Sniffing out computer crime
Date: March 06, 2004Source: Pasadenastarnews.com
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From San Gabriel Valley police departments to the FBI, law enforcement agencies across the country are using sophisticated forensics software to track down white-collar criminals.
Designed by Pasadena-based Guidance Software Inc., one program, known as EnCase, has helped Guidance reach 90 percent of U.S. police departments that investigate computer-related crime. The firm doubled its annual revenues in 2003 to more than $20 million, and it plans to double revenues again this year, breaking the $40 million mark.
In a matter of minutes, EnCase can seize all information on a computer hard drive - even files that have been deleted - without physically altering any of the data, Guidance Chief Executive John Patzakis said. The data is then reconstructed in a way that prosecutors can use in court.
''It allows us to see more evidence that we may not have seen otherwise,'' said Pasadena Police detective Paul Carpenter . For the last 2 1/2 years, Carpenter has been assigned to the Southern California Regional High-tech Task Force, a group of more than 20 detectives from Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties that investigates computer-related crime. The task force was involved in 300 to 400 cases last year, ranging from online fraud to computer hacking.
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