Welcome to the home of eVestigator®, PrivateInvestigatorMelbourne.com.au, Simon Smith, CyberSecurity.com.au, CyberBuy.com.au and ForensicExpertWitness.com.au


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Private Investigator Melbourne (Simon Smith (CHFI) t/as eVestigator) is the #1 sought after Cyber Digital Forensics Expert Detective Services, Private Investigator Detective, Cyber-Legal, Cyber-Crime, Cyber-Stalking, Cyber-Mitigation, Cyber-Loss, Cyber-Recovery, Cyber-Security, Cyber-Terrorism Expert Programmer, Lecturer and Tactical Advisor. He is a Cth. DRP and Mediator, Advocate and is known on TV, radio and other media.
Call eVestigator® on 0410643121 (Direct) for a FREE Briefing.

8/8/2016 9:24:08 AM
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eVestigator® - as featured on "today tonight" - social media Cyber-bullying and Cyber-stalking expert.
News Desk: Live Cyber Attacks in real-time here. Articles in progress by eVestigator®: [ Threats in the Air - Cybergeddon is here! - Wi-Fi Probe Sniffing and Electronic Pickpocketing (Credit Card Fraud) ]
::Customer testimonial
"Australia's Cyber-Legal Computer Forensic Expert Witness, Cyber-Security & Ethical Hacking Expert, Master Computer Programmer, Advocate, Investigator, Cth. DRP (As seen on TV)"
  LATEST BLOG |   Cybergeddon® is here - eVestigator® Simon Smith announces the inevitable - 06 August 2016
Cyber-Crime, White-Collar, Cyber-Bullying, Fraud, Stalking, Data Recovery & Social Media Expert Simon Joseph Smith - aka eVestigator® has over 20 years+ experience as a Master Computer Programmer and University lecturer, is certified as a CHFI (Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator), Licensed Private Investigator and Expert Witness, and a Computer Forensics Expert. He is also a Corporate Fraud Investigator, Cyber Insurance Investigator and Legal Investigator assisting the courts as an expert. He is also an App-Store Developer and trainer of advanced programming dating back 16 years ongoing. He has appeared on Channel 7 & Channel 9 on Cyber-bullying, Cyber-crime, Cyber-stalking and has worked in cases involving High-Tech Crime, IP theft, Packet Sniffing, RFID, WiFi, Hacking, Cults, Deaths and Sex Offenders. He offers fast and cost effective services and has solved many SCAMS. He specialises in Cyber-Stalking, Corporate Fraud and abduction cases. He invented a computer patent and trained Barristers and Psychologists in Family Dispute Resolution. He holds several Post-graduate Qualifications from IT, Security, Investigation, Hacking & more. He is considered a master in his field, and Australia's well knowledged Cyber Expert Witness in any Court.
eVestigator® issues a National Cyber Alert Press Release on the potential Cyber-crimes related to 'Pokemon GO' Augmented Reality to children and teens.
        
Direct: 0410 643 121   |   NDA  |  help@evestigator.com.au  |  Learn more  |  Private Investigator Melbourne  | Court Listings
Any reference to eVestigator® is done so in either capacity of RPL Central® t/as eVestigator Cyber Forensic IT & Expert Witness Services or Simon Joseph Smith t/as Simon Smith. RPL Central® does not obtain and furnish information as to the personal character or actions of any person or as to the character or nature of the business or occupation of any person, nor does it search for missing persons. RPL Central t/as eVestigator® is a specialist IT services firm with it's principal Mr. Smith having multiple Qualifications and experience in numerous disciplines. If Simon Joseph Smith (individual), ABN: 43 645 882 527 wishes to function as an 'Investigator' as defined in the Act, any work is separately invoiced as Simon Joseph Smith under license no: 779-290-61S. Any service outside that exact definition is provided by RPL Central Pty. Ltd t/as eVestigator Cyber Forensic IT & Expert Witness Services ACN: 21 136 181 989. eVestigator® is a registered trademark licensed, for Simon Smith as a personal alias.


