Also Infamously Known As The BTK Killer †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: How Was Encase Linked With The BTK Case? Why Encase Was Preferred Over Other Tools? Answers: Introducation The process of systematically compiling, evaluating and recording data for detecting crimes and possibly averting them using state of the art software tools is called Computer forensics (Yasinsac et al., 2003). Law enforcement may resort to Computer Forensics in cases where digitally stored data are pivotal in the outcome of a case. Technological management advancements has helped in designing and developing tools that could be used to analyse the activities of a computer user and probe much deeper into it (Nelson et al., 2014). Digital crimes are increasing day by day, and so are their consequences which become dreadful and exorbitant in terms of the costs involved (Meyers and Rogers, 2004). Digital information in the form of emails, secondary storage devices, digital images, browsing activities or anything that is even remotely connected with computers could be termed as digital evidence. One of the major advantages of using Computer forensic tools is that it can be used to recover the information that has been deleted from a device (Yussof et al., 2011). Most users may be unaware of the fact that a deleted file, however old it may be, could be recovered. Experts can also probe deep into network connections and collect private data from the internet. Computer forensics has changed the way that crimes were being investigated few years ago when these tools where not in use (Britz 2009). The victims and the crime Four of the members of the Otero family were present at the time when Rader broke in to their property on a cold morning in 1974. He did an investigation of the family members and pulled out a gun to bind the husband and wife with the cords he had in his briefcase. Then he strangles both of them and waits coldly as they are asphyxiated to their death. He takes the son to the bedroom and covers his head with a hood, suffocating him. Finally, he moves on to the daughter of the family, Josephine. He takes her down to the basement, and hangs her from a pipe to see her slowly succumb to death (Gray 2010). Raders next victims were Kevin and Kathryn Bright who were siblings. Four months after the initial attacks, Rader breaks into the Brights home wearing a ski mask. He gags the brother and shoots him in the head twice. He ties up Kathryn and strangles her. As she struggles to break free, Rader stabs her in the stomach repeatedly, to see her to bleed and die. Rader continued his killing spree with Shirley Vian, a young mother of three. He enters the house in the pretence of having a talk with the kids and pulls out his gun once he is inside. He takes the kids to the bathroom and binds the mothers hands. He strangles the victim to her death. Though he planned to kill the kids he leaves hastily as the telephone Auditing. Next of Raders victim was Nancy Fox, a 25 year old jewellery store worker. She had been on his surveillance for over four months. He lies to her that he has a sexual dysfunction, and needs to bind and gag her for achieving gratification. She complies, but to her horror, Rader continues to strangle her with a nylon stocking. After a brief struggle, she drops dead to the floor. After a hiatus for around six years, Rader gives way again for his dangerous obsession to take over when he decides to kill his neighbour, Marine Hedge in 1985. He breaks into her house and strangles her. He carries her body to the church, takes photographs of the body in different poses and drops off the body on a dirt road. For his next victim, Vicki Wagerle, Rader donned the uniform a telephone repair man, and asked her to let him inside her house. Once inside, he pulls out his pistol and attempts to bind her. As she struggles, he ties her up with shoelaces and uses a stocking to gag her to death. His final victim was Dolores Davis, a 63 year old woman. He breaks into her house and tells her that he is a fugitive dodging the law. He continues to tie her down and suffocates her by gagging. This was the last reported murder of the BTK killer after which he became reclusive, till his reappearance in 2004. Rader later revealed that he derived sexual gratification from his murders and enjoyed seeing the struggle of his victims as they laboured hard for their last breath (LaBrode 2007). The evidences that were collected in this case were mainly a blind cord, a postcard addressed to the media, a couple of dolls simulating his murders and the disk from which his details were traced. Not only did the victims lose their lives, but Raders actions scarred the life of the survivors. Bill Wegerle, who remained the prime suspect for the murder of his wife Vicki before Radar was being caught, were one of the many people whose life was affected by the crimes Radar committed. Rader was trialled by the Kansas court and pleaded guilty for the murders he committed (Beaver and Kevin 2010). He was handed a minimum sentence of 175 years, without a chance for parole by Judge Gregory Waller. EnCase nabs Rader After contacting Landwehr, the officer in charge of the case, Rader sends a floppy disk with taunting messages and details about the murders. This disk was used by Computer Forensic Professionals, who used EnCase, a tool to retrieve information from a deleted file. It detected a user Dennis had made changes to the file. EnCase had given a solution to Raders identity by giving metadata about a file in the floppy disk. In this case, the tool helped in finding out information about a deleted