Re: I hope there's more to it
Lastly, how comfortable are we having law enforcement taking control of a computer and then using what's on it as evidence? It seems to break the principles which apply to evidence preservation used when they take physical evidence. How do you defend against allegations of planting evidence?
You're defenceless against an insider. If the arresting team has a weakness in the chain of custody you are essentially screwed because as an outsider you'll never be able to prove that, also because the very means to prove your innocence has just been taken from you. That's the other scam from a police perspective: their focus is on getting you as a conviction statistic, not as a victim of a clever hack so they will waste zero time on discovering how data ended up on your machine or otherwise in your possession. The last thing they want is to discover evidence that may raise doubt about your guilt or the intention they try to ascribe to you.
All you can do is wait for agonising months until they start putting a case together. I can tell you from having witnessed it from up close that it pretty much destroys a family. Even if you are 100% innocent, you will be damaged by this, and I have come to the conclusion that this cannot be by accident. The pieces just fit too nicely together.