FREE Briefing - you won't look back, just read our testimonials:

Blog updates coming up - there is no better, faster alternative to end litigation than with eVestigator®. Major success stories. See blog section shortly for updates:  
eVestigator® launches a new Android App that is capable of penetration testing 65,535 ports - leaving no chance for risk - as freeware running on more than 40 devices - including most Android and Amazon capable hardware.
eVestigator® is invited to Channel 9's "Today Show" to help demonstrate a major security flaw in the Worldwide Credit Card systems called EMV, demonstrating how easy it is for hackers to electronically pickpocket your credit card details through the air via simple NFC technology available on Android 4.4 devices and above, which bypasses the RFID security and utilises the Contactless credit card technology to get the credit card number and expiry date. You can protect yourself by buying a simple credit card sleeve for 99c off eBay or most wallets these days come with a metallic coating that holds cards. As long as there is metal surrounding the chip - the signal cannot be detected.
eVestigator® Identifies an unprecedented Criminal Reverse Cyber-Stalker behind 7 fake IP entities impersonating others.
eVestigator® prepares to issue a major public cyber-security warning to the entire country by releasing intelligence to the media that will likely influence the country's criminal cyber-laws forever.

An expert witness is a person who has specialised knowledge based on that person's training, study or experience. There are many factors' that distinguish opinions and facts, and in my life, I have been lucky enough to have over 20 years+ of industry experience from the very bottom upwards - not just some limited outdated paper from a jump in the middle of the supercharged industry (without a lifetime of background), although, eVestigator® has lots of formal paper to add to his collection too. His name is Simon Smith (CHFI, FPI, GDipFDR, Investigator, CEW). He occasionally offers a Free Briefing service with an NDA. eVestigator® has over 20 years+ experience as an master Computer Programmer, former sessional University lecturer for Swinburne 16 years ago in advanced programming, and an extreme business and IT portfolio in between. For the last six years he has been utilised as a Digital Forensic Expert and Court Witness and Private/Factual Investigator, as well as an Expert Cyber Security Investigator and Auditor and Data Recovery Expert. He is also a Digital Forensics Expert Court Witness for any court, Mobile Cyber Security Analyst, Patentee, Mobile Device Author and a Computer Systems Source Code Auditor. He is able to offer a vast range of Specialist Investigative services. He is renowned in Australia as "Today Tonight's" Cyber-bullying Expert, Digital Forensic Expert Court Witness, Cyber Security / Cyber Crime Investigator, Insurance Risk Analyst, Data Loss/Prevention, Online/Offline Fraud, Intellectual Property eDiscovery / Due Diligence Expert, Education Expert, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac, Windows CE, Nokia Computer Forensics Data Recovery Expert, Windows Certified Programmer, Family/Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Nationally Accredited Mediator, Source Code Inspection, Ethical Hacking/Reverse Engineering Expert, Corruption Investigator, Surveillance/Bug Detection & Litigation Support. He is highly qualified, experienced and has proven to attain fast and cost effective factual outcomes, complimented by his Commonwealth Graduate Diploma in Family Law Disputes Resolution, Counselling & Grief and Trauma Author.

Simply call 0410643121 (Direct) to book in a time where he will provide you with an opportunity to sign a NDA and receive evidence from you and give you a definitive answer as to the direction he would give to add actual positive value to your situation. You may email or SMS. The email is help@evestigator.com.au. He only works on successful cases and offers an initial FREE service to assist in ensuring the client has travelled down the right path. Complimenting this, he is also a Nationally Accredited Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, and General Factual Investigator. It costs you nothing. Give him a call on 0410643121 (Direct) and you are welcome to fill in the Non Disclosure Agreement.

An expert that goes above and beyond and aims straight for the point
I am known Nationally as eVestigator® and in the media for my specialist cyber expertise. I am a licensed Private Investigator, holding several Qualifications, being a Practicing Forensic Private Investigator, Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), Expert Witness taught by Hugh Selby of Unisearch, holder of several Graduate Diploma's, Graduate Certificates, Diploma’s in Security and Risk Management, Government Investigations, Information Technology and Strategic Management, Cyber Security, Government (Fraud Control), Government (Security) and so much more (see below for so much more).

