What Your Cell Phone Knows About You

A very interesting article from TIME on how a handful of forensic experts are developing new methods to access the inner secrets in cell phones.

"... A small group of international forensic code breakers is working to go beyond the obvious and familiar — the call logs and address books — and tap deeper into our phones, into a hidden gold mine of personal information. Their work is prompting kudos from crime busters while raising concern among civil libertarians.

Twenty years ago it would have taken a police agency months of shoe leather and paper hunting to assemble the kind of information that is available on a cell phone's internal memory and which can be extracted by a deep probe.

Says Chris Calabrese of the American Civil Liberties Union technology and liberty program: "They contain a great amount of information that essentially is a subjective picture of our habits, our friends, our interests and activities, and now some even have location tracking."

... Europe's single, standardized GSM network, as opposed to the multi networks — GSM, CDMA and iDEN found in the U.S. — gave European forensics investigators an edge as they began to develop ways of accessing a phone's internal memory.

Two of the leading cell phone forensics experts are British — West Yorkshire Detective Constables Steve Hirst and Steve Miller. Like their American colleagues — "tinkerers" as Mislan calls them — the two spend their evenings buying up old cell phones on eBay, deconstructing and decoding them, and then sharing their research online with colleagues around the world."

Read full article

IPhone Tantalizes, Frustrates Forensics Experts

Technophiles may love the iPhone, but you criminals? Watch out. The iPhone may reveal more about your misdeeds than you realize. Wired reports via we-make-money-not-art.com/del.icio.us.

"...Will its data favor the defense or the prosecution? "There is more information in there than your average cell phone," explains Derrick Donnelly, chief technology officer of Blackbag Technologies. "The ease of use lends itself to more use … and more use creates more artifacts."

But not every forensics expert is convinced. It's not easy for a forensics team to guarantee that the data extracted from an iPhone has not been tampered with. The result is that juries may find reasonable doubt in how that data was extracted.

The digital-forensics industry is dominated by PC experts, mirroring the larger percentage of PC users in the marketplace. Mac forensic analysis is considered a highly specialized service."

Read full article.

UK Police Data Stolen

A database containing mobile phone numbers and information about their use has been stolen from a company carrying out forensic investigations for police forces across the U.K. PC World reports.

"Forensic Telecommunications Services recovers and extracts data from mobile phones, PDAs and other communications equipment - even in bad shape - so it can be used by police in serious criminal investigations -- including murder and kidnap cases -- and in anti-terrorism work.

The company admitted that administrative data and case files -- including some from cases currently before the courts -- were held on the server stolen from its premises in Kent during a break-in. Other computer equipment was also stolen.

Data held on the stolen machine was made up of cases that have already passed through the judicial process and current cases. FTS has restored the data through its business continuity process and is now undertaking a full security review.

But Kent police are appealing to members of the public who may have information about the theft to call the Crimestoppers phoneline."

When the Trill of a Cellphone Brings the Clang of Prison Doors

The New York Times on cell phones used as evidence in court.

"Examining cellphone data is a technique that has moved from being a masterful surprise in trials to being a standard tool in the investigative arsenal of the police and prosecutors, with records routinely provided by cellphone companies in response to subpoenas.

Its use in prosecutions is often challenged, for privacy reasons and for technical reasons, especially when the data comes during the morning or evening rush, when circuits are crowded and calls can be redirected to other towers. But it is often allowed and is used by both prosecutors and defense attorneys to buttress their cases.

“It’s one of the most important developments in technology in the courtroom in the last five years,” said Mark J. Geragos, a Los Angeles defense lawyer.

Daniel Castleman, chief of investigations for the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, described tower data as “circumstantial but convincing.”

Defense lawyers have also begun using cellphone, or cell site, records to establish alibis".

Related: - Links to articles where cellphones are used as evidence in court

Warrants Needed to Search Mobile Phones

A recent court ruling in Israel has made it illegal for police to search mobile phones of suspects without a court warrant, reports Cellular News.

"The ruling by the Jerusalem District Court puts mobile phones on the same level as computers, which already need a warrant before being investigated by the police.

... The ruling was prompted by an incident where police searched through mobile phones belonging to suspects involved in a weapons smuggling operation. The police made a record of the text messages in the handset and submitted it as evidence. The defendants lawyers argued that this constituted an illegal search citing the similarity between modern mobile phones and computers."

The Trail of Text Messages that Trapped a Killer

A Senior detective has told The Cumberland News, how “cutting edge” forensic analysis helped trap a Carlisle man who murdered his girlfriend in their city flat.

Kieran Grieve strangled Miss Flanagan in a “jealous rage” after discovering that she had a secret lover.

He then went to extreme lengths to cover up his crime, even cutting Lisa's fingernails to remove any forensic evidence that may have linked him to the killing. Grieve then set about sending a series of bogus text messages from Miss Flanagan's mobile phone in an attempt to give the impression that she was still alive when he fled with Holly to Portsmouth.

Detectives turned to three specialist companies in an attempt to discover how what Grieve claimed had happened compared with what the mobile phone evidence revealed.

Using tracking techniques used in the Madrid bombing investigation, experts were able to show that Grieve lied about where Miss Flanagan was when messages were sent. The text messages he claimed she sent from the city centre were almost certainly sent from the couple's flat by Grieve himself."

