The New Forensics

Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools is the definitive book on investigating and analyzing computer systems and media using open source tools. The book is a technical procedural guide, and explains the use of open source tools on Mac, Linux and Windows systems as a platform for performing computer forensics. Both well-known and novel forensic methods are demonstrated using command-line and graphical open source computer forensic tools for examining a wide range of target systems and artifacts. Written by world-renowned forensic practitioners, this book uses the most current examination and analysis techniques in the field. It consists of 9 chapters that cover a range of topics such as the open source examination platform; disk and file system analysis; Windows systems and artifacts; Linux systems and artifacts; Mac OS X systems and artifacts; Internet artifacts; and automating analysis and extending capabilities. The book lends itself to use by students and those entering the field who do not have means to purchase new tools for different investigations. This book will appeal to forensic practitioners from areas including incident response teams and computer forensic investigators; forensic technicians from legal, audit, and consulting firms; and law enforcement agencies. Written by world-renowned forensic practitioners Details core concepts and techniques of forensic file system analysis Covers analysis of artifacts from the Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems

Bestselling author of Broken Ground “offers fascinating glimpses” into the real world of criminal forensics from its beginnings to the modern day (The Boston Globe). The dead can tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died, and, of course, who killed them. Using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces, forensic scientists unlock the mysteries of the past and serve justice. In Forensics, international bestselling crime author Val McDermid guides readers through this field, drawing on interviews with top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and her own experiences on the scene. Along the way, McDermid discovers how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine one’s time of death; how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer; and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist were able to uncover the victims of a genocide. Prepare to travel to war zones, fire scenes, and autopsy suites as McDermid comes into contact with both extraordinary bravery and wickedness, tracing the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern day.

Josiah Sutton was convicted of rape. He was five inches shorter and 65 pounds lighter than the suspect described by the victim, but at trial a lab analyst testified that his DNA was found at the crime scene. His case looked like many others -- arrest, swab, match, conviction. But there was just one problem -- Sutton was innocent. We think of DNA forensics as an infallible science that catches the bad guys and exonerates the innocent. But when the science goes rogue, it can lead to a gross miscarriage of justice. Erin Murphy exposes the dark side of forensic DNA testing: crime labs that receive little oversight and produce inconsistent results; prosecutors who push to test smaller and poorer-quality samples, inviting error and bias; law-enforcement officers who compile massive, unregulated, and racially skewed DNA databases; and industry lobbyists who push policies of "stop and spit." DNA testing is rightly seen as a transformative technological breakthrough, but we should be wary of placing such a powerful weapon in the hands of the same broken criminal justice system that has produced mass incarceration, privileged government interests over personal privacy, and all too often enforced the law in a biased or unjust manner. Inside the Cell exposes the truth about forensic DNA, and shows us what it will take to harness the power of genetic identification in service of accuracy and fairness.

An in-depth look at the tools, techniques, and tactics used in computer forensics The New Forensics introduces readers to the world of business forensics, using interesting vignettes, interviews, and actual crime reports. It examines recent cases in which the use of computer forensics led to evidence linking executives to fraud and covers issues such as the theft of trade secrets, the use of data mining, money laundering, and other types of theft and fraud. Author Joe Anastasi, a well-respected leader in computer and business forensics, leads the reader on a shadowy journey through top-secret government offices and real-life business investigations while covering the moral and legal issues surrounding corporate crime. Case studies, stories, and interviews help highlight important issues and move the book out of the theoretical into the realm of actual practice. Joe Anastasi (San Francisco, CA) serves as the Global Leader for Deloitte Forensics, which includes the operation of several Cybercrime Computer Forensics labs located around the world. He is a member of the High-Tech Crime Investigation Association and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