Skill, Experience & Speed equals low cost service! The higher the Skill, Experience and Speed, the lower the cost. That is what our customers have found out, sadly often too late
My main experience comes from 25 years of the majority of my child, teen and adult life consisting of extensive Commercial Computer Programming and interest in innovation and creation. It all started when I was 11 years old initially programming from a tape deck green screen AMSTRAD CPC464, growing up programming continuously before the birth of the consumer Internet, then programming throughout high school during the birth of the consumer internet with every main language that existed, designing my own mail and internet servers, continuing to this day with knowledge of all frameworks including now as an App Store accredited mobile developer to patentee and Master Programmer (from ground up - not like the template ones they teach today). When I was 19, I was literally handpicked and employed as an Analyst Programmer and taken straight out of year 1 University and offered a full time job as an Analyst Programmer leading to a Senior Analyst Programmer position after being recognised as one of a small group of 3% of Australians who received Quadruple A++ in Information Systems and Processing and Management CATs. In that role the mix between my IT expertise and investigative expertise began to show. I was investigating the binary of a QuickBooks QIF file one day for a corporate client and came across a RAW credit card number. I immediately called QuickBooks who took no interest. Since then I have worked at multiple workplaces and created from ground up several multimillion dollar enterprises all in relation to IP, web, cyber security, reporting, educational, project management, corporate application, mobile, data and voice analysis applications and enterprises from scratch. When I say from scratch, I fundamentally mean from scratch. There is an article I wrote about 'template' programmers you might find interesting on this site.
Computer forensics begin with the necessity of being computer programming master. Gone of the days where people say, "I have this Company certificate from this famous networking firm who happen to develop a widely used product. Developers make products - from scratch, and makers of products are able to understand the engineering underneath. A true expert computer programmer holds the skills and abilities of every other IT discipline, because through the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) they have had to conduct the equivalent work and ensure that ultimately their software works with Database X on Server Y or Conditions Z. In the past, I have used my programming abilities within investigations and forensics 'on the job'. If I need the job done, I programmed it myself. A true computer forensics expert is no expert unless they understand the raw essentials of the inner operations of programming from machine code to today's language layers - that way you understand the vulnerabilities from the lowest end. That is what you call a real computer forensics expert. I have often resulted back to source code to help solve cases. I don't rely on other people's tools. The fundamental learning comes from knowing the very backbone of computer programming, its history, (over 25m years- the birth of the consumer internet) its protocols from start to end, its languages from "IMM R0, 0x80" to what they call programming today and beyond. Take a look at the periodic elements of programming languages' found this interesting. At this point, I knew that I was more than a master programmer from knowing the complete roots of programming (now at 21 teaching advanced computer programming seasonally), having an advantage over everyone as I don't rely on software, even in investigations, I invent it. I am considered an expert in my field by way of experience and recognition of that experience, complimented by many side fields, especially cyber stalking, family intervention and relationship battles and nationally accredited mediator status and it shows in the cases I succeed in. I have solved multimillion dollar fraud SCAM’s (including the fake Microsoft tech-support SCAM and fake ATO telephone SCAM), resolved reverse cyber-stalking cases, family law cases, plenty of IP tracing and identity theft cases, and corporate crime and insurance fraud cases. I also work and train as a Cth. FDRP (Professional Family Court Mediator), and have trained many Barristers at law to become Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners’ appointed now by the Commonwealth. I am a Nationally Accredited Mediator (NAM) and hold a Certificate of Bail Justice from Victoria University. I am considered a Master in Digital Computer Forensics and Online Education and have developed patents in the subject matter. I have appeared on Today Tonight (7), the Today Show (9) and other media and to the courts as a Cyber Forensic Expert/Witness. I am independent and will act for and/or against the police/government or body corporate without fear or favour as my duty is to the law and the courts. I have succeeded in every case I have taken on. I have had parties including government department, police prosecutors, and civil litigators withdraw once knowing I have the evidence to stand up against them.



eVestigator® issues Cyber-Security warning regarding 'Electronic Pickpocketing' with RFID to EMV via NFC.

There are no major surprises in this story except one. Approximately 65% of Australian and International consumers are carrying a 'Smartphone' that is capable of skimming the numbers electronically from an unsuspecting persons' credit card, right from their pocket. First we should start by saying right out that you can purchase for about $2 on eBay a little sleeve that you should put over any card you wish to protect that uses either Pay pass or Pay wave. Seriously, now! The every day mobile phone with some technical software modifications not so far out of reach of the every day person could be used to swipe someone's digits right from their pocket. Let's first begin with some definitions. Firstly, RFID stands for "Radio frequency identification" and it is a wireless technology incorporates the use of electromagnetic as well as electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency (RF) to give a object a digital identity. This is not new to us, and certainly if one had to crack the algorithm of RFID they would be quite stuck. Now, mobile phones do not have RFID.

