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We would be looking to confiscate hardware, storage media, peripherals and documents from the suspected software pirates. Some precautions we would take include ensuring all confiscated evidence is properly logged and handed off to authorized personnel only. A full forensic investigation of any pirated software would need to be conducted to find evidence of copyright infringement by comparing the original and pirated source codes. When collecting digital evidence, principles of maintaining evidence authenticity like not modifying any data, having a competent expert handle evidence, creating an audit trail of processes, and having an overall responsible case officer would be followed.

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Prerna Singh
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132 views2 pages

Ques 4

We would be looking to confiscate hardware, storage media, peripherals and documents from the suspected software pirates. Some precautions we would take include ensuring all confiscated evidence is properly logged and handed off to authorized personnel only. A full forensic investigation of any pirated software would need to be conducted to find evidence of copyright infringement by comparing the original and pirated source codes. When collecting digital evidence, principles of maintaining evidence authenticity like not modifying any data, having a competent expert handle evidence, creating an audit trail of processes, and having an overall responsible case officer would be followed.

Uploaded by

Prerna Singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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You are accompanying a raid on a suspected software pirate.

What would
you be looking for? What precautions would you be taking? What evidence
collection considerations would you be considering?

Unauthorized downloading and using of software without proper license is a pirate


activity. Many people do not consider software piracy to be theft. Software is
copyright protected and it is an intellectual property of the creator. Using pirated
software would amount to stealing the property of another person. Copyright
violation is a criminal offence.

The person who downloads pirated software can be traced using the IP address.
With the help of an IP address his corresponding postal address can be identified.
Then forensic examination of his computers and data storage devices can reveal a
lot of evidence that leads to criminal offence. Conventional investigation methods
can also be used to identify the suspects and gather all relevant information.

Given the source codes from two different software systems, the technical expert
concentrates on digging out the pieces of potential evidence of
copyright infringement by evaluating the similarities and commonalities that form the
basis for validating or invalidating the alleged crime. The duty of the cyber forensic
expert is to establish possible piracy through a rigorous formulation of statistical
occurrences of the data structures, variables, database tables, fields, modules,
procedures, logic, remark, error and blunders in the allegedly pirated software and
arrive at several values, preferably in percentages, to indicate the strength
of piracy (Author, 2009, p.54), all of which require comparing the original and the
pirated source codes, database schemas and procedures.

We would assist in conducting antipiracy raids with regard to software applications or


its peripherals or any copyright violation or Trademark violation by:

• Confiscating Hardware

• Confiscating Storage Media

• Confiscating Peripherals

• Confiscating Documents

• Confiscating spurious materials

PRECAUTIONS:

1. An investigator must ensure that he knows at each step the person to whom
the confiscated evidence was handed over.
2. He must also make sure that such person has the proper authority to have the
evidence in his custody

3. A full-fledged forensic investigation of the pirated software has to be done


to establish piracy.
Evidence collection considerations
The collection and preservation of digital evidence differs in many ways from the
methods law enforcement officers are used to using for traditional types of evidence.
Digital evidence is intangible, a magnetic or electronic representation of information.
Its physical form does not readily reveal its nature. In addition, digital evidence is
fragile. It is very easy for a criminal to deliberately delete crucial evidence in an
instant or for an officer or technician to unintentionally damage or destroy it. There
are four overarching principles that investigators must follow when handling evidence
in order to maintain evidence authenticity:

Principle #1: No action taken by law enforcement agencies or their agents


should change data held on a computer or storage media which may
subsequently be relied upon in court.
Principle #2: In circumstances where a person finds it necessary to access
original data held on a computer or on storage media, that person must be
competent to do so and be able to give evidence explaining the relevance and
the implications of their actions.
Principle #3: An audit trail or other record of all processes applied to computer-
based electronic evidence should be created and preserved. An independent
third party should be able to examine those processes and achieve the same
result.
Principle #4: The person in charge of the investigation (the case officer) has
overall responsibility for ensuring that the law and these principles are adhered
to.

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