IT pathologist dissects 'soft-centred' firms

03-04-2006

by Maxim Kelly

Deloitte has joined the fight against Irish cyber crime with the establishment of an IT forensic unit.

The unit is part of the professional services firm's Enterprise Risk Services division who help Irish companies combat corporate crime. In the past they have assisted the Gardai, the British Serious Fraud Office, and the FBI.

The three-man team is headed by Andrew Harbison, cousin of state pathologist John Harbison. He told ElectricNews.Net that Irish companies usually have good IT perimeter defences but are vulnerable from within. "Irish firms tend to be hard on the outside but chewy on the inside," he said in reference to internal vulnerabilities.

IT forensics is the science of recovering and analysing deleted, cached and hidden data from PCs, PDAs, servers and mobile phones.

Computers are now used in the majority of frauds and other offences affecting Irish businesses, according to Deloitte. It's not just specialised cyber criminals and hackers, but many white collar crimes are either planned on computers, or perpetrators use IT systems in an attempt to cover their tracks.

"Crimes such as financial fraud and theft of commercial data require the offenders to make use of IT systems, be it for simple operations or as part of highly complex transactions. Even when an organisation's IT assets are not used to commit the offence, in many cases evidence can still be found on its computer systems," said Deloitte Partner Gerry Fitzpatrick, in a statement.

Conor Flynn is technical director of security specialists Rits. He told ElectricNews.Net that IT security problem-prevention and investigation costs Irish businesses tens of millions each year.

High profile international cases such as Enron and Parmalat have shown the power of IT forensics to uncover evidence. In recent times, IT forensics has even paid a key role in solving murder cases, such as the Mary Whelan murder in Ireland where the culprit killed his wife and faked his own death off Howth Head. IT forensics specialists found Google searches for asphyxiation techniques on Colin Whelan's computer.

Deloitte's IT forensic team can assist organisations with evidential data recovery and analysis, post-incident lockdown of IT systems, detection of inappropriate computer use, and general IT security.

Harbison has successfully concluded over 150 investigations during the past four years. He is a veteran "white-hat" hacker and has conducted a large number of vulnerability assessments and penetration tests of the IT systems of major Irish and international companies.

The industry defines "white hats" as security specialists who hack IT systems and report vulnerabilities to clients as opposed to malicious "black hat hackers".