Introducing, 'NFC'. NFC is Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short range wireless standard (Ecma-340, ISO/IEC 18092) that similarly uses magnetic field induction to enable communication between two devices as they pair, but only within a few centimetres. It is a shortcut if you like for a digital handshake that can emulate an RFID transaction by learning from another. It can also, on its own act in a capacity to uniquely identify an object but used for much smaller distances like key tags, or elevators etc. Then we introduce 'EMV'. EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. It is a combined initiative and worldwide standard for cooperation of integrated circuit cards and IC card capable POS or 'Point of Sale' terminals and ATM's or 'Automated Teller Machines'. It is used quite frequently for authenticating credit and debit card transactions for small amounts under $100 here in Australia, and typically is dependent on the locality. It is limited because it contactless, and therefore vulnerable, but apparently not so much for the three key credit card companies to see as a threat for taking or virtualising a pretend transaction using a simple phone. So, to cut it short, an NFC enabled phone with the right configured firmware with programattical changes (easily demonstratable but not for sale gladly) can technically read and both write the transaction from its memory purporting to mirror the cards first signal. This is the technology already in use but controlled in Google Wallet, Samsung Pay, PayPal Cardless payments, etc. It uses NFC and Android Beam. eVestigator® warns consumers of the absolute possibility that this could be used to fake a transaction, as well as steal the credit card number and expiry date from somebody's pocket. Without going into detail, eVestigator® has recreated the technology already known to be a flaw in the system in the US and in Australia but not to the extent people should wonder if it could be used by anyone.

In my opinion, based on the fact that now Smart Phones are easily accessible with NFC and Android Beam, the technique opens the door to non hackers, and broadens the reach of Cyber-Crime. To protect yourself, you just need to make sure that your chipped cards are covered in foil, metal or some sought of pouch with metal inside as mentioned earlier. Are RFID or contactless credit cards more trouble than they are worth? How much more effort is it to swipe a card and enter a PIN? When did our time get so limited that taking no more than a second to pay for a purchase is worth more than financial security? Sure you can buy a little pocket or sleeve to protect your card from skimming and cloning that takes seconds, with little to no initial risk to the perpetrator as they never touch your wallet and costs them very little to get what they need to steal your credit card information and as little as $35 to create a fake card using the stolen information. The time it takes to remove and replace your card in the sleeve negates the time saved using 'tap and go'. I remember one of the benefits of the added chip being touted as 'extra security'; now people are seeing demonstrated what many of us warned - in front of my own eyes and in a controlled testing environment - IT IS POSSIBLE!

There is virtually no security, on these kinds of payments, but the worse part to this is that it gives you the raw digits, so potentially you could purchase online. It is even possible to generate a Random CVV with the technology. The $100 limit limits the damage of one transaction, but you only need the number once - as people still rely on MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order). Specifically just limiting ourselves to this technology and forgetting about knowing the card number, we can reproduce a real-time transaction in quick succession, and they can add up before the theft is discovered and the banks have detected any suspicious activity. RFID is easily hackable, by using a 'back-door' style approach via NFC which kind of does away with the encryption of the RFID! All that is needed to make a purchase, particularly online or over the phone is usually the credit card number and expiry date and as a merchant myself eVestigator® can safely say that the card companies do not require a CVV for MOTO transactions, hence the risk has heightened due to the availability of the technology being conveniently packed into an Android Smart Phone which has all the bits and pieces (without software intervention) to replay or copy a card transaction. The name on the card being incorrect is a human fraud check that can be made after the fact but to actually make a purchase it is unnecessary. You don't even need the three or four digit CVV number on the back of the card for most purchases. In any case social media makes identity theft even easier.

The technology in your phone now may be able to take a persons' credit card number and expiry in certain circumstances of which we shall not outlay, but it is not replayable to the average person. Be mindful that even if you have your card packed in your pocket or wallet, a skilled indiscreet passer can brush past you and take what they need. This leads to even further privacy concerns. Birthday messages on Facebook for example, make it pointless to hide your birthdate. So it just might be worth disabling RFID and sticking to swipe and PIN, as credit card numbers are used to sometimes authenticate passwords or gain access to internet banking. eVestigator® will assist the various companies in their cyber-security issues if needed. How it got this far, who knows. Until a revelation or specific information becomes available eVestigator® is happy to keep people safe, and even though this possibly may be another risk or exploit, he sees thousands every year that don't even require technology. He has solved over 15 major scams, and sometimes people don't realise how trusting they are. There is a consumer and criminal disconnection, and whether it is blamed on the computer or not, it still follows traditional methods, so beware!

Cybercrime Expert Witness Simon Smith discusses the 'hidden defendant' appearing in almost every case.

