Ineffective law enforcement, bad economy fueling cybercrime

Cybercriminals operating worldwide are benefitting from ineffective law enforcement and a growing economic recession that could make jittery people more susceptible to cybercrime scams. So concludes security firm McAfee in its new report, “Virtual Criminology Report—Cybercrime vs. Cyberlaw.” published Tuesday.

UK businesses urged to devise digital-forensics plans

Firms should put in place forensics plans for incidents that may require computer evidence to be handed over, according to an influential security body. The Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC) published a report on Tuesday that aims to provide organisations

PmExplorer released

PmExplorer is a forensic software tool for the review and examination of PM files for Nokia mobile telephones. PM files can be obtained with third party hardware and software utilities such as sarasoft and the SHU box. PmExplorer differs from

The Julie Amero case, part II: May the farce be with you

The Julie Amero case has stirred up a lot of emotions, including some from Cringe readers who feel I was less than fair in my description of the expert witness hired by Amero’s attorney, Herb Horner. You know what? They’re

Guidance Software: Recent Considerations for Investment

On November 4th, Guidance Software announced that on October 6th it had received a $4.50 per share takeover proposal from AccessData Corp. of Linden, Utah. The company subsequently rejected the offer. This is another sign of confidence that management believes

An exclusive look inside the FBI

Amateur photographer, and now an expert in gathering hi-tech information, FBI Special Agent Jim Talley uses both passions to make a case. “Hopefully, I’m protecting my neighbors, my friends and my community. I would say that is my personal satisfaction

Why Examination Protocols Are Problematic

Forensic examination lays bare a user’s computer activity. Personal, confidential and privileged communications, sexual misadventure, financial and medical record keeping, proprietary business data and other sensitive information are all exposed. In the white-picket-fenced places where active data lives, you can

Proof: Pop-Up Teacher is Innocent, Despite Misdemeanor Plea

Accused of letting impressionable students see pornographic pictures as she browsed the web in her classroom, former Connecticut school teacher Julie Amero dodged felony charges last Friday by agreeing to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge and surrendering her

The mobile device investigator’s toolbox

These days, virtually every major criminal activity leaves evidence — images, text messages, call records and more — on mobile devices. Yet for the investigator who knows only the basics or less about how to recover this evidence, building a

Five Essential Computer Forensics Tools

I recently had a look at the most recent CSI security survey. While a lot of things have changed over the past year, one thing is definitely consistent: attacks happen. At one point, attacks on companies were as high as

UK businesses lack confidence in police e-crime handling

Businesses are not confident that the police have the necessary resources or technical knowledge to deal with e-crime effectively, a survey has found…”In our experience, few electronic crimes are taken seriously by the police,” said one respondent to the survey.

Police enlist AI to help tackle crime

Looking at how AI techniques can boost digital forensics, the UK government-funded Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) will examine the potential use of AI in web counter-terrorism surveillance, fighting internet fraud, masking identities online and data mining. The KTN

Passware Exposes Private Data Indexed by Windows Search

Search Index Examiner lists all the documents, emails, and spreadsheets, as well as providing creation and modification dates, author, recipients, summary content, and other information for each item. The only data it needs from the target computer is a Windows

“Breath tests” for PCs heralds stop and scan

Technology that claims to pick up traces of illicit images on PCs has attracted the interest of Australian cops. The software, developed in an Australian University, might eventually be used to screen PCs during border inspections. Compared to breath test

Digital Technology Footprints Trip Up Suspects

The man denied any wrongdoing, but Lakeland police had something on him – his cell phone. Since the department founded its intelligence unit in 2001, cell phones, computers, MP3 players, and many other forms of digital technology have taken on

SANS Announces New Resources for Computer Forensics

Forensics experts tend to work alone or in small groups and have few ways of sharing the most important lessons they are learning. SANS is trying to fill that gap in part because SANS trained many of the most effective