computer forensics Archives - Page 6 of 7

Investigative Techniques Expanding to Include Computer Forensic Analysis and Digital Forensics

Computer forensics is not the only computer-related investigations we complete at . Sometimes a computer forensics specialist works alongside an investigator. With all the social media online these days, employers are using it to find out about the people they are considering adding to their staffs. But it’s not just what can be found on the different social media platforms that are being used. E-mail and website content can be just as revealing and powerful. We were hired by a teacher and her husband to investigate how pictures of them made it into the hands of students and subsequently the school board. She lost her job because of it and she was not quite sure how it happened. Admittedly, she and her husband were involved [...]

Foiled by a Mole, Proven by a Computer Forensics Investigation

Computer forensics investigators are asked to work on a wide variety of cases – from businesses concerned with the release of proprietary information to spouses in the midst of bitter divorce battles. Here at , we find that computer forensics investigations are also becoming a tool in relationship investigations. For instance, we had a case where a wife thought her husband had posted an ad on a dating sight. It was brought to her attention how much the man looked like her husband. The picture was a nude, full body photograph and the face was a profile shot with a hat sort of pulled down over his face. At first she just laughed and when she shared it with him, he denied it. But it [...]

Be Safe, Ask a Computer Forensics Expert When You Need Help

Not too long ago we had a case here at that pointed out how important it is to work with professionals. A woman came to us about her son. He and his wife were in the midst of a bitter divorce and child custody proceeding. Her son had temporary custody and the wife would come to the marital home for visitation. He would leave or go out into the garage or yard while she was there with the children. After one of the visitation sessions, the wife reported to police that she had learned her husband had sexually molested one of the children. In the course of the investigation, the son and his mother figured the police would want his computer to look for pornography [...]

Informed Decisions Begin with Objective Computer Forensics Analysis

Although computer forensics analysis is often used as a spyware detector and for spyware removal, there are many other reasons someone might look for computer forensic services. For instance, one very wet, drippy day a woman knocked on the door here at . She came in and sat down and it was apparent that she would have appeared equally as dreary on a bright sunny day. She explained the conditions in her household. Conditions we have heard before: Verbally abusive husband Husband controls computer usage and locks it with a password only he can access Storage areas, cabinets or closets that are locked and he alone has access Her paycheck is direct deposited into a marital account and he moves a portion of that into [...]

Computer Forensic Analysis Uncovers Facts

One thing about investigation – you uncover truths. They might not be the truths you are looking for or that the client expects, but it’s the truth that comes out in the end. We had a client who asked us to complete a computer forensics examination of her family computer. She was looking for financial information that she felt her husband was keeping from her. He wouldn’t share financial information with her saying she didn’t have to worry about it. But she did. After meeting with her, our computer forensics expert brought the machine into our lab and began the process. The computer forensics specialist did not find any financial information and reported that back to her. However, he also reported what he did find [...]

Computer Forensic Analysts Provide Factual and Objective Data

When computer forensics investigators extract data, it is handled completely objectively. Many times, we don’t know the implications of what is – or is not – found in the data. We compile the information and turn it over to the client. That’s just the way it is with computer forensics analysis. For example, was involved in a computer forensics investigation in regard to an engineering firm. The attorney representing the firm provided us with parameters and lists of words to identify the information they were seeking. Our computer forensics expert extracted the data based on those parameters. Just like procedures in medical or other scientific labs, there is a specific protocol that must occur. First, computer forensics experts follow the modus operandi that make the [...]

Data Extracted in Computer Forensics Results in Additional Charges

Even though the protocol and process a computer forensics investigator uses to extract and analyze data from a computer are the same no matter who owns the computer, ownership does make a difference in the outcome once the facts are uncovered. For one thing, the owner of the machine has to provide appropriate permission for the computer forensics investigators to access data on the device. What the users are allowed to do on the machine also comes into play depending on whether the computer is owned by a private individual, a corporation or a municipality. For example, had a case where our computer forensic experts were asked to extract data from a computer owned by a municipality. An employee was suspected of using municipal funds [...]

Computer Spyware is a Real and Viable Threat

TV, movies and media provide a glimpse into situations that the everyday person may not consider reality. However, we in the investigative world see that not everything is so fantastic that it is improbable. Take a scene from a sitcom where one character witnesses what is going on in his ex-wife’s home because his son left the webcam turned on on his computer. He hadn’t set it up so he could spy on her, but that doesn’t mean that someone else couldn’t or wouldn’t do that. Or consider that recent AP article reporting that some group (thought to be a middle-eastern government) actually infiltrated the computer systems in the nuclear centrifuge in Iran in 2010 through the use of webcams and microphones. They called it [...]

Data is Data to Cell Phone and Computer Forensic Experts

“But I didn’t open anything bad!” That’s what one of our clients said when our computer forensic specialist was trying to explain that she did, indeed, have spyware on her cell phone. The thing is that a link is a link is a link. By that, I mean that the hardware – the cell phone or the computer doesn’t distinguish between good data and bad data or a good link from a bad link. It’s all just information and commands to the machine. And every time anything is accessed online or opened on your phone or computer, such as a website, an e-mail or text message, it is actually a link that someone sends you. When you accept it, you are actually downloading it. That [...]

Combining Hidden Asset Research and Computer Forensics Makes for Informed Divorce Decisions

I don’t usually keep track of celebrity lives, but I read the news about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes getting divorced. Apparently he had no idea – or at least that what the news reported. After dealing with many divorce situations as a private investigator, I can say that that is not all that uncommon, no matter what everyone thinks. Often one party has made the decision and plans for quite some time before actually informing their spouse of their intentions. And that is why we find so many times one side is hiding money in divorce and the other side has absolutely no idea. Even if there is a marriage separation, hidden assets is a topic that comes to the surface. We had one [...]