|
LEAPS Conference Briefed on Capture and Storage of Critical Corporate
Information
Los Angeles, CA, May 14, 2003 –
Attendees to the Law Enforcement and Private Security (LEAPS) Conference, an
annual educational conference hosted by the Los Angeles Police Department
and focused toward improving the cooperative efficiency of police
departments and corporate private security, were briefed today on the
importance of properly capturing and managing corporate information of use
in security-related investigations.
The briefing was presented by Michael
O’Brien, president of Los Angeles-based Accurate Computer Consulting (ACC),
a firm that specializes in helping companies to identify and retain
important corporate logs documenting movements of personnel and physical
property that are often allowed to expire and become lost.
According to O’Brien, corporations
generate an enormous amount of information of use in investigations that is
often neglected in the progress of an investigation.
These records include access control activity records, visitor pass,
phone and email logs, Web traffic and network login records and other
sources of information. The
corporation may have the records, but if the records are not captured,
stored and made accessible, they will not be of value in an investigation.
An important aspect of utilizing such
information is recognizing how the data can be viewed to document a point of
use in the investigation.
This requires imagination and an understanding of precisely what the
information means. This
understanding can be obtained by closely questioning the technical
representatives responsible for the application that generated the data.
“Security can be improved immensely
simply by capturing data that already moves through the corporation. The IT Department is typically
focused on providing functioning IT services, and generally is not oriented
toward long-term maintenance of log information. Since Security’s interests are different in this area, it
is important for security managers to take the initiative in securing this
information,” said O’Brien.
ACC has provided security-related
programming and data management services to companies throughout the Los
Angeles area since 1995. Over the past five years, O'Brien has assisted in
gathering and analyzing Internet-related and other digital information in
dozens of investigations in which the retrieval and analysis of properly
stored corporate information has played a significant and sometimes pivotal
role.
- 30 -
High-Tech Stalker Investigation Techniques Presented to Threat Assessment
Professionals
Los Angeles, CA, August 29, 2001 –
Attendees to the annual conference of the Association of Threat Assessment
Professionals (ATAP), an organization that promotes the interchange of ideas
and strategies to address stalker threats, today were
presented resources and techniques that can be utilized in the Information
Age to effectively manage a stalker investigation.
The presentation was delivered by Chuck Harold, Director of Corporate Investigations for Fox
Entertainment Group (FEG), and Michael O’Brien, President of Accurate
Computer Consulting (ACC), both veterans of
numerous stalker investigations requiring the utilization of high-technology
investigative methodologies.
The presenters described the variety
of challenges that can occur in a threat management case and how to gather
and analyze evidence to address those challenges. Several case
histories illustrating the principles involved were included in the
presentation.
According to Harold, high-technology
investigations are not that much different from traditional investigations
in that they both require the same inquisitive, imaginative and persistent
mindset that police investigators must possess to be successful.
O'Brien outlined several sources of high-tech
information and explained how the different classes of information can be
analyzed against each other to document the stalker's actions.
"The stalker always leaves a trace of
his activities. The investigator's job is to know where those traces
are likely to be so they can be preserved and examined," he said.
Harold served as a police officer
for 13 years with the San Gabriel, Culver City and University of California
police departments prior to joining Fox in 1996, and has been licensed as a
private investigator in California since 1989.
ACC has provided computer-related
security investigation and programming services to companies throughout the
Los Angeles area since 1995, and has developed a suite of advanced computer
tools for the forensic analysis of hard drives which are utilized by ACC in
its investigations. Over the past five years, Mr. O’Brien has assisted in
gathering and analyzing Internet-related and other digital information in
dozens of investigations involving stalking, theft, destruction of evidence
and other criminal and civil violations.
ATAP was founded in 1992 as a
non-profit organization of corporate security experts, law enforcement and
criminal justice officials and others involved in threat and violence risk
assessment. The organization fosters the interchange of information
and strategies to assist its membership in addressing stalkers and other
types of threats.
- 30 -
San
Gabriel Valley Police Leaders Briefed on High-Tech Computer Crime
San Gabriel, CA,
July 10, 2001 – The San Gabriel Valley Command Officers Association (SGVCOA),
an association of the top police officials in departments throughout the San
Gabriel Valley, was briefed today by high-technology computer crime
investigators on the changing face of crime in the 21st century, and on
techniques that can help them effectively address the increasing
sophistication of computer criminals in the Information Age.
The briefing was presented at the
SGVCOA meeting in Arcadia by Chuck Harold, Director of Corporate
Investigations for Fox Entertainment Group, and Michael O’Brien, President
of ACC, both veterans of numerous high-technology computer investigations.
According to the presenters, while
the rapid increase in computer sophistication has significantly complicated
the law enforcement investigative process, the job of policing crime will
actually become easier in the long run. The enormous amount of information
that is captured on the suspect’s personal computer, on servers to which the
suspect’s computer is connected, and on any of the numerous other computers
with which the suspect may interact actually makes it harder for criminals
to hide. The challenge facing law enforcement is to come up to speed on the
new playing field as quickly as possible in order to best utilize the new
resources that have become available.
The briefing outlined methods that
can be used by police investigators to identify suspects and properly
document their activities. Several of the techniques involve the creative
use of search engines, Internet-based tools, and other software to gather
evidence on the source of illegal activities such as sale of stolen
merchandise, stalking, identity theft and others. “History has shown that
the criminal always leaves a trail behind him. In the high-tech area, that
trail is usually a mile wide,” Harold said.
“Computer criminals who think they
are clever usually just make things a lot worse for themselves,” O’Brien
said, citing the case of one suspect who reformatted his computer after
being questioned regarding an investigation. All the suspect succeeded in
doing was establishing evidence of his intent to destroy evidence. “There
is so much information captured in so many areas, that the computer criminal
simply cannot avoid making mistakes, and lots of them,” he said.
According to Harold, the explosion
in computer use is changing law enforcement in fundamental ways, but the
essential elements of combating crime will never change. Criminals act on
predictable motivations, try to conceal activities, mislead investigators,
etc., and a good police sense will always be indispensable to a law
enforcement investigator. Because of this, it will not take law enforcement
long to learn how to use the new tools of the Information Age.
SGVCOA membership includes the top
brass of several dozen San Gabriel Valley police departments. Rick Arnold,
host of the July SGVCOA meeting and a Captain in the San Gabriel Police
Department, stated, “It is fascinating to learn more about the enormous
computer resources that are available to investigators. These new high-tech
methods are important crime-fighting tools, and we are pleased to be able to
bring these new tools to our membership.”
Harold served as a police officer
for 13 years with the San Gabriel, Culver City and University of California
police departments prior to joining Fox in 1996, and has been licensed as a
private investigator in California since 1989.
ACC has provided computer-related
security investigation and programming services to companies throughout the
Los Angeles area since 1995, and has developed a suite of advanced computer
tools for the forensic analysis of hard drives which are utilized by ACC in
its investigations. Over the past five years, Mr. O’Brien has assisted in
gathering and analyzing Internet-related and other digital information in
dozens of investigations involving stalking, theft, destruction of evidence
and other criminal and civil violations.
- 30 -
go to top
|
