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Computer forensics expert joins metro-east investigative firm
Belleville News-Democrat, November 17, 2008
Shawn Patrick joined Tactical Investigations a few months ago as one of the first metro-east private investigative firms to offer computer forensic investigation services. He has 15 years of experience working in computer forensics with the Illinois State Police, where he worked on a variety of cases that included child pornography, e-mail threats, hacker intrusions, murder, arson, Internet crimes against children, white-collar crime, official misconduct, political corruption and Medicaid fraud. Patrick recently talked to business reporter Will Buss about his new position:
Q: Are your abilities unique to private investigating firms?
A: To our knowledge, we are unique in the area. If you go to a large city like Chicago or New York, there are bigger companies that offer computer evidence recovery. In central and southern Illinois, to the best of my knowledge, Tactical Investigations is the only private investigation firm offering computer forensics."
Q: What is computer forensics?
A: "Computer forensics is not really new. It started shortly after the introduction of PCs. In the '80s, some law-enforcement officers determined how to protect and retrieve evidence on computers. These people joined together to teach others. One of these groups was the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS). Police officers and investigators got together and developed best practices for looking at evidence in computers. As part of the Illinois State Police, I and others received training from IACIS. They provide training and test students to show that he or she knows how to adequately protect and recover computer evidence. ... If someone wants to retrieve evidence from computers, he needs a computer forensics specialist rather than a computer guru. Most information technology people don't have any idea what is required to safeguard evidence. When you turn on a computer, over 600 files may be changed. As we see in news coverage, evidence that appears tainted will be tossed out and cases lost. Computer forensics is the process of obtaining digital evidence without contaminating it."
Q: What do you mean by that?
A: "The computer forensics person needs to find and retrieve evidence without jeopardizing the original data on the computer media. The bottom line is to change as little as possible. Whatever the computer forensics person finds should be discoverable by another person with similar training."
Q: Does a computer produce evidence?
A: "Rarely does a computer have information that is evidentiary in itself, but computers contain information that may lead to people or sources who can provide evidence or become witnesses."
Q: When did you start at Tactical Investigations?
A: "We came together in June. They had a need, and I had a need. So we came together and have had a good working relationship since then."
Q: What is your background?
A: "I started with the Illinois State Police as a civilian employee in 1987 where I was assistant bureau chief of Information Services, the information technology arm of the Illinois State Police. While I was there, I was occasionally asked about investigations involving computers. I was able to help the FBI with some investigations. In 1995, one of the deputy directors called me about a case that involved computers and asked if they could borrow me for awhile. And I said, certainly."
Q: What case was that?
A: "MSI. (Management Systems Inc.) The next two and a half years of my life went to that case. I helped with that investigation and became part of the Division of Internal Investigation. Later state police determined they needed a computer evidence recovery and investigations unit and I became part of that unit."
Q: What was MSI?
A: "The basic allegation was that the governor's largest campaign contributor was accused of wrongdoing. Some people were convicted and others were exonerated."
Q: What happened after that?
A: "I became part of the Division of Internal Investigation. From there, I joined the State Police Academy and continued assisting with investigations and training police officers. After that, I went to the Division of Operations and helped start a unit to perform computer evidence recovery. We were able to start the unit around '98 or '99. We got several people trained and started assisting in statewide investigations. We were fairly successful and got a grant for investigating Internet crimes against children. That was a great boon for us. We had good people and they did good work."
Q: How can one be trained in computer forensics?
A: "I want to emphasize that it's not rocket science, but you do need to be trained properly to do it right. With adequate training, you can learn how to find evidence and recover it properly. You need to get training from the right people. There are limited training facilities available, but the federal government has several good training programs for this purpose."
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: "The idea you can accomplish something, that you can do some good to make victims feel vindicated, and sometimes you can prove people innocent of wrongdoing. Sometimes it feels right to help prove someone at fault. It depends on the situation. There are times you feel good, and times you don't. Whichever way it goes the objective is to get accurate information in a search for the truth. I see the benefit of helping clients receive appropriate justice for whatever wrong they may have received."
Contact reporter Will Buss at: wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526.
2007 Belleville News-Democrat and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.belleville.com
Investigative firm adds computer forensics
By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern
Saturday, November 15, 2008 4:09 PM CST
CARBONDALE
- Tactical Investigations, a private investigations firm, added computer forensic investigation to its palette by hiring Shawn Patrick.
Patrick, a retired Illinois State Police computer investigator, will bring "many years of experience solving complicated IT and computer cases for the Illinois State Police," Tom Denton, chief of detectives at Tactical Investigations, said in a news release.
Denton said with computers being such a prominent part of everyday life, it was essential to add someone like Patrick to their team and to get someone with his qualifications was a major bonus. "We feel very blessed," Denton said. "It worked out very nice for us."
Of the 15 years Patrick worked with the ISP, seven were spent as a computer forensics investigator. He worked on cases including child pornography, e-mail threats, murder and white-collar crimes. He has also received commendations from the ISP, FBI, U.S. State's Attorney and U.S. Customs for working on cases of child pornography, political corruption and official misconduct and fraud.
Denton, a former police chief, started the company in 2004 and purchased Heartland Investigations in 2007. Patrick said he is looking forward to working for Tactical Investigations and hopes his experience can bring a much needed element to their investigations.
"I'm very excited to be with Tactical Investigations," Patrick said. "I look forward to adding greater depth with computer evidence recovery." Patrick said the job is very important because just by turning on a computer, thousands of files could be changed.
"The essential thing is it is important to retain integrity of evidence," Patrick said.
Email:codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com
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