Computers In Crime

In any incident, the computer may have played its part in one of three ways. The first is where the computer is the victim of crime. This is normally where it is the target of hacking, viruses, Trojan horses, or Denial of Service type incidents. The second is where the computer has been used as a tool in the commission of a crime - for example, sending blackmail threats. This type of role will cover almost all aspects of criminality, including fraud, paedophilia, hacking, industrial espionage, intellectual property theft crime, and the storage of information relating to any number of other types of crime. The reason for this is due to the role computers and networks play in modern communications and their increasing integration into all aspects of personal and business life. The third way in which a computer many be connected to a crime is inane incidental manner, where it many contain information that relates to crimes such as drug deals that its owner is involved in.

Single Computer Issues
For the laptop of standalone personal or work computer, the investigation into a single computer is probably the easiest type undertaken. Even here the level of difficulty is growing as PCs become more powerful and the size of the storage media increases, and as the ways in which the connect to networks increase and become less obvious (WiFi, WiMax and Bluetooth). When dealing with a single PC, elements to be consider include

1. The PC
2. Peripheral Devices
3. Storage Media
4. Associated Material