Posts Tagged ‘Forensic’

Cheaters can’t hide from a computer forensic examination

Copyright (c) 2009 Ed Opperman

Extramarital activity is an unfortunate reality these days; nobody is immune to the devastation caused by a cheating partner. While there are a large number of marriages and partnerships with wholly committed individuals, for every truly committed relationship there are several where at least one partner is, in some way, sneaking around on the other. Today’s technologies have created a bubble of sorts, allowing cheaters to carry on with their extramarital activities with what they think is complete privacy. However, what most cheaters do not know is that, even though they may think that their ways are well hidden, there are ways to uncover what it is that they’ve been up to.

A computer forensic examination can help you recover previously deleted data from a computer’s hard drive. This ‘deleted data’ can include everything that has ever been stored on the computer — images, videos, visited websites, emails, installed applications, and more. In some cases, a computer forensic expert may be able to piece together several years’ worth of data that was supposedly deleted a long time ago. The main tools that cheaters use to hide their illicit activities allows them to clear their web browsing history, cookies, remove items from their recycle bin, and remove form data. Now, if you’re not a computer expert, deleted files and histories might as well as be gone forever, you’re not likely going to be able to recover them yourself. However, just because a file was deleted from a computer does not mean that it is gone forever.

When a file, a history item, an email, or anything else, is added to a computer hard drive, that data is there permanently until it is overwritten by new data. It may take weeks, months, or years for data to become ‘unrecoverable’, and this is how cheaters can be caught by computer forensic examination services. If your spouse or partner is using their computer to cheat on you, the technology is here that will help you to recover files that have been deleted from their computers.

Cheaters can continue to clean their web browsing history, deleting their emails, removing incriminating photos and videos. Fortunately, many cheaters and would-be cheaters think that this is enough for them to cover their tracks and to hide their illicit ways from you. While thinking that your spouse is cheating on you is hardly a positive situation, at least you have a way to catch them where they least expect it. Cheaters can cheat, but they can’t hide from a computer forensic examination.

6 Steps To Having Computer Forensic Examination Done

Copyright (c) 2009 Ed Opperman

A computer forensic examination consists of the preservation, identification, extraction, and interpretation of documents that have been at one point stored on a computer. Whether you are looking for evidence from a crime or are simply looking to find information about your spouse, a Certified Computer Forensic Examiner can perform such an examination with six steps.

The first step the examiner will take is establishing some chain of custody. It is important that examiner knows where any items related to the investigation will be located at all times. Many times places like a safe or cabinet is best to secure the items.

Next, the examiner will catalog all relevant information including active, archival and latent data. Any kind of information that has been deleted can be recovered if at all possible and any encrypted information or information that is password-protected will be identified. During this process, an exact copy of the hard drive image will be made and the image is then authenticated against the original to ensure it is the exact copy.

From there, additional sources of information will be obtained depending on how the computer forensic examination is going and what the circumstances are. Some additional sources of information that may need to be obtained include firewall logs, proxy servicer logs, Kerberos server logs or sign-in sheets.

The fourth step during the examination is analyze and interpret all of the information in order to determine what can be used as evidence. The examiner will look for both exculpatory and inculpatory evidence to solidify a decision. In order to ensure the accuracy of the decision, encrypted files and password protected files will be identified.

After collecting all of the necessary information and evidence needed with the case, a written report will then be submitted to the client with whatever findings and comments the investigators have.

Finally, the investigator will provide expert witness testimony at a deposition, trial, or some other form of legal proceeding. Keep in mind that you cannot perform a computer forensic examination on your own. A certified examiner uses licensed equipment that will prevent tainting the evidence and ultimately ensure its validity in court.

When looking for a computer forensic examination, make sure you look for help from a certified examiner. They will be able to help you with whatever problem or evidence you are looking to attain. When performing the examination, the examiner will go through the six steps listed in this article in order to do so legally and efficiently.

The Roles and Duties of the Computer Forensic in the Criminal Justice Field

In the global village called the internet, not everyone plays nice. You always hear of the word “hack”. It is mostly used in relation to invading of computers. Most of these are not entirely true but computer network systems do get hacked. If and when it does happen, it usually involves something sinister.

Even employees of companies do engage in snooping or to use our favorite word, hacking. The birth of the internet has led to more of this. Anyone can be anything online. This is why fraud, phishing, and identity theft happen.

The computer has become an important part of everyday life. Sending letters have been entirely changed by emails. Communications have been dominated by instant and text messaging. Portable storage devices that were an exclusive preserve of Information Technology professionals are now used by the general public.

