Specialist police units tackle computer crime

In April 2001, the government established a National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) to combat the growth of computer crime and solve serious crime. Some 43 local Hi-Tech Crime Units (HTCUs) were also set up to tackle similar offences at a… Read more

TSK 2.03 and Autopsy 2.06 now available

From the TSK/Autopsy announcement list: TSK 2.03 and Autopsy 2.06 are now available. They are mostly feature upgrades (there is 1 important bug fix in TSK for AMD64 users though!). The biggest new feature is Unicode support (which was kindly… Read more

FBI Shows Off Cyber Crime Lab In KC

Several attorneys general from the Midwest got a closer look at how to fight cyber crime Monday. The group visited the FBI’s regional computer forensics lab in Kansas City to learn more about their software… More (KMBC-TV)… Read more

Juris e-prudence

The ‘paper trail’ no longer consists of paper. More than 90 percent of all business documents are now created digitally, and computer forensic techniques allow recovery of evidence invisible to most computer users. So if you think your organization is… Read more

High-tech detective

Randy Stone put the pieces together to solve BTK case There was only one valid file on the purple computer disk: TestA.rtf. The text file had a single sentence in it, telling investigators to read a 3×5 index card BTK… Read more

File System Forensic Analysis

The field of investigative forensics has seen a huge surge in interest lately, with many looking to study it because of shows like CSI or the increasing coverage of computer-related crimes. Some people see a career opportunity there, and are… Read more

Sony Selects Guidance Software for Upcoming Movie

Sony Pictures Television is portraying the digital investigation that put BTK behind bars for life by drawing from Guidance Software’s forensic experts. Guidance CEO John Colbert, who has 14 years of law enforcement experience, served as a strategic technical advisor… Read more

Litigation Forum Review: Embracing technology

Computer forensic experts can retrieve hidden or lost data, as well as provide evidence as to whether files have been damaged or tampered with. They can reveal evidence of the conduct of those people who had access to the computer,… Read more

Computer sleuthing turning cops into geeks

Computers and their criminal investigation capabilities turned Dori Schulze, an Internal Revenue Service special agent, into a self-proclaimed “geek” by the early 1990s. That initial embrace of computers by her and her employer led to the largest retail tax evasion… Read more

Expert witness questions CP jailings

A witness in computer crime trials has called for the release of individuals convicted of CP offences based entirely on material found on their hard drives. Jason Coombes, who has been involved in computer crime trials since 1994, issued a… Read more

Web helps criminals trap victims

Malicious hackers and hi-tech criminals are changing tactics in a bid to outwit security firms. Statistics show that tech-savvy criminals are starting to turn away from e-mailed viruses to webpages to snare their victims. Also, say security firms, criminals are… Read more

FSU grad students design trap for cyberstalkers

In a tiny corner room of an old building on the Florida State University campus, graduate students have been stalking each other. The computer science researchers were trying to design a police trap – of hardware and software – for… Read more

New paper: Real-Time Steganalysis

A new paper entitled "Real-Time Steganalysis", authored by James E. Wingate and Chad W. Davis, is now online and can be viewed here. A list of all papers and articles at Forensic Focus can be found here. Further contributions are… Read more

More than 50% of companies suffered from cybercrime

More than half of European companies polled in a survey on global network risk admitted that they have suffered significant financial damage as a result of IT system failure in the last 12 months. The survey, conducted by the Economist… Read more

Can Digital Photos Be Trusted?

In this new fast paced digital age, anyone can use inexpensive software to doctor up photos, and their handiwork is becoming increasingly difficult to spot. “Everyone is buying low-cost, high-quality digital cameras, everyone has a Web site, everyone has e-mail,… Read more