It’s All about the Algorithm, Forensic Science Fiction Dept. 0
The EFF questions the justice of trial by algorithm. Here’s a bit from the introduction to the article (emphasis added):
The software vendors claim both that the software contains valuable secrets that must not be disclosed and that their methods are so well-vetted that there’s no point letting a defendant question them. Obviously, both can’t be true, and in fact it’s likely that neither is true.
Remember, those magical “forensic” results you see on television shows like the CSI’s and NCIS are fiction. Based on actual forensics, yes, but carried to extremes. For a dose of reality, watch Forensic Files.
Aside:
I do like NCIS (the original, that is), but one thing I find really annoying is the flying windows on the computer screen when McGee is hacking into a computer. Real hacking is not like that (I know–I’ve studied it in legal–and safe–tutorials). Real hacking is almost all tedious command line activity. And the last thing any hacker wants to do is use so much of the target computer’s computing power that it attracts notice. All those flying windows would put the target computer’s cooling fans into high gear . . . .
Grumble grumble grumble.
