digital forensics Archives - Page 5 of 8

Covert Surveillance with Four-legged Furry Spies

Would you consider a cat or dog roaming around your business or home as a possible security threat? What about if the animal was your own pet? At , we doubt you’d even consider it. But you may start to wonder about it after reading this blog post. According to an article in The Hacker News, a security researcher with a large security consultancy firm thought it would be fun to conduct an experiment in “weaponizing” his grandmother’s pet cat to map vulnerable WiFi networks in his neighborhood. He built a custom collar for Coco made from a Wi-Fi card, GPS module, Spark Core chip, battery and leopard-print fabric. He then set Coco loose. During the cat’s three-hour jaunt through the neighborhood, the security researcher [...]

Is the Purchase of a Smartwatch Setting You up for Digital Forensics Services?

Who do you know with one of the smart, sleek, new smartwatches? Ohhh. So Cool! And so vulnerable to hacking. More so than a smartphone or a tablet. Why? A recent article in the Christian Post explains. According to a recent study by Dr. Frank Breitinger, associate director of the University of New Haven Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group in Connecticut, there is a “lack of encryption and an unsecure authentication system” in all the smartwatches they tested. In the study they tried to infiltrate the devices to get a variety of information such as emails, calendars, messages, health, fitness and financial data. In all cases, if the information was on the device, they were able to get it! Computer forensics experts like those [...]

Play Poker Online? Losing? There Might be a Reason!

Do you wile away your time playing poker online? How are you doing? Losing a lot? There might be a reason beyond your poor poker-playing skills. It’s been uncovered that several hundred online poker player’s accounts have been infected with malware called Odlanor. The bad guys are able to take screen shots of player’s hands and then join the game. Unbeknownst to the victim, the bad guy uses the illicit information to cheat their way to win(s) during the game. Victims unwittingly install malware embedded in poker-related programs and even as installers. The innocent poker player never even knows what has happened – except they are losing. Sadly, that in itself may not be unusual. Until they quit playing, they will continue to be cheated [...]

It’s the Little Details That Come from Computer Forensics Experience That Breaks Cases Wide Open

As a full-service investigative firm, is the source for a certified computer examiner in the Indianapolis area. Our experience is part of the reason attorneys turn to us. In fact, it is our knowledge and experience that can really make the difference in some cases. For instance, we were tasked with completing a computer forensic examination on a work computer used by a person accused of providing confidential information to a competitor. The accused knew his computer would be submitted to us during a general information meeting. Our impression, because, as investigators, we are highly observant during an investigation, was that the subject was confident, almost smug, that nothing would be found on the device. It was a red flag to us. The computer forensic [...]

The Complexity of Cellular Tower Triangulation Affects Accuracy of Evidence

There is a lot of consternation about the accuracy of forensic cell tower evidence. Over the last several years courts have ruled that evidence submitted by authorities has not been precise or correct and people were wrongfully convicted. Here at , our cellular forensics experts would agree that the accuracy of cellular tower triangulation to determine location of cell phones at a given time is a complex business. There are few cut and dried if-then scenarios. For one thing, service providers are not consistent in the algorithms and directions for switching customers’ phones from one tower to another. Nor are they too forthcoming in sharing and explaining their processes. That’s one of the reasons professionals have to be knowledgeable and experienced – just to know [...]

Do You Think Computer Forensics Conjures Up the Past Like Magic?

Computer forensics is not magic, in fact it is very technical in nature and can be very exacting. People always wonder how the computer forensics experts at can “conjure” up “stuff” from computers that the owners thought was gone. How does forensics data recovery work? When it comes to files, forensic computer investigations and computer forensic analysis works from a three-pronged approach. The first is to recover files as we users know them. For example, a Word document or an Excel worksheet or workbook. These are files that openly exist on the computer. These are not files the user thinks has been deleted or removed. Although some of those could exist in their original form in the recycle or trash folders. The second is the [...]

Are Employees Putting Holes in Your Business’s Digital Security?

As if business owners didn’t have enough to worry about, computer hackers are opening a new can of worms that can affect businesses on the sly. And not only is it a problem, but an embarrassing situation as well. Let me give you an example: There was a site based in Canada called Ashley Madison devoted to allowing people to arrange extramarital affairs. The site was hacked and the identities of the subscribers were leaked out to the hackers. The data was traced back to the subscribers and they were sent emails infected with malware. Where the rub for businesses came in was that many of the subscribers had subscribed to the service using their business email addresses. So after the data leak, the malware [...]

Computer Forensics Done Right – or not at all

Recently the Department of Justice issued a US search warrant to Microsoft in regard to emails sent from an Ireland-based subscriber. According to an article in the Guardian, “The United States government has the right to demand the emails of anyone in the world from any email provider headquartered within US borders, Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers told a federal appeals court…) While they argue the case in court with Microsoft contending that the DoJ has exceeded its authority, computer forensics firms here in the US are legally bound to obtain permission from device owners and to follow a legal process for cell records in digital forensics investigations. Some may believe that computer forensics investigations are done in the shadows. That may appear to be [...]

Is it Employee Embezzlement?

A very depressed-looking business owner came in for an appointment at . We are accustomed to clients or prospective clients arriving emotionally charged, either very angry or hurt, but they don’t usually act like this gentleman. Once talking, he explained that he was “darn near just ready to chuck it all in.” He said he was just confounded by what he knew was going on in his company. He just needed proof of it and confirmation of how deep the damage went. Whew. He explained that because his company dealt with many clients coming in for training from out of town, he maintained an apartment for their use doing their stay. It was fully furnished and maintained. What he had discovered was that it had [...]

Are You Being Victimized By Corporate Espionage?

According to a recent article on CNN, the head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, Randall Coleman said that the bureau has seen a 53% increase in economic espionage cases. To warn and educate industry leaders, the FBI has launched a nationwide campaign. In the article, Bill Evanina, head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said, “Economic security is national security.” There is growing evidence of threats from several different nations, which is part of the concern from the government agencies. Three scenarios highlight the types of situations of corporate espionage: Insider Threats. This is a situation where individuals who are familiar with the inner workings of a company or products are recruited by outside organizations. Sometimes these individuals actually “spy” on the company and [...]