Some police agencies, when preparing to obtain a child porn search 
warrant, will stand near the suspect's house to see if the wifi is 
secured.  In my opinion this is done so that, if the connection is 
secure, the police can eliminate a defense at trial.  I seriously doubt 
that the existence of an unsecure connection would prevent the police 
from obtaining the warrant.

Search warrants for computer equipment always contain a request to hold 
the evidence for a longer period of time to give the police a chance to 
do a full examination of the hard drives.  So dealing with a search 
warrant can be a hassle even if you're innocent.

Bob