E-crime police arrest gang behind UK online bank fraud

Nineteen people suspected of stealing millions from online bank accounts have been arrested by police. Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit raided a string of addresses across London on Monday. The suspects are alleged to be part of

Colombian police examine Farc rebels’ laptops

Experts in Colombia are trying to crack the codes to 15 computers and almost 100 memory sticks belonging to Colombia’s largest rebel group. They were seized on Thursday after a massive raid on a Farc jungle camp… More (BBC)

Programming for Digital Forensics

by Chris Hargreaves This month I wanted to discuss programming, specifically whether learning a programming language is useful for a digital forensic practitioner. I have been unable to find any surveys or polls capturing the proportion of practitioners who can

UK privacy lawyer challenges police view of intercept law

The claim by London’s Metropolitan Police that the interception of messages is only illegal when the message has not been listened to, read or collected by the recipient has been challenged by a privacy law expert. The Met’s Assistant Commissioner

Handyman jailed for planting CP on boss’s computer

A handyman who planted CP on his boss’s computer in a bid to get promoted has been jailed. Neil Weiner, 40, hatched the “wickedly evil and vile plot” to get caretaker Eddie Thompson sacked from Swanlea Secondary School in east

Student work experience and placements – When is time money?

by Sam Raincock "Throughout the world, there has been a recent surge in students studying computer forensics. Some courses encourage placement years or work experience to allow students to expand on their academic knowledge and obtain some practical experience. Times

What is “Information Security” anyway?

by Simon Biles "So what is "Information Security" anyway? The traditional model that is taught to all InfoSec newbies is based around the “CIA Triad” – this isn’t some weird American-Chinese governmental underground society – rather it is the “holy

State Of Cybercrime Legislation Around The World

"The Council of Europe (not to be confused with the European Union/Commission) has worked tirelessly for several years to get different countries to adopt its version of a computer crime law. More importantly, The Council of Europe has been doing

Appeals Court Guts Landmark Computer-Privacy Ruling

Bowing to the Obama administration, a federal appeals court Monday gutted its own decision that had dramatically narrowed the government’s search-and-seizure powers in the digital age. The 9-2 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nullifies Miranda-style guidelines

Police say IPhones can store a treasure trove of incriminating evidence

A burgeoning field of forensic study deals with iPhones specifically because of their popularity, the demographics of those who own them and what the phone’s technology records during its use. Law-enforcement experts said iPhone technology records a wealth of information

Cybercrime is Rampant Around the World, Says Study

A new study by security vendor Symantec reports that Internet crime has grown into a widespread problem globally. It also provides intriguing insights into consumers’ lax attitudes toward online piracy, plagiarism, and other illegal or unethical activities. The study says

Is Sarah Palin a Computer Criminal?

If Palin and her ghostwriter are in fact violating Facebook’s terms of use, that probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to most people. Just by surfing around the internet, we “agree” to dozens of website terms of use every

Please support David Benford running for the Cystinosis Foundation

David Benford from Blackstage Forensics is raising money for the Cystinosis Foundation by running in the Amsterdam Mizuno half marathon on the 17th of October. David’s daughter suffers from Cystinosis, a very rare and serious condition which is as yet

E-Mail Isn’t as Ethereal as You Might Think

At first blush, message headers seem esoteric. Why should a lawyer care about the alphanumeric ID assigned to a message, the message’s offset from Greenwich Mean Time or the names of the servers it traversed before delivery? The answer lies

Computer Forensics Experts, Who’s Your Daddy?

As computer forensics has become increasingly important to civil and criminal trials, certification for computer experts has been a growing business. Today there are a handful of nonprofit and for-profit organizations that offer computer forensic certification programs. However, no one