Monday, September 24, 2012

Six Really Cool Reasons Why You Shouldn't Turn Off A Tweeting Hijacker's Phone

Pittsburgh police and SWAT members escort a suspect, center right, from a hostage-taking on the 16th floor at Three Gateway Center to a police van on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Pittsburgh. Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, surrendered just before 2 p.m., and the man he took hostage was unhurt, Police Chief Nathan Harper said. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Last week, there was a hostage situation in Pittsburgh that garnered the attention of the national news media.  The subject stormed a building and held a business owner hostage with a knife and hammer while sending "status updates" via Facebook.  It had all the makings of a really bad B-rated movie with your favorite 1990's action hero.  What caught everyone's attention was the status updates during the standoff by the perpetrator.  The police allowed him to communicate via the social networking site to allow him to communicate to them (This is the Pittsburgh Police....We have you surrounded....Please accept our friend request) and his family and friends who they assumed may have better luck at deescalating the situation.  They got fed up finally or were finally able to get Facebook to cooperate and shut down his account.

You might be wondering, as was I, if that was such a great idea.  Here's probably why not and why you shouldn't:
  1. In some situations, you may not have any "eyes and ears" inside.  For hours, the Pittsburgh PD thought they had a bomb-making veteran with some serious PTSD issues.  You can have all the technology in the world but it's worthless if you can't get inside.  Without any further information disclosed, this appears to be the case here.  His status updates can provide information on his mental health status, number of other hostages, weapons, personal contacts he will listen to, etc.
    Screenshot of Facebook "status update" of Pittsburgh suspect
  2. Depending on the device being used to make the "status updates", you may have an opportunity to gain a unique perspective about what's actually happening.  My hacker friends know exactly where I am going with this.  The wonderful thing about modern laptops, smartphones, and tablets is they almost always come with video and audio capabilities.  This is where it might behoove some departments to recruit people with these skill-sets.  A hacker or a trained cyber operative (I know it's cheesy and way too Hollywood) could easily exploit any existing security vulnerabilities the device could be susceptible to and exploit them to gain access to an internal microphone or camera.  With an active Internet connection, you could then transmit what the audio/video components were capturing in real-time.
  3. If a guy's talking, that means he's not dead.  I know - it's bad taste.  Hear me out.  If your perpetrator is still making status updates, that means you have a live bad guy and probably live hostages.  It also means he may not have time to set booby traps if he's overly consumed with clicking "like" on his comments.  
  4. Allow him to believe you have no clue about his Facebook statuses.  Seriously.  Play dumb for as long as you can.  Don't get me wrong - this can and will expire soon.  However, at the offset, it may be wise to play dumb.  You don't want the laptop or cell phone off for any reason.  Remember what I said about "eyes and ears".
  5. Communication with personal contacts.  When looking at the Pittsburgh perpetrator's "status updates", one can't help but notice how he interacted with those who really knew him.  Suppose you get his mom to get out to talk to him/her and it goes bad, who else do you call?  Mom may be out of tune or clueless about his closest friends or even his current relationship status.  Facebook, as we all know, does this for you.  I have LOADS of friends on Facebook.  If you wanted any idea as to who I'm closest to other than my wife and parents, my Facebook interactions would certainly clue you in to some extent.
  6. You have no idea what this situation is about but I bet Facebook will.  People often tell their life stories on Facebook.  They have fights with spouses, girlfriends/boyfriends, parents, assorted family members, friends, and co-workers.  They discover cheating, fraud, and various ethical improprieties.  ALL on Facebook.  What better way than to listen and learn to what's going on in your perpetrator's life and of those in his/her inner circle.  A great example is the screenshot below.  Check out his friend, Markus' post.

As you can see there are many reasons why law enforcement should consider allowing hostage-takers to continue making "status updates".   Remember it is easy in any situation to see only your limitations and pitfalls.  However, a reexamination could prove you have more tools at your disposal than you previously realized.

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