Archive for the 'How to Become a Professional Private Investigator' Category

Securing Firefox – Configuration Settings

Published on January 23, 2012 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Power User Tips, Privacy, Private Investigator, Search Leakage, Security, The Investigator's Computer, Training & Education and Web Worker. 0 Comments Tags: , .

This is about stopping the dreaded disease, Data Diarrhea. The websites you visit can leave behind a trail of data on your computer and in their server logs. All of this Data Diarrhea can identify the Investigator and this can complicate the problem he is trying to solve. Lax privacy & configuration settings may also leave the Investigator’s computer vulnerable to attack by hackers.

This article describes more advanced methods of customizing Mozilla applications, by editing the configuration files.

about:config entries

about:config is a feature of Mozilla applications which lists application settings (known as preferences) that are read from the profile files prefs.js and user.js, and from application defaults. Many of these preferences are not present in the Options or Preferences dialog. Using about:config is one of several methods of modifying preferences and adding other “hidden” ones.

Editing the user.js and prefs.js files are an alternative method of modifying preferences and recommended for very advanced users only. Unless you need a prefs.js and/or user.js file modified for a specific purpose, you should use about:config instead.

This article refers to the Firefox V. 9 edition of the browser. These entries may have adverse effects on Thunderbird and Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey and older versions of Firefox. These settings will affect all profiles of the browser.

In Firefox, type about:config in the Location Bar (address bar) and press Enter to display the list of preferences. You may get a warning page next, just click OK and move on.

about:config > browser.display.use_document_fonts > change value to 0

0: Never use document’s fonts
1: Allow documents to specify fonts to use
2: Always use document’s fonts (deprecated)

Don’t let the site access to the fonts on your computer. That grants too much access that can be abused.

about:config > browser.sessionhistory.max_entries > change value to 2

The maximum number of pages in the browser’s session history, i.e. the maximum number of URLs you can traverse purely through the Back/Forward buttons. Default value is 50.  Set it to 2 so that the site you visit can’t see where you have been during your Investigative Internet Research (IIR) assignment.

about:config > dom.storage.enabled > double click to false

dom.storage.enabled is a mechanism allowing web pages to store information with a web browser (similar to cookies) called “client-side session and persistent storage.” Although use of session storage is subject to a user’s cookie preferences, this preference allows it to be disabled entirely.

about:config > geo.enabled > double click to false

True is location aware browsing enabled. Default is true. You want to disable this. See http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/ for details of geolocation in Firefox.

 

Securing Firefox – General Privacy Settings

Published on January 20, 2012 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator, Search Leakage, Security, The Investigator's Computer, Training & Education and Web Worker. 2 Comments Tags: , .

General Firefox Privacy Settings

The basic privacy settings in general settings, are found in the options bar in Firefox 9.0 (Firefox > Options > Options) or for iOS, Preferences.

  1. Content: Enable block popup windows and disable Javascript when it isn’t needed.
  2. Privacy: Enable the DNT (Do-Not-Track). For History, use custom settings. “Always use private browsing mode” should be enabled. “Remember my browsing history”, “Remember download history” and “Remember search and form history” should be turned off. “Accept cookies from sites”, but un-check “Accept third party cookies” as they aren’t needed often. Location bar: select “Suggest nothing”.
  3. Security: Enable “Warn me when sites try to install add-ons”, “Block reported attack sites” and “Block reported web forgeries”. Under Passwords, disable “Remember passwords for sites” and use a master password.
  4. Advanced – General – System Defaults: Disable “Submit crash reports and performance data”.
  5. Advanced – Network – Offline Storage: Check “Override automatic cache management and limit cache to 0MB space”. Further—you can un-check “Tell me when a website asks to store data for offline storage use”.
  6. Advanced – Encryption: Ensure both “Use SSL 3.0 and Use TLS 1.0″ are enabled. Then click validation > check “When an OCSP server connection fails, treat the certificate as invalid”.

 

 

The Cost of Investigative Internet Research

Published on January 16, 2012 in Courts, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Power User Tips, Private Investigator, Report Writing, The Investigator's Computer and Training & Education. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Why does it cost so much just to look on the Internet?”

