Hunter Biden fights back

[GermanSuplex]

So, given how Fox and many others have gotten themselves in a pickle by giddily rehashing things about Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines and have now been hauled into court and facing hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars in penalties, Hunter Biden is now up next.

Nothing about this story ever made sense, even if the laptop was his. What were they looking for? Sorry, the DOJ isn’t interested in some guy smoking crack and sleeping with hookers. May be embarrassing if your dad’s a politician but it’s probably nothing that doesn’t happen a few times each week a Mar A Lago

Anyways, it should be interesting to see if nothing comes of this, or if the usual suspects on Fox and such could have another headache on their hands.

Hunter Biden Takes Aggressive New Laptop Strategy: Report

The President's son has taken a more conservative approach in the past.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Herdfan]

I'm trying to figure out what he thinks was "stolen". If you leave a laptop, or really any product, at a place of repair and don't come back in a set period of time, it becomes their property.

Given how long I have seen signs like these, and that they appear at major retailers, I would have to think any legal challenges to such policies have already been litigated and found to be valid.

So if he left it and the required amount of time passed and the shop owner became the legal owner, what was stolen?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I'm trying to figure out what he thinks was "stolen". If you leave a laptop, or really any product, at a place of repair and don't come back in a set period of time, it becomes their property.

Given how long I have seen signs like these, and that they appear at major retailers, I would have to think any legal challenges to such policies have already been litigated and found to be valid.

So if he left it and the required amount of time passed and the shop owner became the legal owner, what was stolen?

This might be getting into a gray or new law area. Beyond the physical laptop how did they get into the data? Was it password protected?

If you sold your laptop to a shop and forgot to erase the drive does that mean the reseller just sells it to the next person as is and provides the buyer with your password?

 

[Herdfan]

This might be getting into a gray or new law area. Beyond the physical laptop how did they get into the data? Was it password protected?

If you sold your laptop to a shop and forgot to erase the drive does that mean the reseller just sells it to the next person as is and provides the buyer with your password?

I would think if they have a stated policy that all the laptop, including data, becomes their property, then yeah.

But question about the password protection. Does Apple's PW protection scheme protect actual data, or just stop access to it from the screen and keyboard. So if I took the HHD, could I see and copy the files?

 

[GermanSuplex]

I'm trying to figure out what he thinks was "stolen". If you leave a laptop, or really any product, at a place of repair and don't come back in a set period of time, it becomes their property.

Given how long I have seen signs like these, and that they appear at major retailers, I would have to think any legal challenges to such policies have already been litigated and found to be valid.

So if he left it and the required amount of time passed and the shop owner became the legal owner, what was stolen?

Well, we’re going to find out. Other than assisting the DoJ into their investigation over taxes, there’s no real juice for the republicans on it. The story was odd from the start. So we are about to find out what the law says about this kind of behavior. Leaving the laptop behind doesn’t necessarily mean you’re entitled to the contents of it.

All that said, I’m glad he’s fighting back. I still don’t see what the GOP thinks they have in their war on him. There’s been virtually nothing substantial tying him or President Biden to anything nefarious. The GOP will investigate as they like, but it just seems like their war on Hunter Biden is a snooze fest.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I would think if they have a stated policy that all the laptop, including data, becomes their property, then yeah.

But question about the password protection. Does Apple's PW protection scheme protect actual data, or just stop access to it from the screen and keyboard. So if I took the HHD, could I see and copy the files?

But did they have that policy? Honest question. And it sounds like there should be laws against this. Again, taking Hunter out of it, imagine somebody having access to all your banking logins and passwords.

I’m far from a password and encryption expert. So I couldn’t answer that second part.

On the general investigation, this seems like another example of watching how upper class justice works. The potential actual crime takes a far backseat to how the evidence was gathered or if it should be allowed as evidence.

 

[Herdfan]

But did they have that policy? Honest question. And it sounds like there should be laws against this. Again, taking Hunter out of it, imagine somebody having access to all your banking logins and passwords.

I’m far from a password and encryption expert. So I couldn’t answer that second part.

Lot's of businesses have similar policies. And the purpose is to protect businesses from someone bringing an item in for an expensive repair and then deciding not to pay the bill. So the shop takes ownership and can sell it.

As for the password issue, that would be applicable no matter who it is or what shop you took it to. If they are on there and the shop has access, an employee has access.

I have a box of HHD's from just about every computer I have had since I started working. I pull them out before I sell or dispose of the computer.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I have a box of HHD's from just about every computer I have had since I started working. I pull them out before I sell or dispose of the computer.

