The Tech-Investigator

Social Engineering Through Social Media

2013-12-12T18:52:00.001-06:00

A very complex approach to using Social Media in conjunction with Social Engineering occurred when two hackers convinced a government agency that the profile was real. When if fact, the female profile consisted of two guys. The layers of deception on this are incredible. Through this ultimate method of online deception the two hackers succeeded with convincing a government employer that "Emily Williams" was an actual employee. This led to "her" obtaining a computer, network credentials and even having people offer to help with unrelated tasks plus much more. Read about how these two hackers conducted this operation of social engineering through social media here.

Kidnappings and Technology

2012-12-23T09:30:00.001-06:00

Have you ever heard of a baby being taken from a family? Have you ever heard of a child being kidnapped? Have you ever heard of someone walking into a hospital and taking a baby? They all happen. Let's examine why someone would kidnap a baby. Criminal enterprise? Money? To replace their own loss? Here is a real life example which demonstrates the reality of such an occurrence. "The deal was that the two gang members were going to put the baby in the back of the car and Remigio was going to drive to Chula Vista, where her boyfriend lives, and live happily ever after with her fiance and present the kidnapped baby as if she had a kid." Full story here. This happens and technology is assisting investigators in more ways than one. Tower dumps can be used to pick up all cell phones in the area at the time of the crime. Surveillance cameras can be used to identify a suspect when entering a store. Vehicles can also be identified via surveillance cameras. Utilizing all of the above in combination with defined investigative skills leads to crimes being solved. As crime evolves so does the technology used to solve them.

Field Investigations and Google Drive

2012-12-23T09:22:00.001-06:00

To put it simply. Use Google Drive to upload your case files or get large pieces of information to someone in the field immediately. All done via cloud with a tremendous search application.

Social Media and Law Enforcement

2012-12-20T13:52:00.000-06:00

Well...here we go again. Another article about social media and law enforcement. This one outlining not how it can be used within an investigation, yet the dangers associated with using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. Not just to the officers but to their family. This outlines the information which can be found online and the threats which can be posed towards those within the profession. Read the full FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin here.

The Future of Restraints

2012-12-20T13:29:00.001-06:00

Houdini could escape from any set of handcuffs, restraints, containers or prisons. Scottsdale Inventions seeks to challenge those who feel they are just as capable. They also allow for an electrical charge to be administered after a warning if the wearer violates a specified boundary. This new device also allows for the restraints to administer another variety of non-lethal force or medicine. Check out the the review at Patent Bolt. If you would prefer to read the actual patent itself you can do so through the USPTO.

Milan to Tablet

2012-12-06T16:11:00.001-06:00

On February 23, 2008 I wrote about Microsoft Milan. A touch based means to interact with your computer. Almost four years later we see tablets being carried around by everyone. Milan seemed to be a desktop version at the time, like an old Pac Man game. This technology has gone portable with wi-fi and broadband service from cell providers. So the big question is, what is it good for in terms of an investigation? Take a look at Google Drive. Utilize this to upload your case flies and workups along with video, photos, etc for when you are conducting a field interview. The portability and instantaneous updating of that information allows for field agents to be supported by the those back at the home office. Even while they are sitting in a living room with a potential witness. The future is here now...where will it go from here? It will be faster.

Plan X - What Is It?

2012-12-03T09:34:00.002-06:00

Within this century warfare will shift exponentially from the battlefield to the internet. The wide range of threats which are presented do not come in the form of a nuclear bomb being detonated in Iowa, but more an attack on our infrastructures from the inside out. Water supply, farming, electrical, communications, etc. The part which causes concern is that these future wars are fought in an environment which is not always visible and is ever changing. Modern soldiers can be physically seen and detected as well as tanks, some aircraft and ships. A digital virus could wreak havoc in an undetected way. Plan X is DARPA's (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) way of planning, managing and understanding military cyber-operations is real-time, large scale, dynamic environments. Plan X's approach and primary focus is to dominate the cyber battle-space. For more information on this project you can read the PDF found here.

Hotel Room Security

2012-11-30T20:49:00.000-06:00

You check in. You go to your room and put your belongings on the bed, in the closet or on the nightstand. Then you head out to dinner. Only to return an hour later and find your belongings gone. Or worse, still there with the information contained within your files compromised without even knowing. Hotel locks are not safe. First let's look at how the get into the room. Hotel locks are easily compromised. The lock which is found in most hotels is provided by Onity. A Mozilla software developer figured out a very easy way to hack this lock and gain entry. Read more on this here. Now let's look at what we can do to determine who the thief is. It is wise to invest in a covert camera such as this one and place this and set it to record while you are away. When you return to your room, review the video whether or not anything is missing. Did someone come into your room to canvass it for a later date? Did someone go through your files? Did someone take something that belongs to you and you do not realize it is missing? Always review the video. To prevent the important items from being stolen such as your laptop or case files, your best bet is to keep them with you when you are away from your room. If your hotel offers it, ask for the items to be placed in the hotel safe. Secure the items with a tamper tab to tell if the item has been opened or tampered with while you were away.

Night Vision with HD and SLR Cameras

2012-11-29T14:01:00.001-06:00

When it comes to surveillance, night vision technology is keeping pace with new HD and SLR cameras on the market. The conversion is simple and seamless. Image stabilization is an additional benefit of this technology as well and continues to maintain the quality of the still photography or video. Elctrophysics is the premiere supplier of such equipment to investigators in the private and public sector. When you are looking for standard nigh vision surveillance or long range night vision surveillance equipment, check out Elctrophysics here.

