The Role Of Technology In The Criminal Justice System

When faced with problems as a computer forensics investigator you must be very flexible. There are many different types of computer related crimes in today’s society. They may range from child pornography to identity theft to even insider trading on Wall Street. The possibilities for the criminals in our world to use computers and the Internet against us are endless. The computer forensics or cyber forensics fields are growing but are still learning every day because it is such a young field of study. New things emerge every day that computer forensic investigators must adapt to and begin to learn to help combat these criminals. Investigators will use many tools to help them find incriminating evidence. These investigators must learn these tools inside and out to make sure every test they run can be valid. The computer forensics field is growing rapidly and there are a lot of real world threats that we need these investigators to help us solve.

What are some of the considerations that forensic scientists need to take when examining computers for evidence? Why are these important?

Evidence plays a vital role throughout criminal investigations. Typically, we think of evidence as things such as fingerprints, DNA, and fibers. However, evidence as evolved as the world of technology has expanded. Digital evidence also now plays just as much of an important role as traditional evidence. When beginning an investigation that involves digital evidence, it is important for the investigator to know what evidence to look for. Identification of evidence, collection including transportation of evidence and examination of evidence are the three main aspects of the process.

The main difficulties that the police agencies face during the online crime investigation include the multi jurisdictions, obtaining the warrant for search and seize, anonymity, significant amount of data, and consistently evolving technologies and techniques(Wall, 2012). Specifically in the online predators crime, the idea of obtaining a warrant is the most critical difficulty the police agencies have. Similarly to other actual physical criminal cases such as murder or assault, the key component in conducting the successful investigation is to identify and obtain the actual evidences that can prove the offense(Power, 2013). However in terms of the cyber crimes, most evidences are contained in the actual computer itself, which, it explains that the

Electronic evidence is very fragile because it can be destroyed or altered very easily, therefore it is imperative that investigators follow very careful all the procedural steps when collecting electronic evidence (Diversified Forensics). Before any electronic evidence is gathered investigators should determine whether there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, or if the crime was committed somewhere else the investigator should determine whether the electronic evidence will aid the investigation process to prove or disapprove the crime, if a warrant is needed it must be obtained prior to collecting the evidence (Diversified Forensics). Hard drives, computers, and other electronic devices must be turned off, unplug all cables,

For this reason, it is imperative that the information gathered is reliable and accurate to ensure the evidence collected can be utilized by the digital forensic investigator for the current case (Ingalls & Rodriguez, 2011). Additionally, cyber incidents require digital forensic investigators to interview various individuals regarding the information needed for the case. According to the National Institute of Justice (2004), interviewing the system administrator, users, and employees of an organization regarding a cyber incident would provide investigators with valuable information; for example, user accounts, email accounts, network configuration, logs, and passwords. Furthermore, for digital forensic investigators to conduct an effective interview, they must have the proper tools and training to employ the interview process. For instance, formal procedures or instructions should be developed and implemented to ensure that the investigator follows a standard during all investigations. Additionally, training should be provided to ensure that digital forensic investigators comprehend by what means to prepare, conduct, and evaluate an interview. Furthermore, resources should be made available for digital forensic investigators to accomplish their tasks; for example, recording devices and references. Also, definitions should be provided to the digital forensic investigators for

Digital crime has been on the increase due to the increasing use of computer and internet. This has led the investigators with another method of fighting this crime. This is Computer Forensics, a process of going into computer hard drive and capturing basic information the user believed it has been erased.

