Re: [tor-talk] Harvard student used Tor to send bomb threats, gets caught by old-fashioned policework

[Mirimir <mirimir@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 12/19/2013 07:28 AM, Jim wrote:
> Mirimir wrote:
>> On 12/18/2013 11:18 PM, Jim wrote:
>>
>>> spaceman wrote:
>>>>> From what I got they simply used timings:
>>>> 1. They knew when the email arrived give or take (from headers).
>>>> 2. They knew who connected to Tor at that particular time (from
>>>> network logs).
>>>> Even on college campus there might be a couple of Tor users. I would
>>>> have used SSH to get to a 'unmonitored network', Tor and then
>>>> mixmaster.
>>> But the email could have come from anywhere.  It didn't have to
>>> originate on the campus.  Then a timing correlation could link to
>>> somebody who was merely unfortunate enough to be accessing Tor at
>>> approximately the same time as somebody who was doing something
>>> nefarious.  I have certainly had the misfortune of being in the wrong
>>> place at the wrong time and this is just a cyberspace equivalent of
>>> that.
>>>
>>> Jim
>>
>> Police are trained in how to manipulate suspects into confessing. And
>> most people have no clue how to deal with that. It's not so bad for the
>> innocent. They can just be natural. But, for the guilty, it's much^N
>> harder. It takes skill to convincingly feign innocence.
>>
>> As Ted Smith noted: "The moral of the story is, never talk to police
>> other than to say you want a lawyer." That's the appropriate answer
>> whether you're innocent or guilty.
> 
> This is going seriously OT, so I'll cease after this post.

Using Tor to make bomb threats is clearly off-topic for tor-talk.

However, knowing how to deal with government agents is important for
anyone running a relay, especially an exit relay, and crucially in
places where it's forbidden to run relays. Perhaps there ought to be a
training video for prospective relay operators.

In this video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc>, a "law
school professor and former criminal defense attorney tells you why you
should never agree to be interviewed by the police." I've also seen one
by a former police officer that was very informative.

> You are correct when you say never talk to the police w/o a lawyer,
> whether guilty or innocent.  I disagree about it necessarily being
> easier for the innocent.  The guilty might at least have a clue about
> what not to say.  The innocent do not have that advantage -- as I
> learned to my detriment.  Fortunately it was a relatively minor matter.
> 
> The police make up their minds about whether they think you are guilty
> or not and act accordingly.  Their view about your guilt or innocent may
> not have a terribly strong correlation with reality.

They're well trained in psychology to read guilt. But the guilt that
they detect may be irrelevant to the present circumstances ;)

> Jim
> 
> 
-- 
tor-talk mailing list - tor-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe or change other settings go to
https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk