Computer Crimes Investigation

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Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby cactuspete » Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:45 am

Why IP Addresses Alone Don't Identify Criminals
You'd think that the mistake described in this article would be obvious to anyone doing computer crimes investigation, but apparently the best and the brightest don't go into law enforcement! :rolleyes2:
This spring, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant at the home of Nolan King and seized six computer hard drives in connection with a criminal investigation. The warrant was issued on the basis of an Internet Protocol (IP) address that traced back to an account connected to Mr. King's home, where he was operating a Tor exit relay. An exit relay is the last computer that Tor traffic goes through before it reaches its destination. Because Tor traffic exits through these computers, their IP addresses may be misinterpreted as the source of the traffic, even though the exit node operator is neither the true origin of that traffic nor able to identify the user who is. While law enforcement officers have seized exit relays in other countries, we weren't aware of any seizures in the United States until ICE showed up at Mr. King's home.

LINK: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/08/why-ip-addresses-alone-dont-identify-criminals
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby desertrat » Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:59 am

I've encountered some fairly bright people who work in law enforcement, but unfortunately, there are far too many trainable idiots working as cops and detectives. Even computer forensics types aren't nearly as computer savvy as you would expect. Typically they will be trained on how to use one software package (usually ENCASE) and that's all they know. They spend a few months receiving company propaganda on how the software works to apprehend criminals and are considered to be computer experts after this superficial indoctrination period. (Actually you see the same thing with many computer techs who are Micro$oft certified techies. They lack a broad awareness of computer science, but they are experts on how to use a specific software package or cluster of associated software products.) These "trained" idiots are then allowed to provide an "expert" opinion in court despite their dismal lack of computer knowledge. They'll testify that ENCASE told them that such and such happened and leave out all the other possible explanations for some piece of computer evidence that they found. This blind faith in ENCASE (or whatever software product or technique they are using) passes for an "expert" opinion and so it's no wonder that many court hearings resemble what would more appropriately be referred to as a kangaroo court. We pat ourselves on the back all the time for being a modern society, but we are as backwards as any other society in many ways.
A kangaroo court or kangaroo trial is a colloquial term for a sham legal proceeding or court. The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or by allowing no defense at all.

LINK: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Kangaroo_court'
Also this might be of interest:
Countermeasures
Because EnCase is well-known and popular with law enforcement, considerable research has been conducted into defeating it (as well as anti-computer forensics in general). The Metasploit Project produces an anti-forensics toolkit, which includes tools to prevent EnCase from finding data or from operating at all. Manual defenses are possible too, for example by modifying the file system. Furthermore, because law enforcement procedures involving EnCase have to be documented and available for public scrutiny in many judicial systems, those wishing to defend themselves against its use have a considerable pool of information to study. Copies of EnCase have been widely leaked on peer-to-peer file sharing networks, allowing full analysis of the software. Proof-of-concept code exists that can cause EnCase to crash, or even use buffer overflow exploits to run arbitrary code on the investigator's computer. It is known that EnCase is vulnerable to zip bombs, for example 42.zip.

LINK: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Encase
ALSO: http://www.metasploit.com/
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby shadylady » Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:32 am

DesertRat wrote:This blind faith in ENCASE (or whatever software product or technique they are using) passes for an "expert" opinion and so it's no wonder that many court hearings resemble what would more appropriately be referred to as a kangaroo court. We pat ourselves on the back all the time for being a modern society, but we are as backwards as any other society in many ways.

Am I wrong to be outraged by such incompetence? :curse:
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool’s hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
- Bob Dylan

FULL SONG: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hurricane-bob-dylan-and-jacques-levy
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby MRGREEN » Fri Aug 26, 2011 1:20 pm

Big Brother Don't Like TOR!
It's all about tracking anyone at anytime and TOR is one tool that makes it harder for Big Brother to do! But - WARNING - it's not guaranteed to make it impossible to track online activity, just more difficult.
:crazy2:
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site.

LINK: https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby pcslim » Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:24 am

shadylady wrote:
DesertRat wrote:This blind faith in ENCASE (or whatever software product or technique they are using) passes for an "expert" opinion and so it's no wonder that many court hearings resemble what would more appropriately be referred to as a kangaroo court. We pat ourselves on the back all the time for being a modern society, but we are as backwards as any other society in many ways.

Am I wrong to be outraged by such incompetence? :curse:
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool’s hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
- Bob Dylan

FULL SONG: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hurricane-bob-dylan-and-jacques-levy

For those unfamiliar with the song, here's a video: :violin:
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby desertrat » Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:26 am

Best and Brightest?
I know that many who go into law enforcement are humorless idiots incapable of recognizing any kind of non-literal communication, but this is beyond what I thought was possible. Have we really sunk so low that we actually pay complete idiots to perform important jobs related to national security? Apparently the answer is yes!
:smack:
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby MojaveMike » Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:01 am

The Onion Reminds Twitterverse It Produces Satire, Not Breaking News!
There is no cure for cluelessness! :dizzy:
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby pcslim » Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:43 am

Forensic Examiner Found No Match of Cables on Manning’s Laptop to WikiLeaks’
Any computer forensics is always based on a set of assumptions which may actually be false. Hence the "results" are often unreliable. Of course, it still gets presented as science to the public and there are poorly trained techies that will swear by it, but anyone with any real background in computer science, software engineering, or electronic circuits technology knows better! The government needs to admit it made a mistake and go after the real criminals: Bush/Cheney!!!
:curse:
A day after a government forensic expert testified that he’d found thousands of diplomatic cables on the Army computer of suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, he was forced to admit under cross-examination that none of the cables he compared to the ones WikiLeaks released matched.

LINK: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/12/cables-match-laptop-manning/
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby desertrat » Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:10 am

Kim Dotcom Wins Another Legal Battle in Megaupload Extradition Case
This guy is quickly becoming an inspiration to me! Law enforcement abused their power on behalf of major corporations to take him down and now he's fighting back and it appears that he's going to turn the tables on the idiots in charge!
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Re: Computer Crimes Investigation

Postby shadylady » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:12 am

Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking Now Legal
Skip to four minutes in this video. Up to that point it's a pretty ordinary discussion, but after four minutes the discussion becomes increasingly interesting and alarming! Talk about an invasion of privacy, but the implications for legal situations is the real problem here. The government has the power to frame most anyone for most anything when it comes to computers and technology.
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