PA- Police: Man stole Internet, solicited sex

6-6-2009 Pennsylvania:

Just in case you needed another reason to secure your wireless Internet connection: Pedophiles.

Gail Hoffmaster was getting her kids ready for school Wednesday morning when state agents knocked on the door of her Falls home.

Her first thought was that her husband was dead. The good news was that he was alive - and not a pedophile.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office could've thought otherwise, Hoffmaster said.

One of their neighbors was allegedly stealing the Hoffmasters' unsecured wireless Internet connection to solicit sex from an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.

When the AG's agents spoke to Hoffmaster that morning, they explained that they had arrested the neighbor and wanted to know about the family's computer.

"Thank God he was stupid enough to send (the undercover agent) a picture of himself," Hoffmaster said Thursday. "He could've destroyed my husband's life. And he lives right behind me in my own backyard."

On Wednesday morning, agents arrested Christopher Brian Mcgee, 39, of the 200 block of North Olds Boulevard in Falls.

Mcgee is now charged with three counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a communication device, namely the Internet, court documents show. A person with the same name and same birthday as suspect Christopher Brian Mcgee is listed as a sex offender on Michigan's online sex offender registry.

All four counts are third-degree felonies, each punishable by up to seven years in prison. District Judge Jan Vislosky sent Mcgee to Bucks County Prison in lieu of $750,000 bail. That means he needs $75,000 cash collateral to be released.

Mcgee lives directly behind the Hoffmasters, who reside on Cardiff Road.

"He did lean over my fence a couple of weeks ago and said 'hi' to my son," Gail Hoffmaster said.

The family got wireless Internet at their house more than a year ago. Hoffmaster admits that she and her husband, ages 33 and 35, respectively, aren't that Web savvy.

"My 10-year-old knows more than I do," she said.

So they didn't set up their wireless connection to require a password from anyone who wanted to log on. The connections, spread out like a radio signal, can be picked up by other computers as far as a few houses away.

It was in January when Mcgee first made contact with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room, court documents stated.

"Horndogg69761" asked the "girl" about her looks, if she had a boyfriend and what she did for fun, court records stated.

He allegedly asked for a picture of her, and one depicting a girl between 12 and 14 years old was sent.

"Don't take this the wrong way but damn . . . you are hot!" was his response, which included a photo depicting a man on horseback, according to police.

The conversations escalated and, on several occasions, Mcgee contacted the "girl" in the chat room and showed his genitals to her through photos and a Web video camera, court records stated. He also allegedly touched himself and asked the "girl" if she ever touched herself.

"Maybe ill (sic) have to visit your area sometime," he wrote in February, adding that she couldn't tell anyone about their relationship, according to court records.

Through their investigation, agents learned that "horndogg69761" had been registered under the name Chris Mcgee, court records stated. The agents found several addresses for Mcgee, but zeroed in on him at a house on North Olds Boulevard, court records stated.

They also matched his driver's license photo to the images he shared with the "girl" in the chat room, court documents stated.

However, the agents traced the Internet connection Mcgee used to the Hoffmasters' computer on Cardiff Road, which is only seconds away from Mcgee's address and within range of their wireless signal, court records stated.

The AG's office declined to comment on this investigation because it planned to announce the arrest publicly today.

Pedophiles have been known to use someone else's wireless connection to download pornography or solicit sex from children on the Internet, said Mike Marren, a sergeant in Bensalem's special victims unit, which prosecutes computer-based crimes and sex-offenders in the area.

And it's not just sex offenders you have to worry about, he said. Folks can steal your identity, financial information or even sell stolen goods or commit fraud on eBay using your computer and Internet connection, Marren said.

Criminals don't need computers anymore to do it, he said. They can use iPods, cell phones and even portable video game players.

The bottom line: Secure your connection.

"You wouldn't have a Mac card without a password or a voice mail without a pass code," Marren said.

It's usually just a matter of calling your Internet service provider. For instance, Comcast has a section of its Web site dedicated to security at security.comcast.net.

Count the Hoffmasters as one of the next families to secure their connection.

If only they had known before.

"I went around my neighborhood yesterday, and don't you know, every neighbor I spoke to didn't know that either," Hoffmaster said. "People need to be told."

Ben Finley can be reached at 215-949-4203 or bfinley@phillyBurbs.com.

Tips for wireless Internet security

Restrict access: Allow only authorized users to access your network. Each piece of hardware connected to a network has a MAC (media access control) address. You can restrict or allow access to your network by filtering MAC addresses. Consult your user documentation to get specific information about enabling these features. There are also several technologies available that require wireless users to authenticate before accessing the network.

Change default passwords: Most network devices, including wireless access points, are pre-configured with default administrator passwords to simplify setup. These default passwords are easily found online, so they don't provide any protection. Changing default passwords makes it harder for attackers to take control of the device.

Install a firewall: While it is a good security practice to install a firewall on your network, you should also install a firewall directly on your wireless devices (a host-based firewall). Attackers who can directly tap into your wireless network may be able to circumvent your network firewall - a host-based firewall will add a layer of protection to the data on your computer.

Maintain anti-virus software: You can reduce the damage attackers may be able to inflict on your network and wireless computer by installing anti-virus software and keeping your virus definitions up to date. Many of these programs also have additional features that may protect against or detect spyware and Trojan horses.

Source: The FBI and United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team ..Source.. by BEN FINLEY, The Intelligencer