Can computers survive cross-examination?

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Computers can never be trusted for evidence

An ordinary computer (setting aside high-security paranoid types like the NSA) can never be "trusted" to not have been compromised, especially in cases where the stakes are high.

If someone stands to profit by a case going a certain way, and the evidence is computer based, a savvy criminal will set the stage months in advance.

Think about it. In a murder case the murderer has the ultimate incentive to frame someone else. Pedophiles likewise have great incentive, or crooked corporate officers that steal millions through scams.

Also consider how easy it would be to frame an ordinary person that had angered a criminal hacker type. After all, every ZDNet reader knows how easy it is to compromise Joe Sixpack's computer, right? And then have the trojan quietly erase all evidence of its own existance...

No, for the forseeable future computer "evidence" is too easy to taint or manufacture out of the whole cloth.

Posted by: wolf_z   Posted on: 03/25/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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