The project, carried out under the auspices of the European
Commission's Joint Research Centre, was completed on 30th September
and was designed to help identify, secure, integrate and present
electronic evidence on on-line criminal offences.
Tools were developed in the course of the project that advise
those investigating a computer incident of the procedures to be
followed, the legal requirements and the means of ensuring an audit
trial for each piece of evidence.
These tools, says the Commission, will enable anyone from system
administrators, information technology security staff and computer
incident investigators, to police and law-enforcement agencies to
follow consistent and standardised procedures when investigating
computer incidents using 'computer forensic tools'.
The methodology ensures all electronic evidence is legally and
properly gathered and preserved, acting as uncontaminated and
compelling proof that a crime or fraud has been committed to
company management, industrial tribunals, or civil or criminal
courts.
According to the Commission, the tools developed by the project
represent the first complete end-to-end methodology to guide
investigators through the difficult task of computer forensics.
European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin remarked: "This
innovative methodology, developed by the Commission, will not only
help combat cybercrime, it will also increase user confidence in
carrying out secure transactions in everyday life."
A web site is due to appear at www.ctose.org but was off-line at the
time of writing.