Well, in my words it is "CYBERGEDDON". Not to be dramatic but I have now experienced an element of cybercrime in every single case that I have had to deal with in every jurisdiction including employee fraud, stalking, computer crime, theft (including identity theft), international crimes, police prosecution, civil disputes and extremely aggressive family law cases. As a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner also, I can appreciate the enormity of mudslinging that goes on in such cases that depend heavily on the credibility or lack thereof, and have reversed many cases by an interesting element of cyber-fraud where the Internet has reversed cases showing fake email evidence admitted into evidence, almost causing loss of custody and destroying families. This is real!

I would like to introduce two short stories of fact anonymised for the benefit of counsel and readers of this newsletter to explain that from conducting a slight investigation and thinking outside the square, almost all cases are resolvable in such a way that they can be mediated or favourable to one side through computer forensics; as despite people thinking they are smart in sending anonymous emails or purporting to be someone else through TOR networks (of which I happen to own ‘Orion Elite Hidden IP Browser Pro++', the largest iOS software but it is supposed to be for the purposes of protecting the users privacy) they are not immune. I have saved many cases where justice has almost been destroyed because sadly in some situations the Magistrate, Justice, Judge or Member do not understand the complexity or the relationship between the technological credentials and reliability of the human and sometimes neither can the client explain it properly to their counsel or lawyer. This is detrimental because if nobody understands how to properly construct pleadings then they are likely to be struck out.

In my first case scenario, a person from India came to Australia to work for a company and provide Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services. In other words, they simply came down and suggested that they would take over the company's Google marketing. This company was spending about $4000 a month on AdWords marketing. This new "employee" happened to own a SEO company in India, so he contracted himself to perform the work in conjunction with himself as an employee of this Australian company. He also set up various servers and operated several businesses from within this organisation—unbeknownst to the employers—through the company's network. From Google's perspective, all operations were performed by the employer. However, at least seven servers were set up, racking up a bill of $500 000 of debt without permission of the business owner; fraudulently, to the benefit of this employee who later was sacked and then demanded the employer pay more money as an alleged debt with the SEO company, money he claimed to be owed based on the trading relationship. What an ironic situation. I was called in to a very frantic company to determine how to get Google off their back for a half-a-million-dollar debt racked up by this ex-employee. The Google user account and IP address (internet location) pointed naturally to my client because the ex-employee had opened up several ports where he could dial in from home and pretend to be on my client's network in performing his illegal activities, then he left the country. I took a very strong lead in finding negligence on Google's side and technicalities in policy in attaining credit where credit was not authorised in order to defend my client's liability and explain from a cyber legal perspective, before it even got to the point of litigation, that the company was not responsible for this debt. In normal law, most of you would agree that the liability, despite the crime, would still fall on my client. This was an enormous success. This is what I would call a ‘hidden defendant'. You cannot always trust that the defendant is actually visible to you. This is also the case in many jurisdictions; one of which I would like to share with you that is quite extreme and how I completely overturned a massive case.

Most people would like to think that people tell the truth in family law cases, especially doctors. I had a case where I was called in to validate the characteristics of who may be telling the truth based on some SMS's and forensic iPhone discovery. However, I found much more than that. As it happens in this Family Law case, the mother had taken the child and as possession, as they say, is 9/10ths of the law it was up to the father (who had nothing wrong with him) to seek psychiatrist reports, counseling, visitation rights, initiate family law proceedings and go through an enormous amount of trauma to prove that there was nothing wrong with him to still potentially be on the losing side as he didn't have possession. An enormous amount of Affidavits were exchanged with the Family Court. Most Judges do not like to discuss perjury but I am a stickler for evidence and fact and I say it how it is; I did not intend on coming up with what I came up with. What I found was the last Affidavit of the mother, which was all allegations and no witnesses (and most allegations were in regards to forgery, rape, violence and no evidence other than her word as well as no police reports) and were very serious allegations. All of these accusations were of a man who seemed like a normal father, that due to this, limited him to three hours visitation, every three weeks to see his daughter of four months old with no notice. I do not take sides in cases however, I do take fact.

