Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
advertisements,.and.more.that.are.now.stored.in.my.cache,.
but.that.I.never.knew.existed.
So,.why.is.that.important?
Well,.let's.consider.some.extreme.cases.where.it.might.be.
very.important.
What.if.a.site.you.went.to.contained.inappropriate.content.
of.some.type.(i.e.,.pictures,.racist.propaganda.speech,.etc.),.
but. the. site. was. designed. to. look. relatively. benign. on. the.
surface.and.only.reveal.those.items.if.you.clicked.on.the.right.
links,.or.dug.deeper.into.the.site..Or.what.if.those.items.were.
purposely.hidden.within.the.source.code.as.a.way.to.dissemi-
nate.them.discreetly,.or.as.a.way.to.compromise.you.or.your.
computer?.All.of.the.above.are.not.only.academic.ideas.but.
have.happened.in.real.life.
Then.consider.what.might.happen.if.you.were.suspected.
of. storing. such. inappropriate. data. on. your. computer.. An.
analysis.of.your.Internet.cache.iles.would.show.that.in.fact.
your. computer.
did
. contain. that. data.. Is. it. fair. or. safe. to.
assume. that. you. actually. viewed. that. data. or. even. knew. it.
existed.on.your.computer?.Well,.we.now.know.the.answer.is.
no,.but.there.are.many.folks.out.there.who.would.not.have.
any.idea.that.was.the.case.and.might.jump.to.the.conclusion.
that.if.it.is.on.your.computer.and.it.got.there.when.you.were.
using.your.Internet.browser,.you.had.to.have.put.it.there.
As.a.computer.forensics.expert,.this.is.one.of.the.most.
dificult.tasks.I.face.when.I.am.analyzing.someone's.Internet.
use.and.trying.to.establish.the.truth.regarding.their.activi-
ties.. How. do. you. show. what. actually. happens. during. an.
Internet.browsing.session.and.analyze.with.some.degree.of.
certainty. what. a. user. was. actually. doing. online?. How. do.
you.establish.which.items.that.are.now.stored.in.the.user's.
cache.ile.were.actually.viewed.or.purposely.stored.there.by.
the.user?
It. is. possible. to. do. so,. at. least. to. an. acceptable. degree.
of. certainty,. with. some. careful. and. detailed. analysis,. but. it.
is. not. in. any. way. apparent. at. irst. viewing.. And. of. course.
that. can. be. incredibly. important. when. you. are. responsible.
