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Ultimately the Geek Squad does not follow any forensics process & that's why using them or anyone else in the computer repair space is dubious when it comes to

Ultimately the Geek Squad does not follow any forensics process & that's why using them or anyone else in the computer repair space is dubious when it comes to collecting any evidence of a crime. They may be able to provide leads, but anything they uncover should not be usable in a court or alone be grounds for arrest.

shakna 10y ago
I absolutely agree with that. I worked in forensics until I lost all faith and humanity, and pivoted for sanity's sake. The least flaw in the forensic process, which was always discussed in-court by lawyers who I suspect could barely use Outlook always resulted in the evidence being turfed. That due process doesn't seem to be followed here, and if a search is to be used as evidence, it better damn well follow some decent practices!
- patcheudor 10y ago
  Honestly, even with the best computer forensics in the world I still have a hard time trusting anything found mostly because I find 0-days every week that the forensics community won't know about for years. It's pretty hard if not possible to say if something got a computer because of the user or because of the Internet.
  - shakna 10y ago
    To be honest, most forensic cases are slam dunks. If it's a CP case, then, generally speaking, it's 500GB+. Usually enough so that the user has repeatedly deleted old files because their hard drive was getting full. The files are rarely encrypted, and gathered over years from sources like FTP, SMTP and the like - and those logs are the main evidence. A user is unlikely to not notice that 50GB of data is appearing once a week, and unlikely to not notice that the person they are conversing with has also been given similar charges, because their email has them talking about it, and when it comes to court, you find out that they were regularly seen with the other person.
- angersock 10y ago
  > I lost all faith and humanity A little off-topic, but could you elaborate on that a bit?
  - shakna 10y ago
    76 cases in 2 years. I was 18 when I started. 73 were child pornography. 69 depicted rape. 65 also depicted some sort of effluence. 52 were depicting individuals I got to see in the court room. Whereas, when I pivoted to web design, the worst I could say about someone was that they were annoying or didn't document things. (For interest's sake, the other 3 cases were murder.)
    - Esau 10y ago
      I don't think I could do that work; even though I already have a low opinion of humanity. I'm glad you were able to find something you like better.
      - shakna 10y ago
        Still looking for something with that same problem solving appeal. I do a little embedded work now. But forensics, at least when you're working with the justice system, teaches you that people are capable of anything. The money was awesome, and gave me a great start, but now I value everything else more. Good workplace, time for my family and clients who don't make me feel like a saint. Less criminal forensics might be different.
        patcheudor 10y ago
        Security research is where it's at from a problem solving perspective. With your background in forensics and web design it shouldn't be much of a jump.
    - Inconel 10y ago
      Also off topic but if you don't mind sharing, how did you come to work in this field, particularly at such a young age? And were you working for the government/law enforcement or are there private firms doing this sort of work? And most importantly, was there some kind of support system in place to help you deal with the sort of things you were being exposed to?

shakna 10y ago

I absolutely agree with that. I worked in forensics until I lost all faith and humanity, and pivoted for sanity's sake. The least flaw in the forensic process, which was always discussed in-court by lawyers who I suspect could barely use Outlook always resulted in the evidence being turfed. That due process doesn't seem to be followed here, and if a search is to be used as evidence, it better damn well follow some decent practices!

patcheudor 10y ago
Honestly, even with the best computer forensics in the world I still have a hard time trusting anything found mostly because I find 0-days every week that the forensics community won't know about for years. It's pretty hard if not possible to say if something got a computer because of the user or because of the Internet.
- shakna 10y ago
  To be honest, most forensic cases are slam dunks. If it's a CP case, then, generally speaking, it's 500GB+. Usually enough so that the user has repeatedly deleted old files because their hard drive was getting full. The files are rarely encrypted, and gathered over years from sources like FTP, SMTP and the like - and those logs are the main evidence. A user is unlikely to not notice that 50GB of data is appearing once a week, and unlikely to not notice that the person they are conversing with has also been given similar charges, because their email has them talking about it, and when it comes to court, you find out that they were regularly seen with the other person.
angersock 10y ago
> I lost all faith and humanity A little off-topic, but could you elaborate on that a bit?
- shakna 10y ago
  76 cases in 2 years. I was 18 when I started. 73 were child pornography. 69 depicted rape. 65 also depicted some sort of effluence. 52 were depicting individuals I got to see in the court room. Whereas, when I pivoted to web design, the worst I could say about someone was that they were annoying or didn't document things. (For interest's sake, the other 3 cases were murder.)
  - Esau 10y ago
    I don't think I could do that work; even though I already have a low opinion of humanity. I'm glad you were able to find something you like better.
    - shakna 10y ago
      Still looking for something with that same problem solving appeal. I do a little embedded work now. But forensics, at least when you're working with the justice system, teaches you that people are capable of anything. The money was awesome, and gave me a great start, but now I value everything else more. Good workplace, time for my family and clients who don't make me feel like a saint. Less criminal forensics might be different.
      - patcheudor 10y ago
        Security research is where it's at from a problem solving perspective. With your background in forensics and web design it shouldn't be much of a jump.
  - Inconel 10y ago
    Also off topic but if you don't mind sharing, how did you come to work in this field, particularly at such a young age? And were you working for the government/law enforcement or are there private firms doing this sort of work? And most importantly, was there some kind of support system in place to help you deal with the sort of things you were being exposed to?