Customer Reviews

Digital Evidence and Computer Crime: Forensic Science, Computers, and the Internet

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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Sometimes, defense attorneys have it easy: one slip-up by the prosecution and evidence is thrown out. Knowing that, law enforcement goes to great lengths to ensure that evidence is appropriately collected and protected. That works well in the physical world, where law enforcement has many generations' worth of experience. But in the modern world of computers and digital networks, where the simple act of rebooting a computer is enough to wipe out large amounts of evidence, law enforcement clearly needs thorough guidance.

Such a resource is here: Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, an excellent book that details the elements of digital crime. Author Eoghan Casey does a superb job of applying forensic science to computers. The information presented here is critical to a diverse audience: law enforcement, attorneys, forensic scientists, and systems administrators, for instance.

While cybercrime law is in some ways similar to other aspects of criminal law, it nonetheless has its own language and categories. For instance, jurisdiction is a key element in both the physical and digital realms, but it is a much trickier concept in the latter. Casey develops this topic and many more. Those new to computers and networks need not worry: the book begins with an explanation of how they function. With the basics out of the way, Casey details how computers can be used in crime and how the evidence created from these activities can be used for later analysis....The accompanying CD-ROM contains simulated cases that integrate many of the topics covered in the text. In all, the book and CD are an excellent introduction to an increasingly important area of law enforcement.

The author gives basic understanding for everyone. The law enforcement professional will find it rudimentary on issues of edvidence seizure and chain of custody, but then he gives some insight into the technical aspects (the OSI and so forth) which is probably new material. Then for the technical professional, the opposite is true.

Not for the more experience InfoSec/forensic professional. But an outstanding introduction for those wishing to get into the practice - in the Atlanta ISSA, we use this as our primer training text book.

This text was used for the digital evidence and computer crime class that I just completed. The book is clear and easy to understand. It goes into detail only when needed. I was concerned that this information would quickly become out of date, but the ideas presented are current and provide a solid background for understanding any newer technologies that come down the road. I usually sell my books after the semester ends, but I have decided to keep this one.

You don't have to be a computer expert or forensic scientist to understand this text. I found it to be very through, yet easily to follow and understand with great examples. This one is a must for anyone just beginning to explore foresenic digital evidence !

This isn't a novel. It isn't an easy read. It IS a good resource for learning about forensic analysis of computer systems. Topics like search and seizure, logging and others will be quite useful to the professional investigator.

Note: this is not a book aimed at network security personnel. You need to know something about law and about investigations to get the most out of it.

I have reviewed several digital forensics books for use in a class I teach. I found this one to be vastly superior to others. It provides an exellent integration of technical, procedural, and legal concepts. A standard forensics text that taught only laboratory procedure would be worthless for all but the most specialized classes. Other digital forensics books haven't realized the whole picture regardless of the quality of their 'lab procedures.' This text reinforces the application of existing knowledge to computer forensics by showing it in context of the system.

I recommend this book for investigators looking to expand their expertise to computer crime, forensics specialists with the same goal, for course adoption, and for anyone interested in the process of computer crime investigation.

If you are a lawyer or a police detective with some IT background it is one of the greatest book you can find to improve significantly your skills on evidence searching in the modern world where computers are part of day life of most, including law offenders and their victims.

Be aware this is not a text on "computer crime". Eventually it will include something on this subject, but its focus is "general" crime evidence searching.

On the other hand, if you have strong IT background you will find this book something like a tutorial and missing lots of "more advanced" possibilities, but can be useful for some initial hints to some techniques to be developed in other place.

This is a textbook that deals with forensic computing from a law enforcement perspective. Divided into five distinct parts, it provides a thorough overview of computer crime laws, forensic methodology, and the process of investigating computer crime.

Fundamental procedures such as obtaining warrants prior to search and seizure, maintaining chain of custody, preserving and documenting the evidence, using multiple sources of corroborating evidence to establish important facts, and testifying in court are introduced in part one.

The next two parts cover the technical aspects of investigating criminal activity involving standalone computer systems and computer networks, respectively. These chapters discuss the technology at a fairly basic level and can be safely skimmed or skipped by readers familiar with the material from other forensic books, which tend to cover it in greater detail.

Part four is perhaps the most interesting in the book. Here the aforementioned techniques are applied to investigations of real-world crimes involving computer intrusions, Internet sex offenders, copyright infringement and online harassment. Elements of criminology are effectively combined with forensic computing methods to guide the investigators along in their quest to uncover the truth.

Guidelines for the handling of the digital crime scene and examination of digital evidence are detailed in part five.

The book is written at an introductory level. The content is technically accurate and the writing clear. References and citations are provided for most claims and statistics, and many examples drawn from real cases amplify the somewhat dry technical narrative. This is a fine introductory textbook worth the purchase price.

It describe all aspects about digital crimes using a clear language. It's very good for neubies.

This is a required text for my grad school class. I was very pleased that I could find the text at such a discount from what my school bookstore was offering it. Shipping was quick.