Computer forensic services
In this high-tech, fast-paced world, one thing we can trust is that thieves are often one step ahead of the police. This does not mean that the police are less intelligent than the robbers; it simply means there are fewer of them, with fewer resources and a lot more red tape. One area that criminals have taken serious advantage of is computer-driven crime. A little technical savvy, a little computer savvy and it seems almost anyone is an inside trader waiting in the wings.
We have all seen on TV how law enforcement agencies and agencies have taken notice and how they all have computer specialists who can crack computer codes, catch hackers and rebuild broken computers and recover data to the smallest bits. We mainly get this from CSI. Realty is probably a bit different. In cases where computers are involved, experts from outside companies are usually called in to offer their services. They may be called upon to obtain evidence or to repair or protect altered or damaged data. Your work is extremely important and can have a direct bearing on the outcome of a case; it depends on the reliability of the recovered data, which often depends on the skill of the technician, as well as the original level of data corruption.
Computers used in illicit activities often contain all the evidence needed to convict suspects, even if they have deleted the evidence, formatted the computer, or deliberately tried to damage it. Evidence obtained from computers has been used successfully in trade cases, theft of secrets, industrial espionage, divorce, and cases of fraud, discrimination, narcotics and smuggling, and corruption. Experts can examine computers and see if data has been deleted or damaged. They can then search for specific data, phrases, files, numbers, and keywords. Once the data has been accessed, they can determine if it has been used illegally and can authenticate any software license violations.
This is all very interesting and I’m sure we’re all very happy that criminals who think they’re so smart aren’t and get what they deserve and all. It’s a bit of a scary thought though knowing that you can’t completely hide everything you do and someone could always find out. It’s very George Orwell – 1984 -ish. In other words, not very comfortable.
However, one important question remains: what if, just for the sake of plots and this is pretty extreme but go ahead, what would happen if a movie scenario came true? Let’s use a James Bond scenario, any, everyone uses computers, almost. What if the world found itself hijacked by a lunatic with very powerful computers and the ability and the will to use them to wreak havoc and cause a lot of damage to most of the developed world? What could our forensic experts do then? Would they be able to do something? Would we have to go to all the hackers that our coroners have put in jail, as so often happens in the movies? Are we prepared for a super criminal? Is one brewing? Have I rewatched too many action movies?
Think about what Al Capone could have done with computer technology. He probably still would have been caught for tax evasion, but the scale could have been much larger. He could have stuck his finger in about 3 dozen more cakes than he had at the time. The man could have been epic. He could have been almost mythical in stature. He is the kind of man who would have held the world for ransom. He is the type of man who probably would have gotten away with it. Elliot Ness would have needed a bigger gang of untouchables. They would have had to keep Sean Connery alive for the entire movie; God knows he was the brains behind the whole operation.
As more and more people turn to computers to commit crimes, experts are finding ever more sophisticated ways to catch them. Even damaging the computer or hard drive is not enough to destroy evidence; experts can piece together data from deliberately damaged computers just as easily as they can from accidentally deleted files. The point here is that computer forensic services is a growing and evolving field, think twice before deciding that no one will lose that $20k.
