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[Posted on Mon, February 23 2004]
Forensics computer lab to openSource: New Jersey Star Ledger
Written by Andrew Kitchenman
February 20, 2004
HAMILTON - Investigators across the state will have a new tool to pursue computer criminals through a new forensic computer lab announced yesterday by the FBI and state officials.
The FBI, the state police and the state Division of Criminal Justice will cooperate in the computer crime analysis center, which will be one of only two on the East Coast.
The lab is expected to be ready in August at a cost of $2.2 million, paid by the FBI.
State Attorney General Peter G. Harvey said the members of county prosecutors' offices will be trained as forensic examiners and work in the lab for two years before returning to their counties.
"This is a monumental step for New Jersey," he said.
Computer crime has risen in the past five years, Harvey said. Division of Criminal Justice statistics show a rise in the number of floppy disks searched from 87 in 2000 to 1,118 in 2003.
The state police high technology investigation and support unit investigated 232 crimes in 2002 and 2003, including 121 involving child endangerment, 11 homicides and six for prostitution.
Evidence of child pornography, financial fraud and terrorism can be found on computers, Harvey said.
"You can recover a lot of what criminals think they can erase from the computer," Harvey said.
The lab will aid law enforcement by providing computer analysis, technical support, training in seizing and examining evidence, timely reporting of examination results and expert courtroom testimony, according to Harvey.
Harvey said New Jersey is the only state that can coordinate statewide computer lab training with local officials because the attorney general supervises county prosecutors.
Louis Allen, the special agent in charge of the FBI Newark office, said the forensic computer lab will be "the most powerful tool in addressing 21st century crime."
Federal and state officials signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to participate in the federal Regional Forensic Computer Laboratory program. There are labs in San Diego; Chicago; Kansas City, Mo.; and Dallas. In addition to Hamilton, future labs are planned for Buffalo, N.Y.; San Francisco; Houston; Salt Lake City; and Portland, Ore.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr. said the decision to locate the lab in New Jersey is a tribute to the work by the state police and FBI in investigating computer crime in the state.
The examiners will be state troopers, FBI agents and Division of Criminal Justice investigators, as well as two or three from various prosecutors' offices. They will take computers seized through search warrants and search their hard drives at the lab.
After the announcement of the lab, an FBI agent showed how the forensic examiners will take parts from seized computers and analyze them using specially equipped computers.
Sixteen examiners have been selected, while the lab plans to bring in four more. The state police and Division of Criminal Justice personnel are being drawn from the existing computer crime units.
Each examiner will be trained in computer forensics at the FBI center in Quantico, Va.
[ Original Article on the NJ Star Ledger site ]