To Seek or Not to Seek a Warrant

By John J. Barbara

In a real case scenario, investigators seized a laptop computer from a crime scene. After creating a forensic image of the hard drive, the examiner discovered hundreds of pornographic pictures and movies depicting underage children. He then exported all the incriminating data and the subject was charged with possession of child pornography. Is the search of the computer’s hard drive legal? Will the child pornography be admissible at the time of trial?

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Senate Bill Calls for Licensing, Certifying Fed Cyber Workers

A proposed cybersecurity mandate is being discussed by the senate that would require that all government employees and contractors be certified and licensed if they provide cybersecurity services to an agency or for an information system designated as critical infrastructure.

govinfo security

U.S. Cops Scour "Virtual Border" For Child Predators

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is best known for its role securing the United States' physical borders, but it is now playing a role policing the nation's "virtual frontier" against a surge in child pornography, sex tourism, and trafficking in minors carried out over the Internet.

reuters

Russian Hackers Used Stolen U.S. IDs for Attacks

Russian hackers hijacked American identities and U.S. software tools and used them in an attack on Georgian government Web sites during the war between Russia and Georgia last year.

wall street journal

Cell Phones Largely Immune to Viruses, for Now

While thousands of law-abiding software developers are diligently building apps to clutter your iPhone or BlackBerry, the black hats taking aim at phones have already found their targets and they don’t include North America. At least not yet.

new york times

Cyber Heist Crushes Bank

Dwelling House Savings and Loan, a 119-year-old thrift, was shut down last Friday. The S&L suffered a severe blow to its viability late in 2008 when federal auditors uncovered that around $3 million had been electronically drained out of its capital account by a group of 10-12 cyber thieves.

defense tech

University Of Central Oklahoma to Provide Digital Forensics Training for Oklahoma Police

By Darren McRoy

The new Forensic Science Institute building at the University of Central Oklahoma will feature a digital forensics laboratory, which will harbor a task force of law-enforcement officials working with digital evidence to solve Oklahoma crimes and provide training for all Oklahoma law enforcement.

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Intelligent Computer Solutions Introduces Image MASSter Solo-4

The new Image MASSter Solo-4 presents innovations in forensic hard drive imaging with advanced features and a user-friendly interface.

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What Did They Take When They Left?

By David Cowen

This is the fourth part of a series on suspects removing data from a system. This entry focuses on copying data to an external drive. How was it taken and what did they take?

hacking exposed computer forensics blog

Leaks in ESI Searches Can Be Costly

By Craig Ball

Litigants harbor immense reservoirs of electronically stored information. Servers, like lakes and rivers, are evident and expansive. Information puddles in desktops, portable devices, and online storage. It's costly to preserve, tap, and process, and after all that effort, much is lost to leaky mains.

law.com

Electronic Discovery: Dates and Questions

“When was the document created?” “When was a file last modified?” These are two of the most common questions asked by lawyers in relation to dates. They are easy to ask, very fair, and reasonable to expect an answer to. But there are so many problems answering these questions “correctly”.

where is my data

5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo

Modern software has made manipulation of photographs easier to carry out and harder to uncover than ever before, but the technology also enables new methods of detecting doctored images.

scientific american