Cyberspies penetrate electrical grid: report

Story link from Reuters.

Sounds like infrastructure hacking.

News: Arkansas lab overloaded by CP.

The Fort Smith, Arkansas police lab is overwhelmed with CP cases...

Story says that 85% of the cases involve potential CP. Which just points to the need for more certified examiners in the police field.

Fort Smith PD
TV link

http://www.4029tv.com/news/19121914/detail.html

Talk Forensics Great Podcast!

This is a great podcast with a variety of real experts on forensics topics. The detection of deception one is very interesting.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/TalkForensics

Tech Tip: Thermometers

When I get a gig to fix a computer which is running hot, I like to throw a thermometer in my tool bag. It is nice to have an objective measure to give the client or the end user. Sometimes the end user will only give the vague symptom that the laptop feels "hot." With a thermometer, I can give the user an exact number. With that temperature, I can also show the before and after effects of removing dust and dirt from systems.

I have two types-one is a cheap meat kind of thermometer and the other is digital probe. The cheap one was a buck from Home Depot and the other one was from Ebay.

There are a couple of kinds that might be helpful. One is a USB model that can email the temperature back to you-probably really helpful for server rooms. The other is a non-contact, gun type system.

Book Review: Windows Forensic Analysis-by Harlan Carvey

Windows Forensic Analysis Including DVD Toolkit (Paperback)
by Harlan Carvey (Author),
Key Phrases: registry analysis, collecting volatile data, memory challenge, Live Response, File Analysis, Event Log (more...)

This is a great book for both reference and instruction. Must have for every tech.

Tech Tip: Peltier Coolers.

If you have ever imaged a hard drive, you know they can get hot. If you can keep the drive cooler, you may be able to get more information off of the drive. Here is a device that I saw in Fry's, but never got because it was a little expensive. Well I saw one in a local thrift store for 8 bucks-so I broke down and bought one.

http://shop3.frys.com/product/4730919



This really helps keeping a notebook drive cooler while imaging. Just to be safe, I md5 hashed a drive, then left it on the cooler for twenty four hours, then hashed it again. There was no change. I have left drives on it for days with no real problems.

Worth checking out.