Misuse of FortifyFL App Computer Crimes, Hacking

You and your son should not be talking about his criminal behavior over the internet and certainly not with the police. You both should remain silent and talk to a lawyer before talking to anybody else. The lawyer will certainly advise you to keep your mouths shut.

Let me point out to you that you are entirely wrong about your assumptions:

1. What he did is very much likely a crime.
2. He can be prosecuted.
3. He can be traced.
4. Nothing in the FortifyFL prevents those who specifically abuse it from prosecution. The anonymity, etc... cover submissions from people making bona fide reports, not those using the app to actually instigate acts of terrorism.

 

Uh, yeah. Of course they will be able to track him legally. Stop posting about your son's criminal behavior on the internet. If he is criminally charged hire an attorney for him. Again, stop talking about this to anyone except his criminal defense attorney.

 

Oh, come on folks! Let son, Dad, and everyone else they know tell the POlice that "lawyer folk" online told them they couldn't be traced, it wasn't illegal anyway, blah, blah, blah.

 

How old is your son?

What did he say, to the officers, when he was told all that?

The two of you need to sit down and watch this:

DON'T TALK TO POLICE - Professor James Duane - YouTube

 

I can't speak to the legal aspects but as someone with 30 years in IT I can say the answer to the traceability question is "maybe", depending on how tech-savvy your son is and what steps he took to cover his tracks. If he was stupid then the authorities can track the source message back to a specific device/phone and not only is it legal, it's absurdly easy.

On the other extreme if your son hopped through an anonymizing VPN/dark web/etc. routed through overseas servers in certain unfriendly countries then the authorities aren't going to track anything back to a specific device, but should that be the case you have or will soon have much bigger legal issues with your son shortly.

Retain a good criminal defense attorney and shut up.

 

Yeah, chortle, let me know how that goes for you.

 

I wish you well as you pursue justice for your son.

I suggest you ONLY speak with your attorney from this point forward about the incident.

You should advise your son to do the same, speak ONLY with his lawyer when you or his other parent is/are present.

 

True and they have to be able to link it to an actual device. Like the person accused can be proven to be the one who sent it either via smart phone or computer. That can be difficult especially if the device is not available.

 

Uh oh. Recording a conversation without the consent of all parties is illegal in Florida. If you are basing your lawsuit on that recording, your son could end up being prosecuted for it if you offer it in evidence. Tread carefully.

 

I doubt anyone here has any level of familiarity with this app to know what is and isn't possible from an IT perspective.

It's not clear to whom "them" refers, but I'm at a loss to understand why you might think any tracking wouldn't be legal.

 

Understand the FortifyFL app doesn't guarantee anonymity. All it does is inquire whether you want your name and contact information sent with your report along to authorities. However, if you use it to commit a crime, not only is that information going to be available to the authorities, it's going to be pretty hard to avoid as it's going to place the origin at your son's phone and provide the time and likely the exact location that it was used. Even if the app isn't smart enough for all the latter, a subpoena from the prosecutor will get your mobile provider to roll over and provide the info.

Again, stop talking about your son's criminal behavior. Get him to an attorney.

 

Stop posting about it, and retain a lawyer.

Additionally, if he did do it, he needs help - either educational or psychological or both. Addressing this problem directly will make him less likely to repeat the behavior, and could potentially impress a judge favorably, should the worst come to pass.