One dead in swatting prank

TheFORCE

It appears that the kids these days have taken the pranks and wagers to a different level. Now they are calling the cops to random addresses to prank friends or random people. Be careful when opening your doors. It also appears that the person that initiated this event has done this before and has some level of computer skill with hiding his identity online through VPN's or anonymous services and social engineering. He also claimed to the responsible for the bomb threats at the FCC net neutrality discussion.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/12/kansas-man-killed-in-swatting-attack/

EANx

We've always had hoax threats but up until the 90s, they were mostly local. Now it's easy to bounce your VoIP path through TOR and a couple of different countries with conflicting evidentiary laws before getting to your target. Mad props for the guys and girls who successfully track this stuff down.

636-555-3226

Swatting's been around for awhile. Perps are usually caught, except for the ones that actually do a good job hiding their identity. Those guys get away with it because there isn't enough reason to burn the midnight oil finding them. Now that someone's dead and there's millions of dollars of liability on the table, the authorities have the reason to actually find the guy responsible.

It's REALLY hard to actually hide your identity when "the man" actually tries to find you. Just putting a few things through VPN or TOR services isn't enough, I'm sad to say. People think it is because the MPAA doesn't go after them when they torrent the latest Game of Thrones, but death by cop isn't nearly on the same level. Looks like Tyler Raj Barriss found this out the hard way. Amateur hour.....

thomas_

The person doing the swatting should be punished, but if it comes out the cop shot an unarmed man then the cop needs to he punished as well and not just with administrative leave until the outrage blows over.

TheFORCE

636-555-3226 wrote: »

Swatting's been around for awhile. Perps are usually caught, except for the ones that actually do a good job hiding their identity. Those guys get away with it because there isn't enough reason to burn the midnight oil finding them. Now that someone's dead and there's millions of dollars of liability on the table, the authorities have the reason to actually find the guy responsible.

It's REALLY hard to actually hide your identity when "the man" actually tries to find you. Just putting a few things through VPN or TOR services isn't enough, I'm sad to say. People think it is because the MPAA doesn't go after them when they torrent the latest Game of Thrones, but death by cop isn't nearly on the same level. Looks like Tyler Raj Barriss found this out the hard way. Amateur hour.....

I'd wager the same thing. Considering that this person has various twitter and facebook accounts, plus the fact that is connecting to the Xbox or PSN network it wont take long to track him down.

Fulcrum45

Looks like they already have their man:

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/la-man-arrested-over-swatting-incident-led-police-072205194--abc-news-topstories.html

TechGromit

This is nothing new, but the member of the SWAT team bears most of the blame for this, shoot first asks questions later? They have bullet proof body armor / helmet they are pretty well protected against an attacker. If the guy ran up to the door guns blazing, that be one thing, but to just fire away at the first unarmed person you see? What if he was a hostage escaping the gun man, or a hostage forced to go to the door under gun point from behind to give the police his demands. Someone this high strung should not be in a police officer or anywhere near a firearm.

As for the Prankster, this is his second offense, I highly doubt he will be getting out of prison any time before flying cars are common place.

[Deleted User]

Sad. All because people are bored stuff like this happens. Maybe if these people picked up a book instead of a controller, this stuff wouldn't happen!

PC509

kMastaFlash wrote: »

Sad. All because people are bored stuff like this happens. Maybe if these people picked up a book instead of a controller, this stuff wouldn't happen!

Video games are the cause? I remember when it was heavy metal, D&D, etc. that caused this stuff. Or ****, or Harry Potter, or the lack of God in our schools. There's always something to blame except for the mental capacity of the shithead that does it.

Danielm7

PC509 wrote: »

Video games are the cause? I remember when it was heavy metal, D&D, etc. that caused this stuff. Or ****, or Harry Potter, or the lack of God in our schools. There's always something to blame except for the mental capacity of the shithead that does it.

Yeah talk about misdirected blame. You have a sociopath who enjoys ruining other people's lives and a cop who isn't doing his job correctly. They are to blame, not video games.

[Deleted User]

I can see how that came off as me blaming video games. I'm not blaming video games at all. Heck I used to play them like crazy! All i'm saying is that there are better things to do now besides playing video games and they can pick up a book and kept themselves occupied. It's not the games themselves, it comes down to the maturity of the people playing them. There are some 16 year old teens that are way more mature then this nutcase. Also, stupid internet trends like Twitch started this breed of swatting in recent years that and youtube. Again it comes down to the maturity and how bored people are. If people kept themselves occupied and forged their own path and if people weren't puppets of the media, who knows where society would be. that's my 2 cents. Now let me have it forum!

slinuxuzer

I first heard about swatting a few months ago, then watched some videos on YouTube, seems a lot of professional gamers stream and sit on discord, so a lot of the gag is these clowns get to watch the swat team roll in, sometimes its just a single cop and things are chilled out, other times its full riot gear and people getting man handled - I knew then eventually someone was going to get killed. This is so unbelievably stupid its not funny, someone is dead and now some other(s) will end up doing some serious time.

PC509

I just think bad people are going to be bad people, regardless of their hobby. Some may choose more 'violent' based hobbies based on their upbringing or personality, but the hobbies themselves aren't that thing that drives them to do crazy stuff.

I play games a lot, read a lot, play on the computer a lot.. I'm occupied by studies and learning more (obviously, you are too by looking at your sig!). This kid was playing games, but it sounds like he had other issues with things before this (FCC bomb threat; non-gaming related). I just think he was an odd duck that kept going too far. I'm glad he's caught.

Remember when you were pissed at someone else, so you pranked them by having a pizza sent to their house and the bill "paid on delivery"? Harmless for the most part. And you could laugh it off later. There's no laughing it off when it comes to swatting.

I'm hoping this is a big deal, and it makes others think twice about swatting other players.

mikey88

kMastaFlash wrote: »

All i'm saying is that there are better things to do now besides playing video games

I hear these comments all the time. Just because you don't like this hobby doesn't mean you are doing anything better. Absurd. I may find your hobbies a waste of time. (matter of opinion)

EANx

There's nothing wrong with playing video games by itself but just like other activities, the action can help you decompress and thus be more productive or it can be a crutch to escape and thus make you less productive. Once you get past 15 hrs per week, you're probably approaching crutch territory.

McxRisley

Good thing he was caught before he caused anymore damage to peoples lives.

On a side note: Some of you here sound like my parents when I was younger, "Stop playing them damn vidya games and get off the internet machine! You'll never amount to anything that way!". Here I am with a good job and a family, all because i was interested in computer and games( I still am to). Get off your high horse.