Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, 3rd Edition

Introduction

In 2004, when I wrote the previous edition of this book, I described technology as a window into our lives and the lives of criminals. In this metaphor was a separation between the virtual and physical world. Now this separation is gone. Technology is integrated inseparably into our lives, present and active wherever we are.

In a sense, cyberspace turns itself inside out when the technology is aware of our physical location in the world, providing location-dependent services to the user and conversely enabling digital investigators to determine where an individual of interest was during the time of a crime. In Spook Country, William Gibson describes various facets of this eversion of cyberspace.

The locative properties of modern ...