Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
back.a.few.months.for.just.an.hour.or.so,.and.then.shifts.back.
to.normal.time..And.what.do.you.know—there.seem.to.be.
traces.of.a.familiar.looking.e-mail.that.was.created.during.that.
little.time.glitch.
Voila!.Mystery.solved..In.subsequent.testimony.it.is.discov-
ered.that.company.A's.IT.administrator,.under.direct.orders.
from.the.president.of.the.company,.set.the.clocks.back.long.
enough. for. the. fake. e-mail. to. be. generated,. then. corrected.
them.again.afterwards.
Thus.the.metadata.that.showed.the.time.and.date.on.the.
fake.e-mail.were.altered.to.make.it.seem.to.have.been.sent.
before.the.real.e-mail.
As. noted. above,. this. was. a. relatively. simple. thing. to. do.
because.this.was.electronic.evidence,.and.it.would.have.been.
dificult.to.igure.out.if.not.for.the.expertise.and.skills.of.the.
computer.forensics.expert.
Here.is.another.example..Years.after.a.nasty.divorce,.the.
ex-wife,.Jane,.was.having.trouble.getting.her.ex-husband.to.
pay.for.medical.expenses..She.maintained.that.he.agreed.to.
pay.all.medical.expenses.in.their.divorce.agreement,.but.he.
sent.her.a.paper.copy.of.what.he.claimed.was.the.section.of.
the.agreement.regarding.medical.expenses.that.said.he.only.
agreed.to.pay.half..That.was.not.what.she.remembered,.but.
she.could.not.ind.her.own.copies.
So,.Jane.contacted.her.attorney.but.his.ofice.said.he.had.
moved.his.practice.to.another.state.and.it.would.take.some.
time.to.locate.her.documentation..They.suggested.she.go.to.
the.county.where.it.was.recorded.and.ask.their.records.archi-
vist.for.copies.
Jane.went.to.the.county.archives.and.was.able.to.bring.up.
a.copy.on.their.microiche.as.the.original.documents.had.all.
been.on.paper,.so.were.preserved.in.that.medium..But.to.her.
surprise.she.found.that.the.copy.her.ex-husband.had.sent.her.
was.the.same.as.what.she.found.in.these.records.
She.was.bafled.by.this.discrepancy,.so.she.went.back.to.
her.old.attorney's.ofice.and.asked.them.to.keep.looking.for.
the. original. documents.. A. little. time. passed,. but. eventually.
