Has anyone seen or knows of a similiar action here in USA? . Teenager jailed for refusing to hand over computer password by Antony Savvas 6 comments | 5I like it! Tags: passwords October 6, 2010, 01:38 PM — Computerworld UK — <!--paging_filter--> A teenager has been jailed for four months after refusing to hand over an encryption key for his computer to police. Oliver Drage, 19, of Naze Lane, Freckleton, Lancashire was originally arrested for another alleged offence last May. In the course of that investigation police seized his computer. But they could not get past a 50-character encryption password to find out what material was on the computer. Drage, a fast food shop worker, was then formally requested to disclose the password, but he failed to do so. He was then charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and convicted after a trial at Preston Crown Court last month. The Police have still not been able to crack the code on Drage's computer to discover its contents. Det Sgt Neil Fowler, of Lancashire Police, said: "Computer systems are constantly advancing and the legislation used here was specifically brought in to deal with those who are using the internet to commit crime." A year ago, it was disclosed that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) was being used by local councils, the police and the security services around 1,500 times a day to investigate citizens. » posted by ITworld staff Computerworld UK
Wow, sounds like they just want to dig around on the kids computer to see what else they can find to charge him with. wonder if they tried the Microsoft COFEE toolkit.. Anyway, Anyone living in the United States can be very thankful that the Fifth Amendment exists. I think that this has been tested a few times here since the early 2000's and I believe (IANAL) that they may have even gone up to the supreme court where the computer owners rights against self-incrimination were upheld. note to those that have something to hide, Use full disc encryption tools, not just the ones that hide stuff in hidden files, or buried inside of other files. That can be sniffed out by a number of forensic tools out there. Encrypt the whole thing. makes it way more difficult if not impossible to determine what is empty spaces versus hidden/secret. Look at TruCrypt or PGP to encrypt the entire disk and then encrypt your most sensitive files i.e. grandma's recipe for cardamom bread or your family photos, etc. best security can still be defeated by a seriously determined party with : Lots of time on their hands, Lots of money, Serious computing horse power but it might still take them years to crack. But it sounds like the UK is like seriously screwed as they don't seem to have a fifth amendment there. and will toss your arse in the tower if you don't give up the cipher!
I use TruCrypt for my work laptop to protect the software I write. It's a great tool. Does the job well. Highly recommended.
