Remote Computer Fingerprinting for Cyber Crime Investigations
Jon M. Novotny, Dominic Schulte, Gavin W. Manes, Sujeet Shenoi · IFIP International Federation for Information Processing/IFIP · 2004
This paper describes a novel tool forremotely “fingerprinting” computers used in criminal activity. The tool employs network scanning and machine identification techniques to acquire a fingerprint of a computer over the Internet. The fingerprint includes identifying information about the operating system, banners, enumerations and services. Once the computer is seized, it is connected to a closed network and scanned again to produce a second fingerprint to check against the original. Two scenarios - one related to investigating pedophiles and the other involving an illegal website - are examined. Legal issues pertaining to the use of computer fingerprinting in criminal investigations are also discussed.