Suspected Pedophile Cleared by Computer Forensics by John Leyden - Essay Example

? Suspected Pedophile Cleared by Computer Forensics TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………………………………….. 2 2. The effort of Vogon in releasing Green…………………………………3 3. The pedophile cases on Trojan and its consequences……………………4 4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………….5 5. Bibliography……………………………………………………………..6 Suspected pedophile cleared by computer forensics Introduction The article “Suspected pedophile cleared by computer forensics” by John Leyden is about the case of a suspected pedophile who is proved innocent with the aid of Vogan IT Forensic firm. The article suggests that ,Vogan firm assisted an accused named Julian Green , who is arrested for storing child pornography images on PC to go free . According to Montaldo ,(2013)“Almost all pedophiles have a collection of pornography, which they protect at all costs. Many of them also collect "souvenirs" from their victims. They rarely discard either their porn or collections for any reason”. At the Julianne Green's home enormous numbers of child porn images were found, which led to the accusation of being a pedophile. The images stored in his computer were a firsthand proof to the police to accuse him as a pedophile. The convicted Julian Green is saved by Vogon, due to latter’s professional approach and eye for detail. The hard disk of Greene acquired by Vogon is detected for virus infection to understand whether the pornographic images were downloaded and stored due to malware functioning. As per American Associated Press (2009) “Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography”. Green could have been unaware that the images stored on his PC could lead to his arrest. The Effort of Vogon in releasing Greene Greene is acquitted of pedophile act on the basis of evidence found on his PC which was 172 images of child pornography. The police arrested Green on the basis of the evidence they collected from his computer. The pictures were unknowingly harbored by the Trojan virus in the PC but Green is imprisoned for 10 years for this abusive act. The solicitor Chris has approached Vogon to confirm the reason behind the storage of child porn images, as they were suspicious that it could be the act of virus .The hard drive of Greene is cloned and processed to understand presence of Trojan which infected his pc with images. The computer specialist unraveled this malware in the hard drive of Green with utmost care and skill. The real culprit detected by the software specialist was the unsolicited e-mails opened by Green. The computer specialist Gibbs detected 12 Trojan programs on Green’s computer and this was a solid evidence for the solicitor to prove Green’s innocence. According to Kaspersky(2013)“A common scenario is that a person receives what looks like a perfectly legitimate e-mail or computer update, often from a trusted source. When the user tries to open the file, it seems that nothing happens. In fact, they may have installed a Trojan horse on their hard drive”. Only on the basis of this strong professional evidence, the court decided to drop this case. The credit for Green’s relief from acquitting solely goes to the Solicitor and Vogon Forensic laboratory. According to Forensic Control Limited (2013) “Computer forensics is the practice of collecting, analyzing and reporting on digital information in a way that is legally admissible. It can be used in the detection and prevention of crime and in any dispute where evidence is stored digitally” The pedophile cases on Trojan and its consequences The author explains that, a person named Karl Scofield escaped accusation of being a pedophile on the basis of Trojan infection. Apart from this, Aaron Caffrey , the teenage hacker who is accused of crippling Houston web -based system was also found not guilty on the basis of Trojan infection. The prosecutor claimed that, Trojan was not the reason for defenders crime and the counter - claim was that the Trojan could wipe itself out of the system after its goal. According to Leyden(2003) “Nobody is disputing the validity of these verdicts, however legal and security experts have expressed concerns that the Trojan defense might become subject to misuse”. Here the author is focusing on the escapade of pedophile culprits on the basis of Trojan virus programmer. It is advised that, Trojan virus is misused for the sake of saving heinous criminals and there are no loopholes to claim otherwise. As per Harley(2010)“ A few years ago the Trojan defense started to pop up in all sorts of cases, but it is currently particularly associated with child-related offences, at least in popular perception”. The author is stating that, technology has exceeded its limit and the pedophiles and hackers are on a run. As per Reisman(2008)“Global child advocates and law enforcement officers agree that civil societies face a frightening trend, i.e., that the international sex industry is expanding its reach far beyond child pornography and sex trafficking”. Conclusion The article is all about pedophile getting away from punishment blaming Trojan malware functioning. The author has put forward many cases to prove his claim, wherein the solicitor has claimed the culprits being the victim of Trojan virus. This decade being technologically advanced one, influence of internet is high on the society. With advent of internet, the privacy and crime statistics have increased incredibly, which cannot be blamed on any one authority in real sense. People have the freedom at home or any private place to intrude into the computers of others, and this has given ample choices to criminals and psychics to apply their tactics on innocent people. In the book Taylor (2005,pg.3) “ Until recently, was not seen as a particularly significant element in the array of activities related to sexual abuse”. The cases mentioned in the article that of Green, Scofield and Caffrey are potential internet crimes which were given less justification due to the fallacies of internet and it mysterious technical functioning. According to Jaishankar(2011,pg.14)“The internet has become an easy platform for online victimization”. Many cases which needed utmost attention and conviction is written off by court on the basis of Trojan virus .The article is a warning to law of United States to pay more heed on people with pornographic images on PC, as they can hide away from crime by throwing the blame on Trojan virus. Bibliography Forensic Control Limited.(2013). Introduction to computer Forensics. Available: http://forensiccontrol.com/resources/beginners-guide-computer-forensics/. Last accessed 9th Aug 2013. Jaishankar,K (2011). Cyber Criminology. Florida: Taylor & Francis Group. 14. Harley,D. (2010). SODDImy and the Trojan Defence. Available: http://go.eset.com/us/resour ces/white-papers/SODDImy-and-the-Trojan-Defence.pdf. Last accessed 9th Mar 2010. Kaspersky. (2013). What is a trojan virus? . Available: http://www.kaspersky.co.in/threats/ whatis- a-trojan-virus. Last accessed 9th Mar 2013. Leyden,J. 2003. Suspected paedophile cleared by computer forensics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/28/suspected_paedophile_cleared_by_computer/. [Accessed 19 March 13]. Montaldo,Charles. 2013. Profile of a Pedophile. [ONLINE] Available at: http://crime.about.com/ od/sex/p/pedophile.htm. [Accessed 09 March 13]. Reisman,J.A. (2008). GLOBAL SEX DEVIANCE ADVOCACY: THE TROJAN HORSE TO DESTROY THE FAMILY AND CIVIL SOCIETY.Available:http://legacy.avemarialaw.edu/ILJ/ass ets/articles/vol1_num2/Reisman.McAlister.Rondeau.pdf. Last accessed 9th Aug 2013. The American Associated Press. (2009). Viruses Frame PC Owners for Child Porn. Available:http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-5589403.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2010. Taylor,M (2005). Child Pornography an internet Crime. 2nd ed. London: Taylor & Francis. 3. Read More