Evansville Police Investigating Subject for Impersonating a Police Officer and Computer Tampering

On August 31st officers were dispatched to a W. Franklin Street Business in reference to a complaint that a customer had “hacked” into the businesses computer.

An employee of the business advised that a male subject was in the business. The male subject told her he had “hacked” into the business system in five minutes. He also told the employee he changed the user name and password. He told the employee he knew all of the employee’s personal information and where they lived. The male subject stated he would not share that information with anyone. The male subject also had other information reference the business. The employee stated the male subject then then told her he was with “E.P.D. I.T.”. The employee then asked for his badge. The male subject would not show her anything. When he did get into his wallet, he kept it so she could not see it at all.

The male subject then told the employee he could change it all back but it would be $150.00. The male subject then left the business.

A police officer when asked will always show both their badge and department identification. There is a person of interest in this incident. Detectives are following up on information. Anyone with information on this subject or any similar instances is asked to call E.P.D. detectives at (812) 436-7979 or WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME (800 782-7463).

Computer Forensic detectives from the Evansville Police Department have these tips for those that use wireless router systems. They want everyone to remember that out of the box routers are not set up for security. For businesses they recommend some of the following steps when setting up routers:

Change the default login user name and password. Use a strong password containing numbers, letters and symbols.

Change the default SSID. This is the unique name that identifies the router. Use something “hackers” would not be interested in.

Use a high level encryption. Many routers use WEP encryption which has some flaws. Instead use WPA and above.

Turn the router off when not in use.

Keep your router’s firmware upgraded.

Enable the routers firewall.

Enable router logging. Make sure to review logs and look for information regarding intrusions.

If a business still has concerns on set up they suggest that the business hire a professional that specializes in cyber security. A little bit of cost now could save a lot of cost from a network intrusion.