Friday 20 April 2007

hard drive analysis limitations

Every so often we are faced with extracting evidence from an extremely old and slow hard drive. The physical limitations of the unit make it a slow and arduous process... Short of taking the hermetic casing apart and removing the platters for access in another environment (but in doing so tampering with the exhibit), is there any other way to speed this process up?

Wednesday 18 April 2007

leaking police records to violent criminal

There's some interesting coverage online about a police officer who improperly accessed a police database and passed individuals' personal details on to a man with a violent criminal record.

Quick snippet from THE REGISTER:

James Andrew Hardy was previously found guilty of misfeasance in a public office for improperly accessing the police database and was not jailed. He was given a suspended prison sentence of 28 weeks and 300 hours of community service.

The judges ruled that the sentence should include an element of deterrence in order to make it clear to other police officers that the improper use of information in the police database was an offence that would be severely punished.

Child porn site reports 'up 80%'

Worrying trends reported by the IWF and BBC -

The number of internet child pornography sites reported to police soared by almost 80% last year, according to a new report.

The Internet Watch foundation (IWF) said 6,128 sites investigated after reports to them from the public were illegal - up from 3,438 in 2004.

The 78% rise compared to an increase of 0.003% in the previous 12 months.

The increase was due to public intolerance of child abuse and better tracking of sites, the IWF said.

Make a point to stop by the NSPCC and keep abreast of developments in relation to child protection in the UK.

Electronic Evidence: Disclosure, Discovery & Admissibility

Stephen Mason, Barrister and Director of the Digital Evidence Research Programme at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, has written a new book on electronic evidence.

<from the press brochure> This new title brings together all the issues relating to disclosure, discovery, procedure and the admissibility of electronic evidence. It sets out the sources and characteristics of electronic evidence; considers the issues involved with the investigation and reporting; discusses the evidential foundations in legal proceedings; and individual chapters put the admissibility of electronic evidence in each jurisdiction into context.

Promises to be a good read, distilling some particularly complex legal areas into an accessible text. We’ve put in an order for our copy!

Friday 13 April 2007

Digital Evidence : The Defence, The Prosecution & The Court

Last month we delivered shuffled on over to the Manchester Metropolitan University to deliver an expert lecture to the Northern Circuit.

The Northern Circuit has some absolutely fascinating historical legacies to its name! It is 830 years old - dating back to 1176 when King Henry II sent his judges on Circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but was divided in 1876.

I digress... It was an excellent session with some informed debate in the Q&A. The feedback has been fantastic and we must’ve struck a chord with the delegates – we’ve been asked to come back and do a follow-up session in a few months!

Details of the event and copy of the slides (PDF) have been posted to the web.

Adam Walsh Law

Happy Easter!

I’ve been having an interesting exchange with a Canadian based forensic analyst who contacted me quite out of the blue after reading one of my papers floating around the Internet. He’s brought up the subject of the Adam Walsh Law and the impact that the legislation is having on domestic forensic specialists.

There certainly are very good reasons for not disclosing sensitive electronic evidence exhibits to specialists, however, is this going to help or hinder the course of Justice? I can see both sides of the argument – increased costs and logistical issues vs. security and control over who gains access to the contraband. Then again, quis custodiet custodes ipsos? Personally, I’m in favour of more stringent requirements to limit the specialists working in this field to those with demonstrable depth to their experience and certifiable expertise.