I, in my investigations, usually look at what comes to me rather than what the client asks as my first duty is to the court. In what I found by perusing through what we like to call "big brother" Google records is that a strange IP address appeared that had hacked into his Gmail account. However, what this person did not realise was that this IP address, once in Gmail is also recorded to have searched Google for methods of fabricating evidence in Family Law Courts against ex-husbands, planning methods of suicide and/or faking suicide and cutting brake wires of the same model car as my client. Subpoena evidence showed that the IP address that conducted these searches and hacked into my clients Gmail account, came from the credible doctor who had submitted over 40 Affidavits alleging the opposite to the Court of Law. It also shows that the searcher was looking for fake emailers and on the header of the emails that were submitted as evidence to the court, I note that the exact emailers that she was searching for sent those emails purporting to be somebody else. This is also a crime as we know it of impersonation. Needless to say, I stumbled on something quite large here. My advice to the client was to start talking closely with the other side.

My final words are that I can make a big difference to any case in relation to cyber intelligence. It is part of every case at the moment. Everybody uses their mobile phone, I can find out what they have done, what they have searched for, what their intentions are and what their personality really is. Everybody has a record that is usually uploaded to iCloud in the case of iPhones or the Cloud if they are using Android. Everybody uses some form of security-based email like Gmail or Hotmail that tracks you. There is always a record. I would advise everybody to test the evidence before accepting the inevitable because sometimes, on a simple technicality of fact at a very low cost, an entire case can be destroyed and these are where my successes lie. These are just two examples of some very successful cases. I am currently working on an enormous case which is very similar and involves an accused that is facing a jail term of at least seven years who, based on current evidence, did not do the crime and the withholding of that evidence seems to be an abuse of his rights. I always give counsel, lawyers or clients a free pre-investigation on any case to determine whether I can help to ensure that I can maintain my 100% success rate. I will only assist in cases that I know will produce an outcome.

You are an expert in litigation and cyber elements have unfortunately always existed but people have never realised how serious and how present they are in proceedings, now and in the past. Expert opinions and facts make a difference. Call me anytime on 0410 643 121 or visit www.evestigator.com.au and I'm happy to talk, anywhere in Australia. Simon Smith is a Cyber Forensics and Cyber Security Expert Private Investigator, Certified Ethical Hacker, Technologist and Computer Forensics Expert Witness. He has over 20 years+' computer programming experience and has appeared in various news publications regarding smart phone technology and on Channel 7's Today Tonight in relation to Cyber bullying and recently the Today show on Channel 9, discussing credit card security. Simon has a strong persistence in finding a very fast and cost-effective approach to assist cases with evidence that can be detrimental to one side based on his extensive knowledge of programming. An example of this is just in knowing that he has prepared to stand behind somebody in support of two convictions from a legal services commissioner in a state of Australia, based on a technical inaccuracy on their part, they dropped all charges. Being a Nationally Accredited Mediator, although in the court room, Simon works for the court, ultimately his goals is to help produce an outcome that joins all the dots and perhaps resolve a situation in or out of court without compromising fact.

eVestigator® shows the public how they are broadcasting their identity without knowing it

A mobile phone finds and connects to Wi-Fi networks by periodically sending out "probe requests". In simple terms these are "Hello, remember me, I connected to these Wi-Fi stations previously? Anyone out there? Here is my Unique mobile phone address to check (MAC Address)". These requests includes a unique identifier called a MAC address, which while making it faster and more convenient to connect to a network, it also makes it possible to collect this information and use it to track people. Knowing your MAC address goes a long way to track your phone if it is ever lost or stolen. While not impossible to change, it is a very difficult process and probably not worth a thief's time. Turning off your Wi-Fi when you are not actively using your phone and/or have no need to access a network, stops this method of tracking while Wi-Fi is not enabled.

A second of inconvenience for a little extra security might just be worth the twinge of annoyance. There are Android apps available that automatically switch your Wi-Fi off once your leave the range of trusted networks, though I personally can handle swiping down the top menu and pressing the Wi-Fi icon myself so I haven't looked into these and prefer not to place control of my privacy into someone else's hands. For iOS apps are limited without jail-breaking your phone, though iOS 7 introduced a swipe menu with quick access to certain settings including Wi-Fi. I won't go into the technical steps of how to create a Wi-Fi monitoring system to track people as is used in some stores for marketing and research purposes but I will say it is a fairly straight forward process and needs a router or a single board computer like a Raspberry Pi with a Wi-Fi adapter. It is not just possible tracking that you should be wary of but also "free Wi-Fi" or open networks.

