Computer Forensics by Disklabs Computer Forensics.

Computer Forensics provides YOU with answers. These answers can determine a criminal, civil or HR case by helping you find if your client or member of staff is either guilty or innocent. Only experienced Computer Forensic Analysts should be used in these cases, not doing so will give the opposing side a chance of discrediting the work undertaken. This often means that your key evidence will not be admissible, therefore thrown out – perhaps with your case?

Software Piracy

The definition of Software Piracy varies throughout the world, but I believe that Adobe sums software piracy up rather well: “Unlike other things you purchase, the software applications and fonts you buy don't belong to you. Instead, you become a licensed user — you purchase the right to use the software on a single computer, but you can't put copies on other machines or pass that software along to colleagues. Software piracy is the illegal distribution and/or reproduction of Adobe software applications or fonts for business or personal use. Whether software piracy is deliberate or not, it is still illegal and punishable by law.”

There are many forms of Software Piracy, methods include:
• Licensed user duplication for unlicensed users
• Illegal use of software over a network
• Illegal distribution via hardware, (i.e. CD’s or DVD’s)
• Illegal internet distribution of software
• Distributing education versions of software for non education purposes

Using the same imaging techniques as in any computer forensics case, (a detailed bit by bit image is taken of the hard drive(s) on the suspect abusers computer and a hash value is taken, (a unique number that is used to verify that no data has been changed on the imaged hard drive). This image is obtained utilising specialist equipment called ‘write blockers’ to ensure that the suspects data cannot physically be written to and therefore the imaging process cannot alter the suspects data, thus ensuring the integrity of the data of the suspect.

Then the copied data is examined using tools such as EnCase, LoPE or FTK. Operators of these suites of software should have been on training courses giving them specialist knowledge of these tools, so that they are expert in their use. The data found in these cases is reported in specialist reports that are useable in a court of law). Computer forensics is used in helping solve Software Piracy in many ways. The most obvious is by seeing the duplication software, when it was used, how many copies were duplicated during duplication. The second is to find out where the software came from. Was this software downloaded from a P2P, (Peer to Peer)? Was this software distributed from a potential investigation target? The third on is ask how this software is being distributed, is it by the internet, or is it by duplicated CD’s and DVD’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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