TABLE OF CONTENTS Eoghan Casey, Troy Larson, and H. Morrow Long
Computer networks comprise a veritable behavioral archive, containing a vast amount of information about human activity (Casey 1999). Many of the activities on a network generate log files or temporary records that can be used to determine what occurred in a crime, the time of events, and the location of suspects. For example, when an e-mail message is sent or received, the time and the IP address are often logged in a file on the mail server. Similarly, when a Web page is viewed, similar information pertaining to the viewer is usually logged on the server.
FBI agent Mark Wilson and D.A. investigator Brian Hale traced the e-mails from the Web sites at which they were posted to the servers used to access the sites. Search warrants compelled the Internet companies to identify the user. All the paths led police back to Dellapenta. 'When you go on the Internet, you leave fingerprints we can tell exactly where you've been,' says sheriff's investigator Mike Gurzi, who would eventually verify that all the e-mails originated from Dellapenta's computer after studying his hard drive. (Foote 1999)
Using the information on a network, it is conceivable that investigators could determine where an individual was and what he/she was doing throughout a given day, especially if the individual is an employee of an organization that makes heavy use of their network. The time an individual first logged into the network (and from where) may...