These networks tend to have little or no security. It gives potential attackers a way in and makes any information sent over them visible. It is why you should never log into your internet banking or secure account using McDonalds Wi-Fi, as an example. A faked or compromised access point to a network, is called a Rogue Access Point (Rogue AP). Using such a network, essentially sends any information you enter to the access point's creator giving them access to email, Facebook and whatever else you might access while online on an insecure network. It can be just to monitor or a backdoor into an otherwise secure system, even if it is a soft AP set up by an employee of a business with or without permission for easier mobile access to the business network to work off premises it behaves as a Rogue AP (Access Point).

eVestigator® draws the line between a phone and smart phone

24 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "While Apple hardware may be well-built and likely to last for years, the software is another story as Simon Smith of eVestigator® discussed with Jackson Stiles of New Daily earlier this week. Read the article here. (link on the 'The New Daily' website at the time of placing this blog - dated April 18 2016)

'A phone is a phone but a smart phone is not just a phone,' says Simon Smith. 'it is fair to say that the majority of phone users these days are smart phone users' therefore this must be considered when discussing phone in general and this is what came up recently."

"With every iOS update consistently, and so it would seem intentionally, aspects of previous coding becomes obsolete, different or removed altogether forcing iOS programmers to update their apps or risk incompatibility with new devices and operating systems. Effectively limiting the usability and life of a smart phone."

"An example of this is the iOS 9 implemented an update which restricted access to insecure websites on older phones. Although this is great for developers like myself who already use an encrypted system internally, such encryption should be part of the operating system and such encryption is welcome. However, with little to no notice to developers such an implementation caused havoc to software and their developers. 'The life expectancy of a phone is three years, in a way. It would probably hold up in a court of law (misquoted as 'life') if something went out of warranty.' you can have a phone, but you’re not going to get the most advantage and functionality out of a smart phone as technology grows because the phone is only as good as the hardware and the software they allow you to use. And sometimes you can actually get more out of the phone with the software, but they don’t let you.”

"A phone is a phone and will last as long as the hardware does but the other functionalities of a smart phone decrease and become obsolete over a far shorter period of time."




List of Australian Courts and Tribunals eVestigator can provide expert testimony

High Court of Australia
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Australian Capital Territory - Courts
Family Court of Australia - Canberra Registry
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Federal Court of Australia - ACT Registry
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Canberra List
 Daily Court List
Federal Circuit Court of Australia - General Federal Law - Canberra List
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Magistrates Court
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Tribunals/Commissions
Administrative Appeals Tribunal - ACT Registry
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Fair Work Commission - Canberra
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New South Wales - Courts
Search NSW court lists
Compensation Court
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District Court - Sydney Civil List
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District Court - Sydney Criminal List
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District Court - Parramatta Civil List
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District Court - Parramatta Criminal List
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District Court - Penrith Criminal List
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District Court - regional areas
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Family Court of Australia - Sydney Registry
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Family Court of Australia - Newcastle Registry
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Family Court of Australia - Parramatta Registry
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Federal Court of Australia - NSW Registry
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Sydney List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Newcastle List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Parramatta List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Albury Circuit
List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Armidale
Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Coffs Harbour
Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Dubbo Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Lismore Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Orange Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Port Macquarie Circuit List
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Federal Circuit Court of Australia - Family Law - Tamworth Circuit List
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CyberBlog™ eVestigator® provides anonymised case stories and experience (not legal advice)


Cybergeddon® is here - eVestigator® Simon Smith announces the inevitable - 06 August 2016 - eVestigator® - "Today, Saturday 6th August 2016, Simon Smith, eVestigator, a Computer Forensics Expert, Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Private Investigator, Certified Expert Witness and Master Programmer who is all to familiar with the traditional damage of Cyber-Crime, Cyber-Stalking, Cyber-Fraud and Cyber-Litigation made an official public statement today."

"Australia is engaged in Cybergeddon®. Australia is not ready and our government and police force and so-called reporting agencies are not equipped to fight this war and protect our money and safety. There is a misconception Australia. Everyday crime, is containing larger and larger elements of Cybercrime and getting ignored due to the lack of skills in whom we trust to protect us. This is unacceptable as Computer Crime has existed in the Crimes Act for over 40 years. AUSTRALIA IS IN DANGER, and I can mention cases showing how and why!"