I think you are already getting the idea of why computer forensics are needed. In the event that hacking does occur, the computer forensic will do the following:

1. Like any other investigation, the computer forensic must handle the area as a crime scene. He or she will take digital photographs and secure documentary evidence. This will include printouts, notes and disks in the scene.

If you are the one who hired the computer forensic expert, you should leave everything to them. The computer system should be left as is whether it is turned on or off.

If the computer was left on, the analyst will gather all the information that he or she can from the running applications. The computer will then be shutdown in a way that the data will not be lost. Doing a standard shutdown or pulling the plug is not an option. Both of these methods may cause the loss or damage of the data in the computer system.

2. The forensic investigator must then document the configuration of the system as you would document a crime scene. This should include the order of hard drives, modem, LAN, storage subsystems, cable connections, and wireless networking hardware. The analyst may make a diagram to go along with the digital photographs. They will also take portable storage devices within the area that may contain substantial evidence.

3. The computer forensic expert must take all the evidence to the lab. This is because the analyst should not examine the evidence in the same hardware. People who engage in cyber crimes are also aware that important data can be retrieved to convict them. Countermeasures, viruses and booby traps may be installed in the system to damage electronic evidence.

Analysts take the hard drive in their lab instead to make an exact duplicate of its contents. This process is called Imaging. Analysts have their own tools to make sure that the data is copied completely and accurately.

The duplicate will then be verified by an algorithm. The data is then examined and analyzed. The analyst makes a report of his or her findings and the process that was taken during the investigation starting from the acquisition of the data. This evidence will be presented in court if prosecution is necessary.

The computer forensic plays many roles and duties in the criminal justice field. It is hard to cover all of them in this short article. I encourage you to do more reading if you are interested in this field. You can do this by visiting websites that cover the profession in more detail.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the links should be clickable.

Distressed Homeowners Fighting Back With Forensic Loan Audits

Washington, DC – November 6, 2008. National Loan Audits announced today that troubled homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages who are having trouble getting their loans modified or who are behind with their payments and in danger of losing their home, now have access to Forensic Loan Audits, performed by mortgage industry experts, to discover if their lender violated the Truth in Lending Act or made any errors while preparing their closing documents and neglected to adequately disclose the terms of their loan.

According to the Truth in Lending Act even a small mistake with calculating the borrower’s annual percentage rate could be an actionable violation, enabling the borrower to rescind the loan. Therefore, the threat of a lawsuit is often sufficient to persuade an otherwise uncooperative lender to negotiate an attractive work out with the borrower.

Until recently Forensic Loan Examinations were only made available to large banks and lending institutions wanting to determine their own exposure to risk and potential legal liabilities prior to purchasing large pools of mortgage loans. But now a Maryland company staffed by veteran mortgage professionals is offering this service to distressed homeowners at an incredibly affordable price. “While our competitors may charge up to $3000 for a Forensic Loan Audit, we decided to offer this product at a price almost anyone could afford” Said Dean Mostofi, the founder of National Loan Audits in Rockville, Maryland, a Washington, DC suburb. The firm charges $495.00 for a comprehensive mortgage document review and provides the homeowner with a 40-page written report that contains a detailed listing of their findings in an easy to read format.

Mostofi says that over 80% of the loan files reviewed by his firm contain violations ranging from small and unintentional mathematical errors to blatant fraud and misrepresentation. The most common violation is the understatement of prepaid finance charges and in many instances a mere $35 error within the Truth in Lending disclosure statement could entitle the borrower to a refund of all finance charges, closing costs and interest payments made since the inception of the loan.

Forensic Loan Reviews are also used by attorneys assisting borrowers with loan modification and foreclosure defense but according to Mostofi most lawyers who contact him don’t know much about the more creative legal tactics currently being employed by a handful of savvy foreclosure attorneys. Consequently, Mostofi also offers a consulting service to attorneys helping them understand the remedies available to their clients in the event the lender violated the Truth in Lending Act or if it cannot prove ownership of the note. “Amazingly, many lenders don’t legally own the note” says Mostofi “but since no one challenges their right to foreclose, they get away with it” he added.

The intent of an audit is not to force the parties in to a lengthy and costly lawsuit but rather to encourage the lender to sit down with the borrower and to negotiate an affordable work out so the borrower can keep the home and the lender can mitigated its loses. “The audit is to give homeowners more ammunition so they can stand a chance in negotiating a decent modification with lenders who have far more resources than the average borrower and often play hardball unless they are faced with the risk of a costly lawsuit” said Mostofi.

National Loan Audits was founded by Dean Mostofi and it is based in Rockville, Maryland.