There is indeed a metaphor to your “rattling doorknobs", but it’s not pretty when it comes to the Internet…   

If you call the police because someone is creeping around your property checking doors and windows for 

possible entry, then they will indeed come out and attempt to arrest the perpetrator (I am most certainly 

not a lawyer, but as I understand it even the act of opening an unlocked window or door is sufficient in many 

jurisdictions to satisfy the “breaking the seal of the property” premise and warrant charging under breaking 

and entering statues.)

Now welcome to the Internet…  paint all your windows black, remove all lighting save for one small bulb

over your front entry.   Sit back and enjoy the continuous sounds of rattling doorknobs and scratching at 

the windows.

If/when you find a digital culprit creeping around inside the home, your best option is burn down the place 

and start anew with the copies you keep offsite in storage elsewhere.   Similarly if you find a “trap” (e.g., 

a phishing email) placed on your patio or amongst your mail… discard such cautiously and hope your 

kids use equal care. 

“Best practice” for handling these situations on the Internet is effectively to cope as best you can despite

being inundated with attempts – i.e. most Internet security professionals and law enforcement will tell you

that the idea of actually trying to identify and stop any of the culprits involved is considered rather quaint

at best – i.e. we’re instead going to engage in the worlds longest running game of “whack-a-mole” by just

blocking their last known website/mail server/botnet and the wishing for the best…