Text messages incriminate Belgian cyclist in testing positive for drugs

Cycling magazine Rider News, reports that Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad has published text messages sent between former Quickstep cyclist Johan Museeuw and veterinarian José Landuyt, discussing the intake of medication/drugs.

"Landuyt is said to have provided the rider with Aranesp, a modern and stronger version of EPO.

Museeuw, who has already been suspended for four season, is set to appeal at a civil court. With the latest revelations, a positive outcome seems highly unlikely."

DNA and cell phone records prove link to rape and murder

A Lake Criminal Court judge found Ronnie D. Drane guilty Monday morning in the rape and murder of a Hammond woman, reports Northwest Indiana News.

"Drane, a Gary resident featured on "America's Most Wanted" as a fugitive killer, was convicted of killing 25-year-old Tamarra Taylor.

Deputy Prosecutor Tammy Sommers argued the 31-year-old Drane strangled the victim Memorial Day 2002. She said DNA evidence and cell phone records linked him to the woman, whose partially clad body was found in a park near 25th Avenue and Grant Street on Gary's west side.

SMS exposes teenager's gang-rape lie

A teenager sent a terrifying SMS to her parents telling them she had been abducted, gang-raped, and was being held against her will.

"With her help, Tobias and Botha led a team of policemen on a manhunt for the perpetrators. All police units in Worcester, Robertson and neighbouring towns were placed on the alert, searching for the men in the blue Corolla.

But the clue to Vuso's undoing was the SMS she sent to her parents. Information from a cellphone company led police to a house in Worcester where it emerged the girl had spent the week - by her own choice."

Jealous boyfriend lured rival via SMS

A jealous lover lured his rival to a hotel by sending him a text message on his former girlfriend's phone before beating him up, reports The Australian

"He pleaded guilty yesterday to assaulting the man who suffered bodily harm".

Spc. Ryan G. Anderson, facing a military trial

In yet another case where text messaging is being used as evidence in court, The Associated Press reports on a Washington National Guard soldier, Spc. Ryan G. Anderson, facing a court martial which begins today. Anderson was text-messaging a federal agent he believed was a member of al-Qaida.

Teacher sent lover 499 SMS messages

In another instance where SMS is brought up in a court case, a teacher bombarded a 15-year-old schoolboy lover with 499 text messages during their illicit affair, a court was told yesterday in Australia, according to the Townsville Bulletin.

South African "SMS murder"

"Van Aardt was strangled with Strauss's shoelace and then buried in a shallow grave near Julyan's house. The case has become known in South Africa as the "SMS murder" after Strauss sent text messages to his British-based former girlfriend about the murder. [ Daily News ]

Related articles on SMS used as evidence in court. Also camera phone pictures used as evidence in court.

Tale of Sex, Text and Murder, grips Sweden

A nanny, a clergyman, mobile phone messages from God and murder are the keys to a complicated crime which has captivated Sweden since the start of the year, reports Reuters.

"In a country known for cutting-edge mobile phone technology, SMS messages have emerged as vital evidence.

Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden's top broadsheet newspapers, said the Knutby case demonstrated how the latest technology could be used to foster religious fanaticism. God appearing by mobile phone is of course no stranger than him appearing in a burning bush," it said in an editorial".

Related article on this case: SMSes recovered from SIM in murder trial and for other reported incidents where text messages were used as evidence, check out this category in textually.org.

Wireless messages used as evidence in court

Jon Sarche for the Associated Press writes how more and more, text messages are being used as evidence in court cases.

Sarche points out that "the NBA star Kobe Bryant case appears to be the first high-profile U.S. criminal case in which cell phone text messages could be entered into the docket. But in Europe and Asia, where texting is hugely popular, some criminal cases have hinged on them".

Word to the wise:[...] In these days of corporate fraud and in these days of terrorism we're seeing more and more reason to store forever. Don't ever say anything on e-mail or text messaging that you don't want to come back and bite you."

I've opened a special category in Textually.org for anyone researching cases where SMS has been used as evidence in court. As a shortcut, here are links to articles posted so far:

-- In the US, Mobile phone held drug deal details

-- In the US, Kobe Bryant's Attorneys File Motion to Access SMS Data

-- In Sweden, SMSes recovered from SIM in murder trial

-- In Australia, SMS used in alibi and as evidence

-- In England SMS Murder Trial

-- In Australia Jury is handed SMS evidence in murder trial

-- In the UK, a Murder predicted in text message.

-- In Norway, a rapist's messages led to conviction.

-- In Italy, text messaging is now commonly used as evidence in divorce suits. cf Cell phones exposing more cheating spouses.

Mobile phone held drug deal details

Australia's Border Mail reports on yet another case where text messaging has been used as evidence in court. In this case, a Rutherglen man was arrested on drug trafficking charges. Most of the 400 SMS stored on his cell phone were related to drug deals.

Other reported incidents from around the world, where text messages has been used as evidence in court cases:

-- In the US, Kobe Bryant's Attorneys File Motion to Access SMS Data

-- In Sweden, SMSes recovered from SIM in murder trial

-- In Australia, SMS used in alibi and as evidence

-- In England SMS Murder Trial

-- In Australia Jury is handed SMS evidence in murder trial

-- In the UK, a Murder predicted in text message.

-- In Norway, a rapist's messages led to conviction.

-- In Italy, text messaging is now commonly used as evidence in divorce suits. cf Cell phones exposing more cheating spouses.