I get this question a lot, and too often from “professionals” who should know better. I will list a few of the reasons here.

To begin with, I never know how the research results will be used in the future. That means that the results must be properly documented so that it would be reproducible if someone else with similar skill did the searches at the same time as I did.

If at some future date what I find becomes important evidence, then how it was found, where it was found, when it was found, and what it actually looked like becomes very important. My report and the supporting material may be the only proof of the existence of the material being entered into evidence.

The computers must be free of malicious code (S. 31 Canada Evidence Act). We often set aside a computer for this purpose after doing some Spring-Cleaning.

The logic of the research process must be clear and easy to explain to anyone. This logic must be explained in the report. Search statements must be recorded. The project directory and file naming and structures must be logical and properly documented. The evidence must have a clear and documented chain of custody.

Providing this evidence requires skill, training, experience, software, computers, office space, support staff, and time.  Finally, did you know it takes at least twice as long to do the report as it does to do the research?

 

Image Searches for the Investigator

Published on November 9, 2011 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator, Search Engines and Search Strategies. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Google’s Search by Image features all the functionality of Tineye and more from the Investigator’s perspective.

An Investigator whats to know where an image comes from and how it may be associated with the web page he is currently scrutinising.  The Firefox Extension, Search by Image for Google 1.0.3, allows one to right click on an image to quickly find out the source of an image, how it is used, or find higher resolution versions via Google Reverse Image search.  (This works in Firfox V.7 but may not V.8)

Search by Image usually returns more instances of an image than Tineye, which is understandable give the number of images indexed by Google compared to Tineye.

If you use Yahoo for images searches, you’ll get results from http://www.flickr.com/, which generally has the high quality photos. Yahoo owns flickr, but Google will usually finds flickr images.

The astute Investigator will use both Tineye and Search by Image, along with other tools and search facilities.
 

The Expert Searcher & the Private Investigator

Published on November 7, 2011 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator, Search Engines and Search Strategies. 0 Comments

I have written about the dangers of the Dunning-Kruger Effect and how this may inhibit best practices while using search engines.  Not using the best practices when conducting Internet research may lead to Tort for Negligent Investigations.  Skill and knowledge will overcome both of these pitfalls.

Developing the necessary skills and knowledge isn’t ‘rocket science’.  It is ‘time in grade’.  You must simply do it, study how to do it, and network with people who do it.  Unfortunately, this process takes years of effort. I have been doing this type of research for nearly 20 years and I am still learning.

The Search Engine Problem

Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines are owned by businesses.  The search engine is a cost to those businesses.  The search engine is what brings customers through the door.  Once the customer is through the door, the search engine business sells something like advertising and other services.  Understanding this is the first step to understanding that the search engine may not properly index what you want, or censor the material you seek.  For example, the so-called ‘Googlegate’, where Google censored pages with data on the ‘climategate scandal’.

Another example is that Google AdSense stopped serving ads to this blog because there are words in the blog to which they object.  It is a small step to intentionally not indexing something they don’t like or censoring something that represents a threat to corporate profits.

As an Investigator, there is no point to becoming upset with such problems.  Problems are there to be solved.

The Solution

If you are your own Expert Searcher, then you must recognise where the difficulties lie. This will mean developing search statements that yield the best results through trial and error. This will mean running many different search statements, for each topic searched, in many search engines.  In turn, this will create a problem in documenting the searches and collecting the results for later use.  The Expert Searcher will overcome these difficulties.

Over time, the Expert Searcher will develop a methodology for searching and documenting the process.  The Expert will develop a set of sources on the Internet and elsewhere to fulfill most of his or her needs.  From this will evolve a means of reporting that accurately states the sources and methods without the clutter of the large amount of data collected.

The Expert & The PI

You may not be the Expert Searcher, which is fine if know this to be the case.  You are a potential problem, if you think you are an Expert Searcher and you are not one.

