To: TECHNOLOGY EDITORS
Contact: Chris Hollis of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, +1-425-638-7000, chollis@waggeneredstrom.com, or Rapid Response Team ofWaggener Edstrom Worldwide, +1-503-443-7070,rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, both for Microsoft
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at theDigital Crimes Consortium, Microsoft Corp. and the National WhiteCollar Crime Center (NW3C) -- the nation's premier provider ofeconomic and high-tech crime training to law enforcement agencies --announced an agreement establishing NW3C as the first U.S.-baseddistributor of the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor(COFEE). A Microsoft-developed program, COFEE uses digital forensictechnologies to help investigators gather evidence of live computeractivity at the scene of a crime, regardless of their technicalexpertise. This agreement will make COFEE available to lawenforcement agencies at no charge so they can better combat thegrowing and increasingly complex ways that criminals use theInternet to commit crimes. This distribution agreement broadensavailability for law enforcement agencies, building on Microsoft'sApril 2009 distribution agreement with INTERPOL, which is making theCOFEE tool available to law enforcement in each of its 187 membercountries.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"The COFEE distribution agreement will be of enormous benefit toU.S. law enforcement agencies dealing with technologicallysophisticated cybercriminals," said Donald J. Brackman, director ofNW3C. "NW3C is very pleased to partner with Microsoft in making thistool available and contributing to the fight against cybercrime."
A common challenge of cybercrime investigations is the need toconduct forensic analysis on a computer before it is powered downand restarted. Live evidence, such as some active system processesand network data, is volatile and may be lost while a computer isturning off. This evidence may contain information that could assistin the investigation and prosecution of a crime. With COFEE, a front-line officer doesn't have to be a computer expert to capture thisvolatile information before turning off the computer on the scenefor later analysis. An officer with minimal computer experience canbe tutored to use a pre-configured COFEE device in less than 10minutes. This enables him or her to take advantage of common digitalforensics tools the experts use to gather important volatileevidence while doing little more than simply inserting a USB deviceinto the computer.
The agreement with NW3C,a nonprofit membership organizationdedicated to supporting law enforcement agencies in the prevention,investigation and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime,is thelatest example of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to buildingpartnerships that help create a safer, more trusted Internetexperience for everyone, not just Microsoft customers. Theannouncement comes as law enforcement, industry, academic andgovernment cybercrime experts around the world meet in Redmond atthe Digital Crimes Consortium. This consortium will provide amechanism for information sharing, tools development and communitybuilding to help industry, government, academia and law enforcementagencies better address the complexity of the evolving threatlandscape.
"Criminals are working in a new digital age, and it is essentialthat law enforcement agencies have the latest tools and technologyto help them fight the cyberthreats facing the global community,"said Tim Cranton, associate general counsel of Worldwide InternetSafety Enforcement Programs at Microsoft. "Microsoft is proud to beworking with NW3C and INTERPOL to make COFEE more broadly availableto law enforcement agencies and to host the Digital CrimesConsortium bringing industry, government, academic and lawenforcement cybercrime experts from around the world together tobuild a long-term coordinated effort in the fight against digitalcrime. By working together, we can be most effective in making theInternet safer for everyone."
Working with INTERPOL, the Florida State University andUniversity College Dublin, NW3C will also continue the research anddevelopment that will ensure that COFEE serves the needs of lawenforcement agencies as technology evolves.
"Florida State University's E-Crime Investigative TechnologiesLaboratory has extensive expertise in software tools and systems tosupport law enforcement, and we were pleased to assist the NationalWhite Collar Crime Center in evaluating COFEE for its continued useand development," said computer science professor Sudhir Aggarwal,director of the ECIT Lab. "We look forward to future collaborationsin the effort to win the fight against cybercrime."
"COFEE is a very valuable tool in the arsenal of law enforcementagencies to fight cybercrime," said Professor Joe Carthy ofUniversity College Dublin's (UCD) Centre for Cyber CrimeInvestigations, which is partnering with Microsoft and INTERPOL todevelop training programs to enable law enforcement officers to useCOFEE. "It will help to establish a recognized internationalstandard in digital forensics and cybercrime investigations. It willalso assist law enforcement agencies to develop internal theexpertise which they require in dealing with cybercrimeinvestigations."
Law enforcement agencies can get COFEE from NW3C through a linkat http://www.nw3c.orgor by contacting INTERPOL atCOFEE@interpol.int.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leaderin software, services and solutions that help people and businessesrealize their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
No comments:
Post a Comment