I still have some old SCSI drives laying around because I've been too lazy to take them to a place where I can watch them get destroyed. Possibly the only damaging data on them is some vintage porn (that wasn't vintage at the time of downloading)

 

[Citysnaps]

I still have some old SCSI drives laying around because I've been too lazy to take them to a place where I can watch them get destroyed. Possibly the only damaging data on them is some vintage porn (that wasn't vintage at the time of downloading)

If you have a drill press (or even a hand drill), that works pretty good. Just make a few holes through the drive. Make sure the drive is clamped down welll.

 

[Nycturne]

But question about the password protection. Does Apple's PW protection scheme protect actual data, or just stop access to it from the screen and keyboard. So if I took the HHD, could I see and copy the files?

FileVault encrypts the actual data. Your login does not.

If I have FileVault enabled, the password is entangled with the decryption key. So if I know the password, I can just login on the device. If I know Apple's key generation algo, I can decrypt the drive outside the machine, at least in principle. With the T2 and Apple Silicon, there's a hardware encryption key fused into the chip that is entangled with the password to generate the decryption key, making extraction outside of the device quite difficult. So the easiest way when the device is under your control is to login, as the password is the weak point.

Lot's of businesses have similar policies. And the purpose is to protect businesses from someone bringing an item in for an expensive repair and then deciding not to pay the bill. So the shop takes ownership and can sell it.

This gets messy because I don't think there's clear legal precedent about the data on the device vs the device itself. At least in the vaguely similar case of a car repossession (where the car is the collateral on the bill due), the folks taking possession of the car are not entitled to your personal effects that were in the car at the time and are required to return them to you. So while IANAL, it seems like there's an argument that the personal data on a device can fall under similar restrictions. So I don't think it's clear cut that the repair shop in question is entitled to the data on the laptop even if they were in the right to take possession of the laptop itself.

Still sloppy OpSec on the part of someone who should know that their private information is more valuable than most, due to being related to a federal politician.

 

[Huntn]

So, given how Fox and many others have gotten themselves in a pickle by giddily rehashing things about Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines and have now been hauled into court and facing hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars in penalties, Hunter Biden is now up next.

Nothing about this story ever made sense, even if the laptop was his. What were they looking for? Sorry, the DOJ isn’t interested in some guy smoking crack and sleeping with hookers. May be embarrassing if your dad’s a politician but it’s probably nothing that doesn’t happen a few times each week a Mar A Lago

Anyways, it should be interesting to see if nothing comes of this, or if the usual suspects on Fox and such could have another headache on their hands.

Hunter Biden Takes Aggressive New Laptop Strategy: Report

The President's son has taken a more conservative approach in the past.

www.thedailybeast.com

Did he abandon this computer at a repair shop? I’m not up to speed (think I forgot ) about what was found on it. And I’d have to ask what opportunity was there for a third party to place stuff on it?

 

[Herdfan]

Did he abandon this computer at a repair shop? I’m not up to speed (think I forgot ) about what was found on it. And I’d have to ask what opportunity was there for a third party to place stuff on it?

Yes, he left it at a repair shop. Yes there was opportunity for a 3rd party to place stuff on it, but to this point, I think if there was stuff being attributed to it that actually wasn't his, there would be denials. Which there haven't.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Yes, he left it at a repair shop. Yes there was opportunity for a 3rd party to place stuff on it, but to this point, I think if there was stuff being attributed to it that actually wasn't his, there would be denials. Which there haven't.

Trump would have responded that he barely knows what a laptop is.

 

[Alli]

Yes, he left it at a repair shop. Yes there was opportunity for a 3rd party to place stuff on it, but to this point, I think if there was stuff being attributed to it that actually wasn't his, there would be denials. Which there haven't.

Nobody with access to the alleged laptop has said what they’ve found on it, so it’s difficulty to deny ownership. If I say I have something of yours, you first ask what it is. We still don’t know what it is. Kinda hard to deny (or admit) ownership of a rumor.

 

[Yoused]

I heard a rumor that there were pictures of Hunter's penis on it. Arrgh. No one should ever take and keep pictures of their genitalia. No, no, no. That stuff should never been observed by anyone, ever. Dirty, dirty, dirty. Joe the President must be impeached because people have seen pictures of his son's junk.

 

[Citysnaps]

I heard a rumor that there were pictures of Hunter's penis on it. Arrgh. No one should ever take and keep pictures of their genitalia. No, no, no. That stuff should never been observed by anyone, ever. Dirty, dirty, dirty. Joe the President must be impeached because people have seen pictures of his son's junk.

More chum in the water for Jordan and his committee investigations. Yeah, that's what I want my tax $ spent on.