Smishing - Protect Your Cell Phone & Your Information

2012-10-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

Protect yourself from smishing. What is smishing? When you receive a text message with a link that tries to bait you into downloading a trojan, malware or other virus. Read more here.

Web Surveillance

2012-09-05T07:31:00.000-05:00

The amount of information that is gathered by people and then transmitted via social media is tremendous. This information can be used by Law Enforcement and by those in the private sector to piece together the puzzle surrounding a crime or incident. Companies are learning how to gather the information from the backsides of Facebook and Twitter to use for such purposes. Read more here.

Facebook Report - Wolfram Alpha

2012-09-01T16:59:00.000-05:00

Those of you not familiar with WolframAlpha, may I suggest you should be. It is a wonderful search engine. Designed with more of a mathematical results based search, it provides a tremendous amount of information on various topics. Often though it comes back to one thing. Math. As it seems in this article, the Facebook Report provides a detailed analysis of your page. Very much so as Maltego provides a graph and charts, this does the same outlining connections. In terms of an investigation, this can be useful on many fronts. You can find the tool here.

Online Black Markets

2012-08-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

The Online Black Market can be used for a variety of criminal enterprise activities. This article outlines how illegal organizations can convert their own currency into Bitcoins and then locate the Black Markets where the illegal purchases, etc is carried out. The entire process appears very simple and untraceable on the surface yet demonstrates the existence of a darker underworld of these illegal activities. Read the full article here.

DPI - Strip Search

2012-08-28T20:53:00.000-05:00

Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) is basically a strip search of online activities utilizing certain monitoring techniques. This allows the user to see what is going on inside their networks. Much like a version of Big Brother on steroids with a cost which has been reduced due to giant search engines like Google. This now allows traffic to be monitored for certain triggers; storage and financial costs are minimized. Read more here.

Digital Evidence - An FBI LE Bulletin Article

2011-09-20T17:18:00.002-05:00

An overview of how Law Enforcement obtains, preserves and processes digital evidence. This article can be found here.

https://

2011-03-09T07:11:00.002-06:00

Many sites utilize cookies to remember their users' information. With the installation of some simple software this allows even amateur hackers to access those cookies and then to access the accounts from Wi-Fi users. Look for sites that provide cryptographic protocol Transport Layer Security or its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer. This is generally noted by the web address starting with "https". Read more here.

Copyright Infringement Website Seizures

2011-03-04T16:50:00.003-06:00

The government pulls out all of the stops on cracking down on this type of illegal activity. It seems they deployed multiple resources in order to put an end to one person's illegal TV streaming site. It's fairly impressive to see how the feds tracked him down. You can read exactly what they did and how they went about it here.

Credit Card RFID Chip

2011-02-25T12:43:00.003-06:00

Credit card companies are now adding RFID chips to credit cards to make it easier to "swipe and pay". The RFID chip in a credit card emits the account number, expiration date and other information. This technology makes it easier to keep on the go but it also makes your information more easily accessible to thieves who are looking to steal your identity. A real simple security solution can be found here.

Spying On the Enemy

2011-02-18T12:44:00.005-06:00

New technology allows for a replica of a hummingbird to fly for eight minutes and transmit what it observes. Video here.

Tip Soft

2011-02-16T13:33:00.002-06:00

Reporting crime is even easier now with applications for your smartphone. Users remain anonymous and the information is transferred immediately. Read more here.

Geo Tracking Photos

2011-01-04T12:31:00.003-06:00

Embedded in the metadata of photos you take with your cell phones and post to popular online website may be found the longitude and latitude coordinates providing the exact location where that photo was taken. Some video cameras and digital cameras are also offering this feature. This is something to consider when you are taking family photos, photos of items you intend to sell or any private information that you do not want disclosed. This should also be viewed as a security concern for people with children or family members who are in need of protection from individuals with ill intentions. Read more here.

Are Your Apps Spying on You?

2010-12-18T16:19:00.003-06:00

If you own an Android system it is constantly updating and reaching out to the internet. If you own an iPhone you also are regularly reaching out to the internet. Regardless, smart-phones have a great selection of apps to choose from. Did you know though that these cool little pieces of software can constantly relay unique ID information back to the companies that provide these "free" apps. Read more here.

The End of Privacy

2010-12-13T19:25:00.002-06:00

The internet is one large database which can be used as a valuable tool to establish a profile on people. I have researched this subject extensively and the information that we have at our fingertips has revolutionized the way investigations are conducted. For those with ill intentions, it could also be used as a means to facilitate illegal activities.

Facebook and Privacy

2010-12-02T08:27:00.004-06:00

Are you on Facebook? Do you value your privacy? If you answered yes to those two simple questions you may want to read this article about how Facebook can download all of your messages in your in-box. Read more here.

i-Ball Video Camera

2010-10-25T12:22:00.002-05:00

The i-Ball video camera can stream video up to 20 meters away to a computer or smart phone. The size of this camera is about as big as a 50 cent coin. Having remote surveillance capabilities presets unique advantages and also privacy concerns. The camera is 2 megapixels and costs about $119. Read all about it here.