Executive Summary
Computer access and information storage has drastically evolved with the increase of computer usage and internet access across a wide range of areas including homes, businesses, schools and government departments. These changes make requirements for more specific laws to regulate the use of computers and storage of data as well as new forensic techniques and tools to investigate such offences.
Following this, computer forensic investigators are becoming a necessity for lawyers and barristers as support in both criminal and civil proceedings. What legislation exists in Ireland to handle computer crime?
Ireland does not have exclusive law that would deal with computer crime as such, but has two laws that can handle computer crimes. Criminal Damage Act 1991 (the “1991 Act”) deals with principal offences in section 2 and section 5 while Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 (the “2001 Act”) covers computer related offences in section 9 and section 48.
Criminal Damage Act 1991
Section 2 – “(1) A person who without lawful excuse damages any property belonging to another intending to damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be damaged shall be guilty of an offence.”
While section 2 above does not call out specific reference to computer related crime, the definition in the statute regarding property does include offences relating to data.
Section 5 – “(1) A person who without lawful excuse operates a
This says that a person is able to found guilty of this offence when the defendant doesn’t have a lawful excuse and has destroyed or damaged another person property, this can be intentionally or recklessly.
The perception of excessive force has been intensely debated for the last few decades. With continuous public defiance increasing, instances of police brutality are rising at an exponential rate. However, the accessibility to social media has greatly increased as well, therefore, causing us to become more aware of such situations. With that considered, the increased amount of police beatings is far less than what may be perceived. Frequently occurrences of police brutality are brought to our attention through the media. Often times, broadcasting very graphic, and sometimes unlawful situations. Several people may say that discrimination against particular ethnicities may be the main cause of this recent influx. Though, others may believe that subsequent social disparities towards specific ethnicities may cause frustration, consequently, causing law enforcement officers to use unnecessary excessive force, more frequently.
In the United States there are “2,300,000 people are in jails or prisons today. Incarceration is one of the most common forms of punishment in the country for those who choose to commit crimes. This number includes those who are jailed for a short period and are released on probation, as well as those who are doing time for the rest of their lives. (soapboxie, 2016).
Computers have evolved on how we communicate thru technology. People use technology in creative ways that can complicate the forensic analysis process, importantly when attempts are made to conceal digital evidence. The economy consists of millions of users spend hours surfing the web, stay up to date with current events, and take part in many activities.
Dedicated system forensics specialists have trained intensively in investigating digital incidents to determine magnitude of the situation. Since digital crimes are committed on devices over multiple computing platforms, it is essential for forensic specialist to have a broad knowledge on which tools and techniques yield best results. The information collected from devices may serve as useful evidence in a legal matter; you never want the gathering of data to be an issue during the trial proceedings. Dedicated system forensic specialists understand the advantage in preparing a chain of custody report; it documents who oversaw data recovery or imaging, when & where collection took place and how & who stored data, which all add evidentiary value to findings. Individuals not skilled in the digital investigative process may inadvertently contaminate, overlook or destroy evidences, or simply forget to document the collection process. The smallest omission & fallacy in evidence collection or documentation can cause finds to
Criminalization is a social phenomenon, which has haphazardly increased in last few years as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become an internal part of our daily lives. Atomic computer users and large corporate companies are increasingly dependent on services provided by ICT. ICT provides wide range of services that are utilized by individual systems as well as enormous database handling companies. For numerous reasons, something is bound to go wrong within the ICT environments which may include an intentional attack on different services provided by an organization. Digital forensics has evolved significantly in the direction of prosecuting such criminals. Making use of freely available information on internet and rapid technological advancements in ICT has contributed to performing easy investigations rather cumbersome.
We live in the information age; the way people communicate and practice business has changed tremendously. Everyday new technologies such as: operating systems, applications and automated software make our lives easier. As computer technologies continue to grow, the necessity of securing private information has not been an easy task for computer networking administrators and information security teams. For digital forensic investigators, staying on top of rapidly evolving technologies had become an everyday challenge. Therefore, there are several factors that play an important role to be successful in digital forensics career. First, you must become familiar with the newly OS platforms. Secondly, continuous testing, evaluation and research could expand the capabilities of a forensic lab. Lastly, forensic investigators should maintain connections with a
To conclude with my case study, is worth to mention that in every forensic investigation is different and the circumstances and particularity of the case will conduct to the right forensic tools needed. Before start conducting a case every forensic investigator should gather how much information as possible from the suspected person or target system. In this case I focused my attention on my client's background information and technical knowledge of computer resources as well as security policies of her company and habits of usage. For all these reasons identifying the nature of the case before conducting any investigation will set the path and guide me in the selection of the best course of action to implement the right tools in my
Forensic labs contain many bits of information, personal information and evidence will be stored on a PC because it’s safer and more practical. Whereas forensic material such as bodily parts will have to be stored within a refrigerated room which keeps the parts safe. The information on the PC will be update when concluding an investigation or when anything important changes, yet the actual forensic material will be used more frequently as these need to be assessed and examined. It’s extremely important to keep this information stored effectively as it connects to crime scene investigation as involves personal data and forensic material which needs to be kept
This paper will briefly identify and explain the psychological aspects of digital forensics. It will further examine the role of psychological profiling in digital forensic investigations. Lastly, it will examine the various stresses that digital crime investigations places on the digital forensics investigator.
Not only is the evidence itself important in a digital forensic investigation, but the process followed in acquiring the evidence before presentation is crucial. Numerous court decisions have given guidelines to determine the standard required from the evidence collected and process followed in its
Hardware and software tools must be included in the development of a forensic lab. The hardware should include multiple computers, separate Internet connections, multiple workstations, and portable acquisition computers. The computers should have a large storage capacity to accommodate for various software tools, managing documents, and administering cases. The Internet is useful for finding forensic information and techniques, but it’s important that the Internet connections are separate and not connected to the forensics server. Multiple workstations enable forensic experts to work on individual cases as well as
Digital forensics is the process of uncovering and interpreting electronic data for use in a court of law. The main goal of the process is to preserve any evidence in its most original form while performing a structured investigation by collecting, identifying and validating the digital information which will be admissible in a court of law. To collect the document has to follow certain guidelines. United States v. Gourde (2006) and United States v. Zeigler (2007) are both great examples of cases to investigate the case. The primary goal of this document is to demonstrate the importance of digital forensics in solving criminal investigation. In the following paragraph two criminal cases are studied and analyzed.
A simple inquiry on a search engine can reveal millions of results regarding social stereotypes. How prevalent is stereotyping in today’s society? Extremely. The formation of stereotypes impact perceptions of individuals as well as ourselves.
Computer crimes can be defined as “the unauthorized use of a computer for personal gain, as in the illegal transfer of funds or to alter the data or property of others (Dictionary.com.)” Some examples of computer crimes are identity theft, transaction fraud, hacking, and piracy (Opposing News.) One aspect of a computer crime that I will cover in this exam is identity theft. The Department of Justice defines identity theft and identity fraud as “terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain (Department of Justice.)” Information that can be used to aid in the theft of your identity includes personally identifiable information (PII.) PII can be best described as “data that could potentially be used to identify a specific person;” which includes information such as your date of birth, social security number, address and mother’s maiden name (Rouse 2014.) In the wrong hands, this information enables someone to steal your identity and leave you financially responsible for the actions taken by the thief.