[NetBehaviour] Police blotter: Google searches nab wireless hacker.

[marc]

Police blotter: Google searches nab wireless hacker.

By Declan McCullagh.

What: Wireless hacker pleads guilty when his Google searches are used as 
evidence against him.

When: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on October 27.

Outcome: Prison sentence of 15 months upheld.

What happened, according to court documents:
Matthew Schuster began work as a computer technician for Alpha Computer 
Services in Wausau, Wisc., in 2000. Schuster provided technical support 
for a wireless Internet system called CWWIS and also was a paying 
subscriber to CWWIS for his home.

Schuster was fired in May 2003. His home CWWIS account was terminated 
and the balance of his monthly payment refunded. But he continued to use 
CWWIS by using "access information" belonging to Alpha customers such as 
the Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau--and, according to 
the FBI, he intentionally disrupted CWWIS as well.

"Court documents are ambiguous and don't reveal how the FBI discovered 
his search terms. That could have happened in one of three ways: an 
analysis of his browser's history and cache; an Alpha employee 
monitoring the company's wireless connection; or a subpoena to Google 
from the police for search terms tied to his Internet address or cookie."

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