Friends computer siezed

Tranced

Tranced

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Messages
10,875
My mates brothers computer has been siezed (something to do with spray painting tags everywhere and looking for matches).

Basically, there is a fuck load of stuff within his chat logs that could incriminate me, him, and some of our mates related to drugs and other stuff. I'm also sure that if they read through them enough they could get my mobile number, company, full name e.t.c

Have I got a lot to worry about here? Would they be checking the likes of chat logs for this stuff?
 
Yes they would definately be interested in reading his chat logs. Logs are about the most incriminating thing you can save on a computer.

You should worry a little bit, but as long as they can't collect more evidence on you, chances are you'll be ok. If you have a decent amount of contraband on you, I'd recommend giving it to a trusted friend who isn't involved with your 'mates brother'.

The same thing happened to me before. A friend of mine had his computer seized for computer crimes and he had a TON of stuff that could have got me in some serious trouble. Fortunately the only thing that happened was that I heard rumors that local agents were asking about me, but they never bothered to actually contact me or anything.
 
You guys need a big fucking magnet that you keep near your computer, I have herd that if the cops come to bust you can permently erase all your computer info. (I believe that doing this will totaly fuck up your computer so the magnetic hard drive inside your computer will be totaly screwed, and no don't try this at home unless you got 2 grand or whatever to drop on a new computer!!)
 
And how will you know in advance what kind of magnet and whether it will really erase the hard drive? Better to use good common sense and leave no trails that could lead the cops to illegal behavior.
 
They used to use magnets in the late 70s and early 80s to erase tape backup. I work in an industry regulated by privacy standards and we have to destroy hard drives.

There are some products out there they can erase the majority of your files so that they cannot be recovered. On-line backup migh be a thought as well.
 
Yes, but are these electromagnets? How strong do they have to be? How long do you have to apply the magnet? For tapes, you use an electromagnet, holding it against the tape and moving it around in a circular motion, right? But will this work through the computer case itself? Or do you have to take the hard drive out and zap it?

Do you see what I'm saying? You would first have to find out the answers, then test it out to make sure it works, then when the cops are banging on the door you have to get to the computer and do the magnet. Even if it works, I don't think it's very practical. :\

The software that erases the hard drive must write stuff to the drive over and over so that they can't recover it through the latent magnetic signature of the data. This takes hours. Some cops might be so stupid as to believe it if you tell them that they have to let your software run until it's done, otherwise the hard drive will be damaged and they won't get any data, but others might just yank the plug out of the wall and take the computer.

Really, really good encryption might be a good answer to storing stuff on your hard drives (if you really have to keep it). Every time there's an advance, you have to keep up with it, and the cops won't be able to spend the resources figuring out what's in your encrypted files.

I think all this high-level stuff applies only to the few people who could really be busted bad (dealers, manufacturers, importers). The cops won't go through the effort just for personal use, especially if they already have the drugs they took from you. If you're just a user, don't keep shit on your computer that they can find if they grab it, it's as simple as that.

Online backup like groovee said sounds good, too, but I wouldn't trust it for very sensitive stuff or if it's data they'll try real hard to find.
 
Last edited:
Just use Window Washer, you can purchase it online. It does a great job of erasing all files and you can pick and choose when and what you want deleted permenanty. It even has an option to wash with "bleach" hehe
 
I dont think a magnet would wreck the computer.. Just the harddrive. Which are cheap now anyways. I think even still just running a low level format on the drive would probably bring it back too life.
 
Ok, then try this:

Rig up some C-4 and blow the fuck out of your computer.
 
i saw on law and order some guy did the magnet thing. they said on there they cant get it back unless they want to spend like a 100k or more.
 
Actually, I find that CSI Vegas is the best way to learn how to get around the po-po.

Cause, like TV is so realistic.
 
There has been tons of shit on CNN with real cops talking about how CSI is pure bullshit. They said it would take hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds and weeks to do the shit CSI does.
 
cool_cow said:
I dont think a magnet would wreck the computer.. Just the harddrive. Which are cheap now anyways. I think even still just running a low level format on the drive would probably bring it back too life.
Click to expand...

my friend tried to ruin another persons computer that he hates by putting magnets on the HD for a bit. didnt work at all
 
"Bcwipe" works well for erasing. 7 passes of overwriting with random bits. And it's free to download/use.
 
I've been told you need a magnet powerful enough to lift a small car to reliably erase all the information on a modern hard disk. If the cops turn up at your door with a warrant, basically there's no easy quick way to wipe your hard disk. Just turn off logging ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top