file in the disk. On further investigation, the Police found out that Dennis was the congregation president of the Christ Lutheran church. In short, Encase is a tool for Computer Forensics investigation analysis. This Tool has various features like Evidencecollection, Deleted File Browsing Recovery, Live forensics, and Advanced Forensic Analysis EnCase and other forensic tools copy the data from a disk to an image file (Bunting and Wei 2006). Acquisition is the process of copying or accounting the data to the investigators hard disk. The process of data acquiring is called imaging. It copies every bit of information into the destination file. A sector by sector mirroring of the data is done which is termed as cloning. In certain cases, such as in image acquiring, EnCase helps in copying the image to a proprietary file. In this, a sector by sector copying is not done, but many sectors may be compressed into one. EnCase ensures validation of data by ensuring the integrity of the data that is being copied (Garfinkel 2010). As mentioned earlier, EnCase copies the data into an image file. Verification is done by comparing the image file with the original file that is being copied. The verification process in EnCase is done by generating a set of hash values that ensures the data is being verified correctly. Another important point in EnCase verification is that the tool does not verify with the original file but the image file that has been copied by the tool initially. Encase can retrieve most data in a file in its very original form. The recovery is made from a EWF file, which can be an image of a hard disk file or any other file (Ayers 2009). Using a keyword search, EnCase retrieves the file that has been removed. There are mainly two different kinds of searches in EnCase. They are raw keyword search which is done on allocated files or a physical search which is done on unallocated space in the disk (Garber 2001). A logical search examines the file without considering how the data is being stored while a physical search is done based on the memory location. Reporting, which is the last stage ensures the results are easily decipherable by the audience (Meyers and Rogers 2004). EnCase includes features such as a variety of reporting templates, formatting tools that can alter the layout of the reports and features to add notes and tags (Basset et al 2006). The reports in EnCase consists of bookmark folders, report templates and case information items all intended to present the report in an organized manner (Huebner et al 2007). During 2004, Randy Stone who was an ex Police Officer had a man asking him several questions about email security. The man turned out to be Rader himself. He wanted to know if a floppy disk was sent to the Police, could there be chances of his original identity be traced back. After months of contemplation, Rader finally sends the Police a floppy disk with his taunts, messages and details about the murders he had committed. The Police used the EnCase tool to retrieve a file called Test A.rtf, which turns out to be the crucial point in the 30 year old case. EnCase is a Forensic tool by Guidance Software, considered to be the golden standard in forensic cases. EnCase was used by almost all of the law enforcement teams during the time due to its reputation of being accurate and widely accepted as a valid evidence. EnCase identifies the username of the Computer which was used to create the text file and revealed a name called Dennis. It also revealed the name Wichitas Christ Lutheran Chu rch. An internet search by both the terms finally reveals the true identity of Dennis Rader who was the congregation president for the church. A DNA analysis finally confirms that Rader was the BTK killer himself. Thus the efficiency of a software tool like EnCase coupled with the perseverance of the Police finally helped in cracking one of the most horrific case of an elusive serial murderer. Since the primary evidence in the case was the floppy disk, it had to be made sure that a Forensic tool that was a standard and accepted by the legal fraternity had to be used (Chu 2005). If a non standard tool was used, there were risks of the evidence not being accepted. EnCase also had many distinct advantages over other contemporary forensic tools. Its ease of use, standardized forms of reports, acceptance as an authentic tool all were a few reasons why it was preferred for the BTK investigation (Gibson 2006).Compared to other contemporary Computer Forensic tools, EnCase had several distinct advantages. It has a comprehensive search customization capacity according to a wide range of requirements. EnCase also provides recovery tools based on DOS and LINUX. There is an active user group called the EnCase peer and experts which give solutions to different challenges that are faced by the users in the industry. The support comes along with the purchase of the EnCase tool. It was contradictory that an advanced technological tool like EnCase helped in capturing the person behind the killing spree of the BTK killer. References Ayers, D., 2009. A second generation computer forensic analysis system.digital investigation,6, pp.S34-S42. Bassett, R., Bass, L. and O'Brien, P., 2006. Computer forensics: An essential ingredient for cyber security.Journal of Information Science Technology,3(1). Beaver, K.M., 2010. The promises and pitfalls of forensic evidence in unsolved crimes.Criminology Public Policy, 9(2), pp. 405-410. Britz, M.T., 2009.Computer finance and Cyber Crime: An Introduction, 2/E. Pearson Education India. 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