The manner in which criminal investigators are trained is neither uniform nor consistent, ranging from sophisticated training protocols in some departments to on-the-job experience alongside senior investigators in others. Ideal for students taking a first course in the subject as well as professionals in need of a refresher, Introduction to Criminal Investigation uses an accessible format to convey concepts in practical, concrete terms. Topics discussed include: The history of criminal investigation in Western society Qualifications for becoming an investigator, the selection process, and ideal training requirements Crime scene search techniques, including planning and post-search debriefing Preparing effective field notes and investigative reports Interviewing and interrogating Types of evidence found at the crime scene and how to collect, package, and preserve it The contributions of forensic science to criminal investigations and the equipment used in crime labs Investigative protocol for a range of crimes, including property crimes, auto theft, arson, financial crimes, homicide, assault, sex crimes, and robbery Specialized investigations, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, and gang-related crime Legal issues involved in criminal investigations and preparing a case for trial Bringing together contributions from law enforcement personnel, academics, and attorneys, the book combines practical and theoretical elements to provide a comprehensive examination of today‘s criminal investigative process. The accessible manner in which the information is conveyed makes this an ideal text for a wide-ranging audience.

Matching DNA samples from crime scenes and suspects is rapidly becoming a key source of evidence for use in our justice system. DNA Technology in Forensic Science offers recommendations for resolving crucial questions that are emerging as DNA typing becomes more widespread. The volume addresses key issues: Quality and reliability in DNA typing, including the introduction of new technologies, problems of standardization, and approaches to certification. DNA typing in the courtroom, including issues of population genetics, levels of understanding among judges and juries, and admissibility. Societal issues, such as privacy of DNA data, storage of samples and data, and the rights of defendants to quality testing technology. Combining this original volume with the new update-The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence-provides the complete, up-to-date picture of this highly important and visible topic. This volume offers important guidance to anyone working with this emerging law enforcement tool: policymakers, specialists in criminal law, forensic scientists, geneticists, researchers, faculty, and students.

In recent years, a little-known research group named Forensic Architecture began using novel research methods to undertake a series of investigations into human rights abuses. Today, the group provides crucial evidence for international courts and works with a wide range of activist groups, NGOs, Amnesty International, and the UN. Beyond shedding new light on human rights violations and state crimes across the globe, Forensic Architecture has also created a new form of investigative practice that bears its name. The group uses architecture as an optical device to investigate armed conflicts and environmental destruction, as well as to cross-reference a variety of evidence sources, such as new media, remote sensing, material analysis, witness testimony, and crowd-sourcing. In Forensic Architecture, Eyal Weizman, the group’s founder, provides, for the first time, an in-depth introduction to the history, practice, assumptions, potentials, and double binds of this practice. The book includes an extensive array of images, maps, and detailed documentation that records the intricate work the group has performed. Included in this volume are case studies that traverse multiple scales and durations, ranging from the analysis of the shrapnel fragments in a room struck by drones in Pakistan, the reconstruction of a contested shooting in the West Bank, the architectural recreation of a secret Syrian detention center from the memory of its survivors, a blow-by-blow account of a day-long battle in Gaza, and an investigation of environmental violence and climate change in the Guatemalan highlands and elsewhere. Weizman’s Forensic Architecture, stunning and shocking in its critical narrative, powerful images, and daring investigations, presents a new form of public truth, technologically, architecturally, and aesthetically produced. Their practice calls for a transformative politics in which architecture as a field of knowledge and a mode of interpretation exposes and confronts ever-new forms of state violence and secrecy.

An authoritative guide to investigating high-technologycrimes Internet crime is seemingly ever on the rise, making the needfor a comprehensive resource on how to investigate these crimeseven more dire. This professional-level book--aimed at lawenforcement personnel, prosecutors, and corporateinvestigators--provides you with the training you need in order toacquire the sophisticated skills and software solutions to stay onestep ahead of computer criminals. Specifies the techniques needed to investigate, analyze, anddocument a criminal act on a Windows computer or network Places a special emphasis on how to thoroughly investigatecriminal activity and now just perform the initial response Walks you through ways to present technically complicatedmaterial in simple terms that will hold up in court Features content fully updated for Windows Server 2008 R2 andWindows 7 Covers the emerging field of Windows Mobile forensics Also included is a classroom support package to ensure academicadoption, Mastering Windows Network Forensics and Investigation,2nd Edition offers help for investigating high-technologycrimes.