

FBI Defends Disruptive Raids on Texas Data Centers - ccarpenterg
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/data-centers-ra.html

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njharman
That wasn't a defense, it was an acknowledgment of incompetence.

It looks like the FBI is due for a Judge delivered smack down like the SS got
for
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._Un...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._United_States_Secret_Service)

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stcredzero
Seems like there's a new branch of law or law enforcement that needs to be
developed. People who have some expertise in IT need to advise law enforcement
about raids like this.

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sangaya
One issue with this is that all of the FBI raids that go well and consist of
competent decision making regardless of IT knowledge involvement will never
make the news. No one wants to read that a raid went off without a hitch. Or
that the field agents sent in to raid a data center were competent enough that
no network other than the suspect's was interrupted. Those stories don't make
the news.

* Admission of possible bias - I'm a member of the Chicago FBI InfraGard program that exists for information sharing between private industry and the government. I've met, talked to, and shaken hands with, many smart and knowledgeable people in the FBI working on computer crime cases.

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sho
_"Authorities also raided his home, where they seized eight iPods, some
belonging to his three children, five XBoxes, a PlayStation3 system and a Wii
gaming console, among other equipment. Agents also seized about $200,000 from
the owner's business accounts, $1,000 from his teenage daughter's account and
more than $10,000 in a personal bank account belonging to the elderly mother
of his former comptroller."_

I'm sure no-one doubts there are numerous smart, knowledgable people working
for the FBI. Unfortunately, looking at the above, there are obviously plenty
of the opposite as well, and they have just as much power as the first.

The FBI has a duty to ensure that its overwhelming powers are wielded only by
those competent to do so, in the same way that it has a duty to ensure that
anyone it issues with a firearm is sufficiently trained in its use.

There is no room for such wild discrepancies in competence when the agency in
question has such power to ruin lives. They are entirely at fault here, and
"but it mostly goes well!" is no excuse at all.

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sangaya
"The FBI has a duty to ensure that its overwhelming powers are wielded only by
those competent to do so, in the same way that it has a duty to ensure that
anyone it issues with a firearm is sufficiently trained in its use. There is
no room for such wild discrepancies in competence when the agency in question
has such power to ruin lives."

Well said! You are absolutely correct.

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pskomoroch
So by this logic, they could raid Amazon's datacenters and seize everything
because a few people were using EC2 to send spam?

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patrickg-zill
How many companies are reading this and wondering if their next datacenter
project should involve servers located outside US jurisdiction?

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SystemOut
Do you seriously think that other countries have more respect for rule of law
or knowledge of data centers than the FBI? It's not that I have any respect
for the FBI when it comes to how they have handled this or other
investigations but I have a hard time believing that this couldn't easily
happen in any other country you might choose to house your servers in.

What this case tells me if I'm running a business or in charge of the
operations group is to make the case for investing in a good disaster recovery
strategy. Basically, this is the equivalent of your data center catching on
fire, blowing up, falling into a sinkhole, etc.

You should always budget for and have plans to be able to be back up and
running with 24 hours if your business depends on what's in the co-location
facility. If you're big enough then probably already have multiple sites and
can sustain the hit from one going down or being removed anyways.

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wheels
A coordinated raid of multiple sites inside of the US wouldn't be that hard. A
coordinated raid spanning multiple countries would be hard enough that you'd
have to suspected of Really, Really, Bad Things for it to come off.

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SystemOut
That wasn't my point. If you're suspected of enough that they are specifically
targeting everywhere you're at and/or seizing your off-site DR assets you've
most likely done something bad enough to warrant that closer look.

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patrickg-zill
Wow ... that is an attitude you should re-examine.

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greatfog
[attitude=prudent]

I do not want my company's communications disrupted by an FBI raid on a
service firm that turned out to be a criminal enterprise. I had best look for
a service provider that has been _pre-investigated_ by the government. After
all, I have a responsibility to my company's shareholders and customers.

[/attitude]

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wmf
Perhaps you could convince AT&T to host your servers right next to the Echelon
equipment.

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vaksel
shouldn't the people enforcing the rules, actually know what the hell they are
doing? Is a bare minimum level of competency too much to ask?

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RobGR
These events remind me of Operation Sundevil and the raid on Steve Jackson
Games, described in Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown".

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grouchyOldGuy
This wasn't imcompetence--it was thuggery. They use the same "shock and awe"
tactics as the police and military--crush your opponent with overwhelming
force so that everyone else will be terrified of you and cower before you.
This is a deliberate tactic on their part. All federal LEOs work this way--
DEA, FBI, etc.

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raintrees
If Mike Faulkner truly was not involved with the alleged illegal actions, he
and his family ought to do well, living off of a considerable settlement from
the FBI. Hopefully enough to start a new business or two...

Unfortunately, that ultimately means I, as a tax payer, will be funding it.
Sigh.

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ConradHex
Weird. I fully expected to read the article and be able to figure out what the
FBI was trying to do, and see their side of the story. But I'm more baffled
(and frustrated) than ever.

