Summary
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The Marion County Record newsroom in Kansas was raided by police, who seized two cellphones, four computers, a backup hard drive, and reporting materials.
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A computer seized was most likely unencrypted. Law enforcement officials hope that devices seized during a raid are unencrypted, as this makes them easier to examine.
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Modern iPhones and Android phones are encrypted by default, but older devices may not be.
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Desktop computers typically do not have encryption enabled by default, so it is important to turn this on manually.
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Use strong random passwords and keep them in a password manager.
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During the raid, police seized a single backup hard drive. It is important to have multiple backups of your data in case one is lost or stolen.
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You can encrypt USB storage devices using BitLocker To Go on Windows, or Disk Utility on macOS.
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All major desktop operating systems support Veracrypt, which can be used to encrypt entire drives.
Main Take-aways
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Encrypt your devices, drives, and USBs.
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Use strong random passwords and password manager.
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Have multiple backups.
Short version:
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Police chief was accused of sexual impropriety, and the newspaper was investigating.
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A prominent local restaurant owner got caught in a DUI and the newspaper got a tip and investigated. On investigation, they decided the story was not newsworthy.
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Police raided the newspaper claiming that the DUI tip was the result of illegal computer hacking, and that they had to confiscate the computers to analyze for evidence of hacking.
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The judge who signed the search warrant also had a history of DUI.
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Critics believe that the police used this hacking claim as a thinly veiled excuse to cripple the newspaper and check to see what they really had on the chief.
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Critics have also suggested that the police themselves may have leaked the information to set up the flimsy excuse for the search.
