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| Cyber Crimes: Crackdown by Computer Forensics |
By:
James Walsh |
Since 1993, sole dependency on digital media has opened or made information more vulnerable to a different type of crime – criminal activity which is not potentially visible and brutal but possess the capacity to shock and cause unimaginable devastating damage. E-crime or cyber crime has grown by leaps and bounds – from hacking to terrorism to porn sites – crimes which are digital in nature and difficult to ascertain and control.
Every year, cyber crime costs the UK economy an approximate 1.7 billion pounds, not mentioning the harmful impact on individual privacy and morale. In 1990, the Computer Misuse Act was hastily established to prevent the spawning of the cyber crime industry. In 2004 this act was rectified and made more stringent to prevent industrial espionage and terrorism. But, today modern e-crime has become an organized criminal industry where hackers and petty computer thieves are no longer amateurs trying to invade individual privacy for personal profit. They are dynamic entrepreneurs, financially motivated, skilled at the trade of e-crime referred to as global criminal entrepreneurs. In fact, the Global IT Research team in 2007 stated that the crackdown on e-crime has to begin at the highest level of global industry which funds these criminal minds.
As a consequence, the art and skill of computer forensics have also changed. Technically, it can be defined as the art and science of applying computer science to help the legal system to find evidence against a criminal activity. In other words, computer forensics is used to glean evidence from digital equipment to aid the legal system. It can be described as more than technological, systematic inspection of the computer system for the collection of evidence of a criminal or civil act. Computer forensics can be defined as Electronic Evidentiary Recovery, commonly referred to as e-discovery. In short, it is the application of computer investigation and analysis methods for determining legal evidence. Basically, computer forensics is a science used to answer two crucial issues:
• Questions about digital states and events
• Involves the investigation and examination of computer systems including methods of data acquisition
In a nutshell, computer forensics involves:
• Identification of sources of documentary and other digital evidence
• Preservation of the evidence
• Analysis of the evidence
• Presentation of the findings: Care ought to be taken at this stage that the findings discovered are admissible in court.
According to the National Institute of Cyber Crime, computer forensics must be done in accordance with laws, rules and organizational policies. In no way should the computer forensic team impede criminal investigation or criminal punishment. The tools used must follow ethical considerations. In this regard, the Institute introduced a set of regulations to be followed by all computer forensic teams:
• To handle the original digital evidence obtained with care so as to avoid contact which could alter the appearance of evidence
• Establishing and maintaining the chain of custody
• Documenting everything done including tools and equipment used and procedures followed
• Never allowing personal knowledge to colour evidence
• Documenting the time that business operations are inconvenienced
• Information Handling: This ethical issue deals with the sensitivity by which crucial evidence is handled by the computer forensic team.
CTOSE Project -- A Method of Computer Forensics to Fight Modern Cyber Crime of Mobile Phones to Industrial Espionage: In 2006, a joint EU collaboration was launched involving countries of the UK, France, Denmark, Germany and Greece to combat the evil of e-crime. The result was the EU Cyber Tools On-Line Search for Evidence. The CTOSE can be technically described as a methodology of computer forensics which seeks to identify, secure, preserve and integrate electronic digital evidence to fight e-crime. In other words, CTOSE removes the ambiguity of the computer forensic team in investigating, collecting, preserving and presenting delicate confidential digital evidence to court. CTOSE ensures that all electronic evidence is legally and properly gathered and preserved to provide uncontaminated and compelling proof that a crime or fraud has taken place before company management, industrial tribunals, or civil and criminal courts. It is basically used to combat fraudulent transactions, computer hacking and viruses, high-tech crime, identity theft including computer fraud.
CTOSE includes tools of Cyber-Crime Advisory Tool which can be defined as an expert system offering advice on the legal aspects of computer investigations. It also includes the XML-based specification for electronic evidence and, lastly, the demonstrator tool which is a software used for the simulation of cyber attacks. These tools help in the prevention of cyber crime. It also aids investigators in tracking e-criminals. The XML investigative tool helps to gather minute electronic evidence and also helps to simulate cyber attacks to trap potential e-criminals. |
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