back to article Hacker charged with threatening US VP using neighbour's PC

A hacker tried to frame his neighbour by tapping into his Wi-Fi and sending threatening emails to US vice president Joe Biden, according to search warrant affidavits unsealed last week. Computer expert Barry Ardolf, 45, is charged with using someone else's computer to send a threatening email to Biden. However, the affidavits …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    "Computer expert"

    Oh dear.

    1. Cameron Colley
      FAIL

      My thoughts exactly.

      Am I a computer expert? I use them all day (and sometimes most of the night) -- is that enough?

      Just how good do you have to be to be a "computer expert"?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Dead Vulture

      "hacker"

      Same thing.

      1. TimeMaster T
        Grenade

        Hey!

        Please, don't insult hackers.

        This dweeb is not a hacker, never was and I doubt he ever could be.

        Script kiddie at best. A real Hacker would not have been caught so easily.

        Probably his "Computer Expert" title comes from having an MSCE cert. or he works for Geek Squad.

        And yes, for the record I'm in a bad mood today.

        1. guyfromhawthorne
          Grenade

          Good guessing

          I actually work for the same company on the desktop support team and I was called over to his desk by his supervisor a year ago to pull his hard drive. His coworkers told me at the time that he had spent a bunch of time and money getting stuff like MCSE, A+, and a bunch of other certs to try to become a desktop tech instead of a medical device repair tech, but then we started laying off desktop techs and he gave up.

          Everybody I've talked to who has ever worked with him said he was a bizarre, hateful weirdo who hated his neighbors for unfathomable reasons. . .

    3. irish donkey
      Stop

      "Computer expert"????

      Complete fucker more like.

      Just goes to say a little bit of knowledge in the wrong hands.....dangerous

  2. Gordon 10
    Thumb Down

    throw the book at im

    thumbs down in the roman sense. Sounds like a nasty little tosser. Being a computer "professional" he wont be able to deny understanding the consequences of what he did.

    1. EvilGav 1

      So . . .

      . . . you want him to live then, given that thumbs down in the Roman sense actually had the opposite meaning than it does today ?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      thumbs down?

      In the 'Roman' sense it should be thumbs up. Down means mercy, up means off with his head.

  3. Dick Emery
    WTF?

    What?

    But no charges on the indecent images?

    1. James O'Shea

      nope.

      'But no charges on the indecent images?'

      No need. They have him cold on Irritating A Politician, a much more serious offense. This way they don't have to give him protection against the other inmates in Federal stir, who usually don't like those kind of people.

      Of course, as everyone will know what kind of pix he used to try to frame the neighbors, he'll have a really fun time in the General Population. And, no, I'm not referring to a cellmate named Bubba and yearning for Tru Luv. More like Bubba and lots of friends with shivs and no luv at all. He'll have to confess to the porno pix so as to get special security, and the judge will then be able to slap some additional time on him, without the prosecution having to prove a damn thing. And the confession will have to include details on where he got the pix so that the Feds can charge the source, using his testimony as evidence. And then he's gonna get tossed into solitary confinement at his own request and the Feds are gonna misplace the key for a few decades. He isn't gonna get a Bernie Madoff-level 150 year term, but I'd not be surprised if he gets 30-50 years. And there ain't no parole in the Federal system; you get out early only if the prosecution petitions the judge to let you out 'cause you've been a good boy, and somehow I don't see this happening in this case.

      He really shouldn't have used Biden as part of his campaign. Very bad move.

  4. NB
    FAIL

    hacker? hardly.

    see title.

  5. Sir Runcible Spoon

    Sir

    Oddly enough, no info on why he isn't being charged with making indecent images? Is that legal in the US then?

  6. The_Police!
    FAIL

    Computer Expert?

    More like a very nast piece of work!

  7. Matthew Anderson

    password

    What a fucking tool - nuff said.

  8. John Savard

    Thank Heavens

    If he is indeed responsible for the acts of which he is accused, I'm glad he finally brought himself to the attention of a law-enforcement agency with the ability and determination to bring him to justice.

