Butler, at the University of Florida, said making an IP address that appears to come from elsewhere isn’t that complicated.
“These types of attacks are things that, you know, my students in my undergraduate security class are aware of how to do,” he said.
Because of this, Butler and Cohn wonder what other information, beyond the affidavit, was presented to a judge to authorize the search warrant on Jones’ home.
In an email sent Wednesday, FLORIDA TODAY asked the FDLE if there was additional information whether public or confidential that was presented to the judge. The FDLE has so far not replied.
Jason Lewis, an assistant professor of computer science who heads the cyber security program at Florida Southern College and a former law enforcement agent who served as an investigator for the United States Secret Service’s Colorado Electronic Crimes Task Force, said the affidavit to his eyes did not sufficiently establish probable cause.
“The use of investigative resources: now, I’ve used that phrase before, but never like this, that is a jump,” he said, referring to the language in the affidavit that ties the IP address to Jones. “To say that I have an IP address, and then through use of investigative resources, it belongs to Rebekah I would dare say that to me doesn’t scream probable cause. I really don’t see how, that they’re showing to a reasonable person, that the facts support a crime and tying it to her.”
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