Data is crucial to the success of any company and they are now increasing their efforts in soliciting and retrieving customer data to learn more about their client's preferences, likes, and dislikes. This, among other factors has attributed to a growing field of data science where data scientists learn to collect crucial data. While there are many types of data, this paper will primarily focus on digital data and how digital scientists can retrieve these data to support provide information for the crown or for the defense. This area has received more attention because criminals such as terrorists have realized the effectiveness of using digital devices to aid in their criminal endeavors (Reith, Carr & Gunsch, 2002, p.2). To combat this, law enforcement agencies are now relying on digital scientists to preserve, collect, analysis and interpret "digital evidence derived from digital sources" (Vincze, 2016, p.184) to help prevent cybercrime and prosecute (or exonerate) suspects. The purpose of this paper is then to illustrate why digital forensic is crucial to addressing the new dangers presented in our society by analyzing the strengths and demonstrating why the weaknesses of the field

From data acquisition, the investigator should move to the process of extracting data. He or she should use special computer forensics software tools to extract important data from various computer devices and networks. The process of extracting data requires the investigator to be knowledgeable about where to search data in the system and the kind of questions to ask (Rogers, 2003). After extracting data, the investigator proceeds to the process of data analysis. By this time, the investigator will probably be having thousands of files. He or she should use computer forensic tools and techniques to analyze the files in order to generate data which is more relevant and concise (Rogers, 2003). The last step of the process of computer forensics involves reporting the analyzed data. The investigators should ensure that the data, which is supposed to be reported, is complete, understandable, and defendable. This will ensure that the final data presented is credible (Rogers, 2003).

The creation go of the Internet has helped spawn new forms of criminals and crimes, and has always helped make older criminal schemes easier to execute, identity theft, child pornography, copyright violations, hacking and you could go on and on. In a 2003 survey conducted by the CSI with the participation of the San Francisco Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Computer Intrusion Squad, of the 530 respondents made up of U.S. corporations, government agencies, financial institutions, medical institutions and universities, 56% reported unauthorized use of their computer systems (2003 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey).

Just as technology has exponentially increased the level of communication and commerce, it has similarly expanded opportunities for criminal activity and victimization. The Internet can be used to commit crimes ranging from the release of a computer virus resulting in worldwide catastrophic damage to industrial espionage, from simple assaults to acts of terrorism, from child pornography to luring and sexual assault on children. Apart from the breadth of potential misconduct, the unique nature of the internet presents challenges not evident in the traditional law enforcement, such as questions of jurisdiction, evidence access and preservation, applicability of current laws, vulnerability of a virtually unlimited victim pool, and practical obstacles to the identification of perpetrators. In this investigation manual you will find the overview of a crime, conduct a seizure of evidence with pictures, what to do when conducting a search

Next, evidence is collected and analyzed, including tangible evidence such as hard drives and electronic devices, and the digital evidence they contain. Cybercrime investigations for instant messaging rely on instant messaging exchanges, or conversations between people, as digital evidence. The data includes the IM text and the “meta-data” includes other related evidence such as timestamps, length of time the user has been logged on, and more. Then you must seek expert advice if necessary since these crimes can get extremely technical. For crimes relating to

In this current generation, technology is steadily becoming a major asset to our future in a wide range of areas, and has been embedded in our lives currently to the point of being close to a necessity. In Criminal Justice, the use of technology has proven to be of tremendous help in many areas of the field. The incorporation of the computer systems in criminal justice tremendously has improved the general communication between agencies as the new methods of transferring information among departments. In addition, it has become much more resourceful and efficient in that it is much simpler to acquire the data at a more rapid rate, hence, speeding up the time it takes to prevent or solve crimes. The intent of this paper is to deliver an

With the constant changes in society and advances in technology, it is no surprise that new types of crime have started to emerge. Such as terrorism, white-collar crime, green crime, cyber-crime, and organized crime. Often times these crimes tend to overlap because technology is such a huge factor

In a world where technology is increasingly becoming the way of life, it was only a matter of time before crime was no longer just in the streets but happening online as well. Criminals now get a new approach to carry out their crimes with the use of computers. Since technology is more like a murder mystery than catching the bad guy in the act, a new discipline of forensics needed to be put into place. This is known as computer forensics. Forensic science is any science used for the purpose of law. In the case of computer forensics it is “the discipline that combines elements of law and computer science to collect and analyze data from computer systems, networks, wireless communications, and storage devices in a way that is admissible as evidence in a court of law” (U.S. Cert, 2008). Meaning if you do something illegal on the Internet it can be found.