TABLE OF CONTENTS By Kevin O Shea
Kevin O Shea is currently employed as a Homeland Security and Intelligence Specialist in the Justiceworks program at the University of New Hampshire. In this capacity, Mr. O Shea supports the implementation of tools, technology, and training to assist law enforcement in the investigation of crimes with a cyber component. In one of Kevin s recent projects, he was a technical consultant and developer of a training program for a remote computer-forensics-viewing technology, which is now in use by the state of New Hampshire. He also has developed a computer-crime-investigative curriculum for the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training.
Computers and digital devices are employed by the majority of people in the U.S. for myriad business and personal uses. Because of the wide acceptance of computers in our daily lives, it is reasonable to conclude that people will use a computer to assist them in the commission of crimes, record aspects of crimes on a computer, and use computers to store the fruits of their crimes or contraband.
Any of the computers involved in the situations just discussed will likely contain upwards of hundreds of thousands of pieces of information stored in a digital format, including operating system files, program files, user documents, and file fragments in drive free space. While the challenge for the laboratory examiner is to find the relevant data objects on a hard drive or other media, a greater challenge exists for the on-scene responders and investigators: How can the information be collected from...
