One can hardly open a newspaper or read news online without seeing another story about a computer-related crime. We are awash in identity theft, online child predators, and even cyber espionage. It seems overwhelming. And people in many different professions find themselves involved with computer-crime investigations. Obviously, law-enforcement officers are involved, but so are network administrators, technical-support personnel, and attorneys. If any aspect of your work brings you into contact with computer crime, Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law is for you. It begins with a broad introduction to the field of computer crime, discussing the history of computer crime, basic criminal techniques, and the relevant laws. Next, the book walks you through the essentials of computer forensics. Litigation is also explored, such as depositions, expert reports, trials, and even how one can select an appropriate expert witness. Lastly, the book introduces you to the specific techniques that hackers use and even shows you some of the tricks they use to infiltrate computer systems to help you defend against such attacks. This section of the book also includes a discussion of communication techniques used by computer criminals, with an overview of encryption, stenography, and hacker slang language. Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law is your gateway into the world of investigating computer crimes.

Author Biography

Chuck Easttom has 15 years' experience in the IT industry and has been an expert witness on several computer-related cases. He is the author of ten computer-science books including two textbooks on computer security. He was also one of the subject matter experts who helped to create CompTIA's Security+ certification test. He has been a frequent guest speaker on computer security at various computer groups and campuses including Harvard and Columbia. He holds more than a dozen computer industry certifications. Jeff Taylor is a McKinney, Texas, police detective who began his law-enforcement career in 1982. He is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigations unit, where he specializes in white-collar crimes. In 2003, Detective Taylor became certified in computer-forensic evidence recovery. He uses various computer software systems, including EnCase, Helix, and I-Look. He has received training and certifications from the FBI, Cyber Evidence Inc., the National White Collar Crime Center, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force. Detective Taylor is on the instructor staff at the Collin County Law Enforcement Academy, where he teaches a course on electronic crime scene investigations.