Social networking and cloud storage sites are full of useable information. They can establish who knew what about an incident or issue in question, and when they knew about it. They can help attorneys determine links between people and information, and they can go beyond a company's data archives to provide more context to a case. However, social networking sites also carry risks. It is easy for subjects under investigation to change or even remove their status updates, images and video, messages and other electronically stored information. The proliferation of cloud computing means that company data may have more custodians and be harder to preserve. In this white paper, learn more about ethical information gathering, preservation methodologies, and reporting on complex cases.

The collection, timely analysis and use of open source intelligence (OSINT) can be of immense value to an analyst. Open source information may be indistinguishable from classified information, but based on its source, may not be evaluated as trustworthy. OSINT is inherently challenging, in fact, because the very qualities that make it valuable to operations can reduce its credibility, too. In this white paper, learn how to improve quality, ease of use, and cost savings in OSINT collection.

“Dead” forensics – and even “live” forensics – only capture part of the story of a suspect's activities. Artifacts related to the Internet, social networking sites, online searches, and webmail uncover what the suspect did at just a specific point in time, while live forensics capture what's occurring in the computer's memory (but not on the suspect's online sites) while it is running. To get a full picture, online evidence is necessary. In fact, the documentation of internet-based evidence is the logical extension of digital forensic examinations.

Investigations, official use and officers' off-duty use are the three dimensions of law enforcement social networking. These free-for-download model policies guide law enforcement officers and their administrators in making agency-specific policies that benefit everyone: agency, officers and community.

Conducting investigations on the Internet is not without general computer security problems. Anyone going on the Internet should take basic precautions to prevent the problems associated with viruses, spyware and malware. This document is not intended to deal with undercover situations. Instead, it should prepare the basic investigator with the various tools needed to ensure successful online investigations by limiting the investigator's exposure to the dangers of the Internet.

Collecting evidence from computers, networks, cellular telephones and assorted digital storage devices has rapidly become a standard practice in law enforcement investigations commonly referred to as "digital forensics." The collection of digital evidence from the Internet, or Internet forensics, is a discipline of digital forensics that deals with the securing of data as evidence from the Internet. Investigating alleged criminal activity committed on the Internet has been conducted almost since the Internet's inception. The investigation and collection of online evidence has been an ongoing challenge for those tasked with that collection.