If you use an Expert Searcher, and you should, you need to apply your skills to give him a solid starting point, especially when developing an Internet Profile.  The Expert Searcher requires the following:

1.   Name & Nicknames
2.   D0B
3.   Address(es)
4.   Telephone
5.   Fax
6.   Email address(es)
7.   Known internet handles
8.   Known hobbies
9.   Known employment
10. Known business & personal affiliations

I typically run the searches through specialised software for social networking and search engine sites, followed by some in-depth search engine queries, and then, I combine that with some whois searches and archived website reports.  This develops a fairly robust Internet profile.  Finally, I combine the Internet profile with authoritative public records and content from a variety of database aggregators.

What You Get

Your Search Expert will:

1.  Report Sources & Methods
2.  Properly cite sources
3.  Properly evaluate the source data based upon 13 criteria.
4.  Use a proven search methodology
5.  Properly document the search statements and search methodology
6.  Select the best sources.

 

Temporary Email Addresses

Published on November 2, 2011 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Privacy, Private Investigator and Security. 0 Comments

An email address is often required to download or activate any registration page.  Unfortunately, that email address often becomes the target of spam. Perhaps you don’t want anybody to know you have registered for use of that site.  A solution to these problems is a temporary email address.

Mailinator

Mailinator requires no sign-up. Send email to a name, and the account is created automatically. You cannot send mail from this. Visit mailinator.com and type in the email name where it says “Check your inbox!”, then click “Go!”, and Mailinator will display the list of email waiting. there is no password.  The mailbox will only hold 10 messages at once. All attachments – pictures, binary files, etc. – are stripped out. The mailbox doesn’t disappear on any set schedule.

Use this for items that don’t require a high level of security.  Create your Mailinator address using an email account only accessed via Tor and only for signing-up to things like Mailinator.

10 Minute Mail

Go to 10 Minute Mail and copy the e-mail address to your clipboard and use it for registration.  Your e-mail address will expire in 10 minutes.

Division of Powers — Property Rights

Published on July 20, 2011 in Canada, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Legislation and Private Investigator. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The provinces have been granted power over “property and civil rights in the province” in Section 92(13) of  The Constitution Act, 1867.

This division of power forced the Trudeau government to remove the right to private property from the Charter of Rights when the provinces protested its inclusion. The provinces saw this as limiting their ability to tax, expropriate, and exercise control over property ownership. Neither the federal nor provincial governments are under any constitutional obligation to pay fair (or any) compensation for expropriated property. The Constitution Act 1867 and the Charter of Rights do not address this issue. Legislatures are also free to legislate away your ability to use any property for any purpose. Ontario and Quebec will probably try this route to control firearms ownership once the Long Arm Registry is eliminated by the federal government.

This is starting to backfire. Landowner associations and grass-roots movements are starting to form in Ontario and Alberta.  These groups and movements to include property rights into the Charter of Rights will become a prominent feature of the political landscape in years to come.

The New Neighbourhood

Published on June 2, 2011 in Company Research, Due Diligence, Ethics, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Sites, Sources and Training & Education. 0 Comments

In the past, most investigations included ‘neighbourhood inquires’ where neighbours were questioned regarding the subject’s activities and lifestyle.

We still do neighbourhood inquiries, but over the last three decades this has produced less and less information of value, to the point that we now consider this an extraordinarily expensive investigative process.

Neighbours rarely share derogatory information or observations about the subject, and fewer still, even know the subject as most urban neighbourhoods are too transient and social contact is minimal.

Today’s neighbourhood isn’t tied to geography, but rather by Internet connectivity. The advent of virtual media has created virtual neighbourhoods that the Investigator must be adept at navigating and interrogating.

This new neighbourhood may reveal inappropriate pictures, drug and alcohol abuse, bad-mouthing of employers, co-workers, clients, and organisations. It may reveal poor communication skills and much worse – much of which is found exclusively online.

Unfortunately, inexpert interrogation and navigation of this neighbourhood has caused issues.

The ubiquity of Internet search engines and a lack of training and guidelines may put the Investigator in contravention of some laws if the resulting information creates a record of personally identifying information that is subsequently mishandled. Possession of Internet search results may impose either declared or implied responsibilities regarding the handling of the data in some jurisdictions.

A casual and undisciplined approach to Internet and social media searching raises questions regarding the competence, handling, fairness, storage, and analysis of the data. The role of the Investigator doing the searching should be clear from the outset. The sources and methods employed should also be clear throughout the search process and its reporting.

