Software from Redmond, Washington always seems newsworthy. This software project was going well and beginning to get national attention. One day the focus turned inward, however. During a test of the project, the boss discovered that the new software was providing links to pornography on...
The tough job in risk assessment is separating the goofiness of ordinary life from factors that might indicate potential violence. Assessment isn't prediction -- but both have similar uncertainties. In a world with lots of physical variables, each represented by a known stochastic process the job...
Two former spooks met for a gourmet lunch on the side of an extinct volcano. Sounds interesting...
Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the US. Just a few weeks ago Liberation Day, Bevrijdingsdag, was remembered in the Netherlands. They recognize the sacrifice of foreign soldiers who defeated the German occupiers in World War II. Near Maastricht, 8,301 American soldiers are buried. They fell in "Operation...
Stalkers, controlling spouses, creepy bosses and predators like tracking. The good things in our electronic environment can create problems for us...
It's fashionable on web sites to describe successes. Sometimes other case outcomes are more memorable, however. Here are some of our experiences in a Redmond cyber intrusion, a Tacoma murder and a few other cases. Last year we were retained in a pro bono case by...
Typically professionals work in an environment that has thoughtful IT professionals safeguarding the network. In many cases the network health is audited to standards for medical, financial or government security. At home much of network security is left to the homeowner without much help from the...
Whenever a client calls with a complex investigation we quickly run through a checklist of volatile evidence that they should preserve, including cellphones. These are obvious digital items that make sense to archive before they disappear: Alarm system logs, Access control activity, Video from...
The terrible attacks in Paris last night remind us that evil is part of the world that we live in. Events of this sort always bring to mind the concern about stopping the next attack by terrorists. Fortunately, mounting a large attack of this sort requires...
For much of the last 20 years we have used an incredible software-defined radio to search for eavesdropping devices. It was made by the famous Watkins-Johnson company. Aside from great performance this radio had the mystique of being used by spooks. It was a standard...