2nd
How Wired.com Tracked the iPhone Finder
In response to Wired.com’s scoop identifying the finder of the lost iPhone prototype, many have asked me how we did it. The process of uncovering digital footprints to identify Brian Hogan was indeed challenging and enlightening, so I thought I’d tell the story here. Heck, it might even teach police officers a thing or two so they don’t have to kick down doors.
(I am limited to what I can share due to a confidentiality agreement with an anonymous source, but I’ll say as much as I can.)
It all started with a Facebook comment. The day Gizmodo published its 4G iPhone bombshell, our former intern Rose Roark saw a suspicious-looking note posted by Hogan on someone’s Facebook wall. She pointed it out to me, and I agreed it was telling. But even so, the comment was vague (a single word) and not enough to draw a conclusion; we didn’t have access to Hogan’s Facebook profile to learn more about him. We created a screenshot of the Facebook wall in case we needed it for future reference.
Wired.com didn’t immediately pursue Hogan, because 1.) We are not police officers and 2.) We don’t work for Apple. But after San Mateo police officers announced they’d identified and interviewed the finder, without revealing his identity, we decided it was time to push the story forward by naming him.
And so the hunt for clues began — a week after Gizmodo broke its story. By then, Hogan had deleted his Facebook profile, and presumably every other social networking profile he owned, in an effort to hide. That made the search difficult, but his attempt to disappear was already a major clue that he was in trouble.
Reviewing the screengrab of the Facebook wall, we saw a few other people — possibly Hogan’s friends — had posted comments in reaction to the Gizmodo story as well. From checking their Facebook profiles, it appeared several of them went to school at Santa Barbara City College. So I had a hunch that Hogan, too, attended the school at some point. I also assumed he had since moved to Redwood City, where the phone was left in the bar Gourmet Haus Staudt.
Wired.com’s Kevin Poulsen searched Hogan’s name using a people-tracking website (Knowx.com) and found one Brian J. Hogan with addresses listed in Redwood City and Santa Barbara. Notably, the Redwood City address was located one mile away from Gourmet Haus Staudt. Wired.com’s Kim Zetter dialed the phone number for the house, but the call went to a voicemail of what sounded like a mother. We assumed this was Hogan’s parents’ home. Wired.com’s Dylan Tweney drove over to the house and knocked on the door, but no one was home. However, neighbors confirmed that Hogan lived there.
I continued to obsess over finding more about Hogan, and late at night on Tuesday I got very lucky with one Google search: “Brian Hogan SBCC.” The first search result revealed a Facebook page for a 2008 China/Vietnam study abroad program with Santa Barbara City College students. Google’s cached result showed a part of a comment posted by Hogan. When I visited the study abroad group’s Facebook page, Hogan’s comment was no longer present, as he had purged his account. But that single Google search result was proof that Hogan attended SBCC. Even more importantly, we now had access to a group of 25 people who studied abroad with Hogan and were likely his friends.
Poulsen proceeded to send Facebook friend requests to everyone in the study abroad group. Meanwhile, Wired.com editor in chief Evan Hansen phoned our anonymous source who claimed to be connected to the iPhone finder. When Hansen asked whether Hogan was the finder, the source declined to confirm or deny.
We were convinced Hogan had to be the guy, but we still didn’t have enough to publish a story. Late Wednesday evening I got lucky again. I found a website hosted by a friend of Hogan, where he linked to a personal travel blog documenting the 2008 China/Vietnam study abroad experience. In that blog, I found one photo where the first name Brian was mentioned in a caption. I was certain that was Hogan.
Shortly after I found the photo, Poulsen received a phone call from Hogan’s attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein. He called because Poulsen was apparently “shaking too many branches” (perhaps by trying to add all of Hogan’s Facebook friends). Bornstein acknowledged that he was representing Hogan and agreed to send us a written statement on Thursday afternoon. The fact Hogan had a lawyer was more or less confirmation that he was involved in finding the iPhone.
Zetter and Poulsen retrieved Bornstein’s statement at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, which stated that Hogan was the finder. They also interviewed the attorney to get as many details about Hogan as they could — everything from his age to his volunteer work at an orphanage. Poulsen sent Bornstein the photo I found, and he confirmed that was indeed Hogan.
And with all that, we finally had enough to break the story with confidence. It was a combination of cyber sleuthing, old-school gumshoe reporting and persistent stalking.
My colleagues at Wired and I feel especially proud about this scoop. I don’t personally have moral qualms about Gizmodo’s M.O. of purchasing the phone, but from reading reactions I sense that many readers and writers feel disheartened about what such an action means for the state of journalism. I don’t think a story like ours could have come at a better time. I hope it sends a message that journalism is still very much alive, even if in the chaotic world of the internet it comes in many different shapes and forms.