Virtual Identities

The subjects of an investigation do not line-up to tell the Investigator all his or her screen names and their related email addresses.

The Investigator must find the screen names and related email addresses from what he already knows at the beginning of the Investigation to build an online profile of the subject.

The Investigator must also recognise that screen names are often used by more than one person or a screen name may be used maliciously.

As the old New Yorker cartoon said, “On the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog”.

Navigation & Interrogation

The unstructured nature of data available on the Internet, and its density, creates problems for the searcher.

Google may say it found three million hits, but it will only show one thousand. The results will change depending on which version of Google searched and whence it is searched.

When searching for information about a person or company, the Investigator shouldn’t get bogged-down by search engine hits, but rather go straight to databases that have the right category of data for his purposes. This may mean searching sources not indexed by the search engines.

Google isn’t a substitute for knowledge and experience.

Ontario Private Investigator Test Preparation Guide

Published on March 31, 2011 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator and Training & Education. 0 Comments

The Ontario Private Investigator Test Preparation Guide is now available on the Ministry site. The Evince Blog has further details.

Toronto Sun Surprised by Private Investigator

Published on January 22, 2011 in Canada, Courts, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, News, News Media, Private Investigator and Social Sites. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Private Investigators, Adjusters, and insurance companies get a lot of bad press due to bias, ignorance, and a desire to sensationalize the news.

In today’s Toronto Sun an article titled, How Facebook can screw you by Alan SHANOFF, the author states,

I wouldn’t be surprised to see insurance company adjusters and investigators trying to become a claimant’s “friend” to obtain inner circle access. Instead of a private investigator hiding in a van on your street or behind a bush, he might very well be tracking your movements in cyberspace.”

It’s obvious that SHANOFF would be surprised to learn that Private Investigators and Adjusters in Canada wouldn’t do this to a represented claimant.  I have written on this subject twice, and all the PI’s and Adjusters I have spoken to about this know that they may not “friend” the subject of an investigation if he or she is represented.  Simple fact checking would have corrected this.

Division of Powers — Name Changes

Published on January 5, 2011 in Canada and How to Become a Professional Private Investigator. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Name changes appear to fall under Provincial Powers according to The Constitution Act of 1867, S.92(16) which reads, “Generally all Matters of a merely local or private nature in the Province.” This is because this matter impinges upon the recording of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.

Generally, a name change is done through an application under the Province’s or Territory’s Change of Name Act. People who have reached the age of majority in the province or territory where they live (usually 18 or 19) can apply to change their name. Those younger than the required age, can still change their names if they have been married, have a common-law relationship, or have their guardian’s consent.

One must have either been born in the province or territory, or have lived there for a certain period of time (between three months and a year)  before the application was submitted.

Division of Powers — Incorporation

Published on January 3, 2011 in Canada, Company Research and How to Become a Professional Private Investigator. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Incorporation In Canada

The Constitution Act, 1867, S. 92 (11) Awards the provinces the power to allow “The Incorporation of Companies with Provincial Objects”.

You will notice the term “Provincial Objects”. This means that the federal government may also allow the formation of corporations with federal or national objects. The territories may also form corporations.

This means that in Canada, 10 provinces, 3 territories, and the federal government have mechanisms to form corporations.

Canadian Criminal Record Searches

Published on December 17, 2010 in Canada, Courts, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator, Search Strategies and Sources. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Reading the following articles about Canadian criminal record searches should give you an understanding of how Canada’s criminal records are stored and searched.

Surveillance Advice

Published on December 15, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator, Report Writing and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Two concise article on conducting a surveillance:

Observation Skill — Spot the Pistol

Published on December 13, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Recognising that a subject is likely carrying a pistol is a necessary surveillance skill, even in Toronto.

Color is used to highlight how the gun moves and how the gun reveals itself, short visual noun-verb sentences that indicate the key signs that help detectives to spot someone carrying a hidden handgun. Click on the image to get a clearer view or go to the original article.

The explanation of how this graphic was developed with the help of Detective Robert T. Gallagher of the NYPD makes interesting reading.