Washington State Investigators P.I. News

Today, we live in an age where cyber security is crucial. Cyber attacks are rampant and it has got to the point where these malicious crimes have become the norm. In the last month alone we have suffered several global cyber attacks. In May, millions of users across the globe were caught off guard by…

Surveillance is an intrinsic part of a private investigators craft. Also known as spying, it is a way of gathering and collating information, and then using that information to increase ones understanding of another party’s actions and intentions. There is a distinction between surveillance and spying though. Surveillance is solely the act of gathering information…

A hand-picked list of must-watch cybersecurity videos to help you learn the fundamentals of encryption, how hackers penetrate systems, and strong cyber-defense tactics for business. This year global cyber-war went mainstream. Banks were robbed by digital criminals, Yahoo confessed to losing half a billion consumer records, foreign attacks leaked documents from the Democratic National Committee…

From internal threats to creative ransomware to the industrial Internet of Things, security experts illuminate business cyber security threats likely to materialize in the next year. If 2016 was the year hacking went mainstream, 2017 will be the year hackers innovate, said Adam Meyer, chief security strategist at SurfWatch Labs. Meyer analyzes large and diverse…

As legal investigators, we are not truth seekers, but fact finders. We rarely discover “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Moreover, although we may discover a lie or two along the way, it’s not up to legal investigators to decide what the “truth” is. It’s up to us to find information, facts, and…

This is the last installment in a series of Dark Web articles brought to you by Washington State Investigators. Is your business data on the Dark Web? Learn how to find out if you've been compromised in this step-by-step guide to accessing the underbelly of the internet. The Dark Web is easy to find. With…

Millions of email addresses, passwords, and cell numbers were in the stolen database, but questions remain over where the breached data came from. Hackers last year quietly stole a database containing the details of over 57 million people. The breach has only come to light this week, after the stolen data was put up for…

Your details have been stolen, now what happens next? Bitglass finds out in a new experiment. One leaked credential is all it can take for a swarm of cyber attackers to grab and exploit such data on the Dark Web in a matter of days, researchers have found. The Dark Web is a fraction of…

Combat Dark Web threats by understanding their reality. The Dark Web can threaten your data security. Don't compound the risk by believing these misconceptions. It's too easy to fear the dark. The hidden, encrypted internet known as the Dark Web has earned a reputation as a monolithic, mossy rock under which lurks criminals and black…

Nefarious profiteers use the encrypted internet to sell stolen data, drugs and weapons. Facebook and the UN use it to protect dissidents and journalists. This guide shines a light on the Dark Web. Hacking is a fact of life for business and consumers alike. Often, leaked data surfaces and is sold to miscreants—hackers, shady government…

The online black market is becoming a well-oiled and lucrative machine, thanks to the massive amount of stolen data flowing through the underground. In any data breach, it's particularly interesting to note the number of individuals whose personal information was compromised. Case in point, the title of Zack Whittaker's June 9, 2016 article on TechRepublic…

Can You Install Spy Software Without Having Access to the Phone? Every week I receive emails from folks asking different versions of the same question: I don’t have physical access to the phone. Can I install cell phone spy software remotely? The answer, of course, is no. You need physical access to their phone to…

Are you a victim of Identity Theft? Did you get a data breach notice? Start here What To Do Right Away Did someone steal and use your personal information? Report it and get help. Step 1: Call the companies where you know fraud occurred. Call the fraud department. Explain that someone stole your identity. Ask…

When it comes to how court records are organized, which search methods work best, and how these records can supplement an investigation, there is a lot of information out there. Nearly every investigation conference we've attended has had a track on court records, and we hear time and time again that the most reliable and…

Editor’s note: The ProxyHam project described in this story, along with the DefCon talk describing it, have been cancelled under mysterious circumstances. Read our update here. In the game of anonymity-versus-surveillance online, the discovery of the user’s IP address usually means game over. But if Ben Caudill has his way, a network snoop who successfully…

iOS and Android shield most data you care about from IT -- but users seem to care less about privacy these days I recently applauded MobileIron for providing a tool in its mobile device management (MDM) client app that lets users see what IT is monitoring on their iOS and Android devices. User privacy is…