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[Posted on Fri, July 7 2006]
Lab turns to cyberspace to solve crimesSource: The Philadelphia Inquirer web site
Posted on Fri, Jul. 07, 2006
By Kathleen Brady Shea
Inquirer Staff Writer
Go ahead and argue that you were nowhere near the bank that got robbed. Investigators have evidence that suggests otherwise.
Even if you deleted those Internet driving directions to the crime scene, forensic experts can find them - and a whole lot more.
"Computers are the crime scene of the new millennium," U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said yesterday, adding that evidence increasingly surfaces in the cyber world.
That technological shift has fueled the development of the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, a high-tech partnership between the FBI and state and local law-enforcement agencies. Yesterday, the nation's 11th facility - designed to serve the Philadelphia region - was unveiled in Radnor.
A maze of gleaming, whirring machinery and work stations housed in a suite at Radnor Financial Center, the operation promises to help law enforcers process, analyze and store digital data.
As technology becomes more sophisticated, criminals are utilizing it, said Delaware County District Attorney Michael Green. These days, it's not unusual for police to execute search warrants for Blackberries, zip drives, wireless remote drives and the like, he said.
And for police officers who might not yet know a thumb drive from a hard drive or an Xbox from an iPod, training classes are planned, said FBI special agent J.P. McDonald, the lab director.
Think you're home free if you damage the computer disk that contains your list of illicit drug connections? Guess again. One machine specializes in disk rejuvenation.
Another extends a robot-like arm, grabbing a single disk from a stack and inserting it into a copying mechanism, shortcutting a labor-intensive process.
Such gadgetry does not come cheap. The FBI estimates that it invests $26,000 in a single work station and updates the equipment every two years.
The SAN room - short for Storage Area Network - boasts $750,000 worth of equipment in a chilly space that's about 1,000 square feet. "Large units need extra air-conditioning," explains FBI agent D. Justin Price.
McDonald said free services will be available to all area law enforcement. The federal government is footing the bill, but the FBI is looking for manpower from the larger regional departments.
The price for a stake in the operation and priority on routine cases? A full-time employee.
So far, Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery Counties have signed up, as well as Lower Merion Township.
McDonald hopes that the number of partners will grow, and he acknowledged that surrendering a worker is not an easy sell.
"When they say, 'I can't afford to give up a body,' I tell them: 'You can't afford not to give up a body,' " he said, stressing that the loss of personnel is offset by the gain of a full-service lab with collective expertise.
Lower Merion Police Superintendent Joseph Daly said it has become clear that criminals are comfortable in cyberspace.
"This is the cutting edge," he said. "That's where we have to chase them."
Contact staff writer Kathleen Brady Shea at 610-701-7625 or kbrady@phillynews.com.
[Original Article on the Philadelphia Inquirer web site ]