    As for indecent images: if this isn't actual child porn, but stuff taken from, say, nudist magazines, yes, something can be "indecent" without being illegal. Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl was indecent, but that doesn't mean that magazines with pictures of topless women are illegal in the U.S. - even if you don't see them on Page 3 of American newspapers.

    Also, this could be something that happened before the FBI began its investigation, sparked by the threats to U. S. Vice President Joseph Biden, so those charges might be absent due to related evidence not being available, even if the images were child pornography.

  9. Steve Evans

    Enough said...

    "affidavits reveal years of disputes between Ardolf and neighbours from different areas he's lived in."

    Sounds like there is a common link there, or maybe a that should be missing link.

    Let's hope he gets on better with his neighbours in sing sing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Paris Hilton

      Enough Said...

      He should be so lucky to be in Sing Sing... that's a New York state prison... The guy is facing federal charges... If it was still open, he might be lucky enough to get Alcatraz. As it is, he might get to SuperMax...

      Paris, 'cause he's seen her for the last time...

  10. kain preacher

    kiddie porn

    THe feds will get around to charging him. Plus the state (Minnesota) can bring charges against him .

  11. siriu81
    Black Helicopters

    Questions Reg failed to ask

    1. Were his hard drives encrypted?

    2. Did he change his Wifi MAC before accessing the neighbors Wifi, and change it again before accessing his own Wifi?

    3. How did the FBI come to know it was him, and not the other houses?

    4. Did the FBI get search warrants for all the neighboring houses?

    5. If it was only his house, how did the FBI convince the judge for the search warrant (similar to question 4)?

  12. jim 45

    minneapolis is a city

    Blaine is in a city Minnesota. It's not "in" Minneapolis.

  13. John Edwards
    Thumb Up

    Good for the Feds

    Well done for the Feds not just saying "It's your computer, case closed".

  14. Wallyb132
    Go

    This is clearly a case of...

    This is clearly a case of lets not give the prosecutor anything to bargain with, we all know how much DA's love easy convictions, charge him with "everything" at once and the DA will kill off most of the charges in a plea agreement, getting him to plea to a single charge, usually the most serious one, which in this case is making threats to the president or his successors, which i'm sure holds a nice mandatory sentence.

    Then, once he's nice and tucked away in a federal slime pit, settling in for an extended stay, they'll hit him with the kiddy porn pics and a few other trivial charges added on for DA fluff (see above statement about DA's) which were "still under investigation" at the time of the first indictment. Given the fact that he's now a convicted "dangerous" felon already serving a sentence for a serious felony when round 2 hits, the DA will be less likely to wheel and deal with him and the judge will have a less difficult time giving him the max, considering his "previous" offenses and all...

  15. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    What a bastard

    a) What a bastard. Really though this does sound like the kind of thing I could see the BOFH doing to someone who particularly pissed him off. But he wouldn't get caught at it, his boss/beancounter/guy at the pub that pissed him off would just disappear one day.

    b) Good on the SS (Secret Service) on finishing the job and finding him, and not just stopping at the point of the access point itself.

  16. Fatman
    Grenade

    This shows the pitfalls of operating WiFi devices `right out of the box`

    OK, this guy is a real schmuck, and deserves to spend some time in a prison. His neighbor is also at fault for not securing his WiFi.

    Hey stupid neighbor - RTFM you n00b. The ability to stop this cold was in your hands, and you are too stupid to realize that. I wish YOU could be charged with a crime (like aiding and abetting). Dumb@$$!!!

    If you are using wireless at the home or office and it is not secured, this could happen to you. This is your WAKE UP CALL.

  17. kain preacher

    @Fatman

    How do you know that the router was wide open? He could of cracked the wi fi connection.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Expert my ass

    His so called expertise must be self proclaimed. He's obviously a dumbass.

    He seriously needs more serious charges against him. Attempting to frame folks for child porn is beyond evil.

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