Microsoft really does provide technology for free.  Really.  In order to make the world and the internet a safer place to play, Microsoft is providing free COFEE jump drives to law enforcement officers around the world. 

“Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor”‘, or COFEE, as it is known in the law enforcement world of acronyms, is a set of software contained on a jump drive provided by Microsoft.  The software consists of 150 commands that speed up the digital digging that various law enforcement agencys perform on computers of suspects.  These little jump drives are capable of cracking encryption, ferreting out passwords, and collecting information on internet use as well as internal computer files and programs.  Scary! 

Microsoft began handing out these jump drives last June.  COFEE has allowed officers to gather information from computers without having to take them into the office.  This nifty software will gather forensic information from the computer at the original site.  The computer does not have to be unplugged nor must the internet be disconnected.  On the contrary, having everything up and running on the original connections may actually help the officers gather material.

This technology is helping not just in investigating cybercrime but real world crime as well.

 “So many of our crimes today, just as our lives, involve the Internet and other digital evidence,” said Lisa Johnson, who heads the Special Assault Unit in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.“

Under the U.S. Patriot Act, law enforcement can enter your house, dig through all of your belongings and papers and now, easily gather information from your computer. All this snooping is allowed without having to tell you or present a warrant.  Takes invasion of privacy to a whole new level and thanks to Microsoft, now more information can be gathered without disturbing a thing.

Although COFEE is currently only being provided to law enforcement, I can imagine that Microsoft could easily sell this new technology to attorneys to help with electronic discovery in  both criminal and civil cases.  Suspect your partners cheating on you?  Just take the inconspicuous little jump drive your attorney loans you and plug it into his/her computer.  S/He’ll never know you were there.

As with all things, COFEE is a two edged sword that can be used to make the world a much safer place or for justifiably heightening paranoia.  So far crime solving is winning out and may it stay that way.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 1:14 pm under Crime, Legal, Microsoft, Technology.

Read more entries by Susan Wilson.
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