Chapter 2 Terms

InfraGard

A U.S. association consisting of regional chapters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and affiliations of public, private, and academic organizations that cooperate to exchange information on the protection of critical national information resources.

Computer Security Act (CSA)

A U.S. law designed to improve security of federal information systems. It charged the National Bureau of Standards, now NIST, with the development of standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques for computer systems, among other responsibilities.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986

A collection of statutes that regulate the interception of wire, electronic, and oral communications. These statutes are frequently referred to as the "federal wiretappings acts".

Digital Malfeasance

A crime against or using digital media, computer technology, or related components.

Privacy Act of 1974

A federal law that regulates the government's collection, storage, use, and dissemination of individual personal information contained in records maintained by the federal government.

Resitution

A legal requirement to make compensation or payment resulting from a loss or injury.

Applied Ethics

An approach that applies moral codes to actions drawn from realistic situations; it seeks to degine how we might use ethics in practice.

Liability

An entity's legal obligation or responsibility.

Due Care

Measures that an organization takes to ensure every employee knows what is acceptable and what is not.

Search Warrant

Permission to search for evidentiary material at a specified location and / or to seize items to return to the investigator's lab for examination. An affidavit becomes a search warrant when signed by an approving authority.

Due Dilligence

Reasonable steps taken by people or organizations to meet the obligations imposed by laws or regulations.

Affidavit

Sworn testimony that certain facts are in the possession of the investigating officer and that they warrant the examination of specific items located at the specific place. The facts, the items, and the place must specified in the affidavit.

Long-Arm Jurisdiction

The ability of a legal entity to exercise its influence beyond its normal boundaries by asserting a connection between an out-of-jurisdiction entity and a local legal case.

Deterrence

The act of attempting to prevent an unwanted action of threatening punishment or retaliation on the instigator if the act takes place.

Ethics

The branch of philosophy that considers nature, criteria, sources, logic, and the validity or moral judgement.

Forensics

The coherent application of methodical investigatory techniques to collect, preserve, and present evidence of crimes in a court or court-like setting. Forensics allows investigators to determine what happened by examining the results of an event-criminal, natural, intentional, or accidental.

Computer Fraud and Abuse (CFA) Act

The cornerstone of many computer-related federal laws and enforcement efforts, the CFA formally criminalizes "accessing a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access" for systems containing information of national interest as determined by the US government.

E-Discovery

The identification and preservatin of evidentary material related to a specific legal action.

Evidentiary Material Policy (EM Policy)

The policy document that guides the development and implementation of EM procedures regarding the collection, handling, and storage of items of potential evidentiary value, as well as the organization and conduct of EM collection teams.

Jurisdiction

The power to make legal decisions and judgements, typically an area within which an entity such as a court or law enforcement agency is empowered to make legal decisions.

Descriptive Ethics

The study of the choices that have been made by individuals in the past that is, what do others think is right?

Meta-Ethics

The study of the meaning of ethical judgements and properties that is, what is right?

Deontological Ethics

The study of the rightness or wrongness of intentions and motives as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences; also known as duty-based or obligation-based ethics. This approach seeks to define a person's ethical duty.

Normative Ethics

The study of what makes actions right or wrong, also known as moral theory that is, how should people act?

Evidentiary Material (EM)

aka "items of potential evidentiary value" Any information that could potentially support an organization's legal or policy-based case against a suspect.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996

aka Kennedy-Kassebaum Act A law that attempts to protect the confidentiality and security of health care data by establishing and enforcing standards and by standardizing electronic data interchange.

Digital Forensics

investigations that involve the preservation, identification, extraction, documentation, & interpretation of computer media for evidentiary & root cause analysis.