Reference no: EM132714462

Assignment: Murder Case

Preamble: An organization system administrator was labeled as the key suspect in a homicide case. The accused claimed that he was at work at the time of the murder.

Police Intervention: The police asked his employer to help them verify his alibi. Unpredictably, the same organization, occasionally trained law enforcement personnel to investigate computer crimes and was eager to help in the investigation.

Collaborative Strength: The organization worked with police to assemble an investigative team, seized the suspect computers in his office and residence, and backup tapes on a file server managed by his employer. All of these evidence were stored in a room to where only members of the team had access.

Harsh Situation: At the initial stages, the operation appeared reasonably well documented, but the reconstruction process was a disaster. The investigators made so many omissions and mistakes that one computer expert when reading the investigator's logs, suggested that the fundamental mistake was that the investigators locked all of the smart people out of the room. The investigators, in this case, were unaware of the situation and unwilling to admit the slip-up.

As a result of the investigators' omissions and mistakes, the suspect's alibi could not work together. Digital evidence to support the suspect's alibi was identify later but not by the investigators. If the investigators had sought expert assistance to deal with a large amount of digital evidence, they might have quickly confirmed the suspect's alibi rather than putting him through years of investigation and leaving the murderer to go free.

Lesson Learned: The case amplifies forensic investigators' requirements to obtain fundamental knowledge of computers, compatible operating systems, and application software programs.

Forewarning forensic investigators to seek the assistance of the system administrator during the criminal investigation.

Scenario: You have been retained as a Deputy Technology officer at the University and charged with the responsibility of developing an Acceptable User Policy for the department of computer science based on this murder case.

Question 1: Use the AUP to amplify the advantages and disadvantages of investigators' quarterly training on most currently used operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, Linux, Sun System, and more.

Scenario 2: The investigators, in this case, were unaware of the situation and unwilling to admit the slip-up. As a result of such omissions and mistakes, the suspect's alibi could not work together. Digital evidence to support the suspect's alibi was identify later but not by the investigators. If the investigators had sought expert assistance to deal with a large amount of digital evidence, they might have quickly confirmed the suspect's alibi rather than putting him through years of investigation and leaving the murderer to go free.

Question 2: "Investigators allowed the Murderer to go free."

2:1. Defend the impasse of the investigator's unwillingness to admit the slip-up?

2:2 Use the Acceptable User Policy to amplify why the murderer was allowed to go free and penalties for violations.