ComputerForensicsDigest.com

The perils of computer tech work are on display in a Philadelphia federal courtroom, where two computer technicians are scheduled to testify against their former boss, Vincent J. Fumo, who is facing corruption charges. Fumo is a former Pennsylvania state senator.

The two technicians, Leonard Luchko and Mark Eister, plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges in 2006 for their role in wiping potentially damaging e-mails from Fumo's system. A third technician, Donald J. Wilson, has been cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation under a grant of immunity.

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A new trend in teen communications is causing problems for parents and school administrators: students sending nude photos of themselves to their classmates, a practice that his been dubbed "sexting."

The phenomenon received some coverage recently in South Burlington, VT, when a 17-year-old basketball player was suspended for alleged sexual assaults. During the course of the investigation, officials found nude photos that had been sent to him by a number of his female classmates.

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There is growing awareness that the trend towards inclusion of a "private browsing" in Web browsers may make it more difficult (or at least less fruitful) to conduct computer forensic examinations in the future.

On the TechRepublic website, Tom Olzak, Director of Information Security at HCR Manor Care in Ohio, has a new blog posting entitled "How do new private browsing capabilities affect forensics?" He provides a brief overview of how the new feature will work in the various browsers and then discusses some of the implications for computer forensic examiners and corporate IT departments.

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With the rise in the number of electronic voting machines, computer forensics may play an increasingly important role in ballot recounts.

Shortly after last week's election, Forensicon, a Chicago-based computer forensics firm, announced that it had been contacted by a security firm looking to line up vendors to assist the Republican National Committee in examining possible electronic voting fraud.

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A British data recovery firm, Disklabs Data Recovery and Computer Forensics Services, reports that nearly 70% of hard drives and flash drives purchased at random on eBay contained pornographic files.

Many of the drives also still contained valid work files containing personal information on CVs and in spreadsheets. In addition, most of the previous owners had not taken the steps necessary to wipe out the Internet cache files, which frequently retain highly personal information: user IDs, passwords, birthdates, and credit card numbers, all of which can be used to commit identity theft.

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The SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute has announced the launch of a new community-based website for computer forensic specialists, called the Computer Forensic and e-Discovery website.

The goal of the site, according to SANS, is to "offer digital forensics professionals an opportunity to learn, dicusss, and share current developments in the field." The site also contains information about SANS forensic courses, training, and events.

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Beginning later this month, a group funded by the British government will examine how artificial intelligence (AI) can assist in the performance of computer and digital forensics.

The Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) will bring together artificial intelligence and computer forensics experts "to explore research techniques, developments and applications capable of harnessing Artificial Intelligence and forensic computing for electronic crime investigation and case analysis."

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Researchers at Edith Cowan University in Perth and Western Australia law enforcement have developed a 'breathalyzer' for laptops, a self-contained software package that can scan a hard drive for contraband without altering the disk's data.

The goal is to make it easier for 'front line' officers with little computer training to conduct a forensically-sound scan of computers for child pornography. Roll-out is planned for the spring of 2009.

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The latest thing in browsers these days is a feature designed to allow people to surf the web without leaving any traces of their activity on their computer.

Although it is officially known as "private browsing," the new feature  is more commonly referred to as "porn mode." Depending on how it works, it may make computer forensic investigations less productive.

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An investigation of alleged improper sexual contact between an Israeli high school teacher and one of her students may get a boost from the forensic recovery of a cellphone video.

According to reports, another student used her cellphone to record video of kissing and other inappropriate displays of affection between the teacher and student.

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