What a newsroom police raid teaches us about encrypting our devices

Summary

• The Marion County Record newsroom in Kansas was raided by police, who seized two cellphones, four computers, a backup hard drive, and reporting materials.
• 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.
• Modern iPhones and Android phones are encrypted by default, but older devices may not be.
• Desktop computers typically do not have encryption enabled by default, so it is important to turn this on manually.
• Use strong random passwords and keep them in a password manager.
• 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.
• You can encrypt USB storage devices using BitLocker To Go on Windows, or Disk Utility on macOS.
• All major desktop operating systems support Veracrypt, which can be used to encrypt entire drives.

Main Take-aways

• Encrypt your devices, drives, and USBs.
• Use strong random passwords and password manager.
• Have multiple backups.