"Simon Smith from eVestigator.com.au and www.cybersecurity.com.au today announced that Australia and the world now must accept that traditional crime is actually almost in every sense carrying an element of Cybercrime and the Government needs to equip themselves with the competence to fight and defend equally. Likewise for small business and large enterprise, Mr. Smith advises he has acted as a Cyber Security Expert for large firms who have had their security breached and literally had "traditional crimes" mislabelled as "cyber-crimes" and declined by insurance companies. He says, apart from the fancy word - It is still a crime - although he has seen negligence in insurance companies not even capable of understanding basic concepts, it is just a simple excuse for a new product. He states they use it to deny claims (when he himself has seen first-hand they have no idea as to the fact it is no different to any other crime), it is a computer crime and has always been a computer crime. The Crimes Act in Australia has always dealt with the misuse of a Computer in the Crimes Act." "Mr. Smith is available to comment on Cybergeddon® on 0410 643 121 and provide expert intelligence to Lawyers, Barristers, Insurance Companies, Statutory Bodies, Government, Private Corporations, Individuals and victims of Cyberstalking, Cyberbullying, Impersonation, IP Skip Tracing requirements even for small clients that are being harassed by Facebook stalkers."

"He says, he has literally caughty over 50 Facebook stalkers without needing their IP address and at least 5 have gone criminal, others to Magistrates Court intervention or Family Court orders. Mr. Smith's techniques are not concerned if your IP address is hidden by Facebook - he still has had great success."

"What is really disturbing is that the authorities don't recognise the abuse on social media as seriously as they should. Stalking is actually a jailable offence, as well as the offence of impersonation and this reminds me of a case I where I caught 8 'entities in one stalker' Mr. Smith said. "In today's world, reverse IP tracing unknown to the police, and certainly ACORN have not helped any of my customers", Mr. Smith stated. It is also a specialty that other purported vendor specific 'experts' purport to be capable of which is just not the case."

"As an ethical hacker you have to think like the hackers to be able to counteract and mitigate before the losses accumulate. eVestigator has recommendations for police passed through his customers and will happily express these opinions from real life experience to reporters of reputable news outlets."

"We are in Cybergeddon®. Fasten your seatbelts. Australia and its law enforcement efforts are NOT ready. I deal with it every day. Normal crimes with the strong reliance of social media and introduction of augmented reality make cybercrime equal crime. Are we ready? Computer says (NO)."

eVestigator® prepares to launch an Expert Witness Database for all professions - 04 August 2016 - eVestigator® - "After much feedback eVestigator® has recognised that some Expert Witness training providers or databases are either inexperienced or 'made by lawyers'. The 'made by lawyer' databases concern me. As an Assessor under the Australian Qualifications Framework, I have had the opportunity to assess lawyers in Family Dispute Resolution for the Graduate Diploma, a mandatory component by the Commonwealth for appointment as an FDRP under the Act."

"During that campaign it is fair to say that the area of concern in assessment was the ability to be impartial. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of an Expert Witness and it is legislated. Lawyer's are fantastic at what they do - but in this particular contrast it was hard to find the evidence (as this Graduate Diploma was based on existing experience) where they had to act Impartial. Many had to fill that gap with several hours of challenge assessments, sadly many failed."

"I must admit, as an FDRP and a NAM - and Investigator and an Expert Witness - I struggle with this but you have to know when to take the hat off and when to put the other hat on. The other types of expert witness databases are just University graduates of that University only - so that is limiting. Then unfortunately you have ones that are the experts themselves purporting to be a database, but really they are there for self service."

"It is fair to say that the client should be able to choose without bias who their expert is, whether it be for an opinion or for court (or jointly if court appointed) and this choice has to be solely made with an utmost feeling of Impartiality - because ultimately the expectation is the findings are not influenced - and are ultimately for the court.""

Urgent Press Release: eVestigator cautions parents on Pokemon Augmented Reality - 26 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "URGENT PRESS RELEASE: eVestigator warns Australia of National Safety Alert with Pokemon Go Augmented Reality: For a full copy of the press release, available to the media to report on with permission, click here.

Cyber Crime Expert eVestigator warns of Pokemon Go Augmented Reality

Urgent Cyber Security Press Release
PRESS RELEASE 26/7/2016
CYBER FORENSIC EXPERT ISSUES NATIONAL SECURITY WARNING "EVESTIGATOR CYBER FORENSICS EXPERT SIMON SMITH SAYS 'POKEMON NO' TO AUGMENTED REALITY.

Availability for further interview / discussion TV - Aus-Wide - 24hrs notice, Radio - 8 hrs notice -© Simon Smith 0410 643 121 - forensic@evestigator.com.au. Written consent needed to reuse/quote from this release.

Melbourne, July 26, 2016

Mr. Simon Smith of www.evestigator.com.au, and www.cybersecurity.com.au, a top Australian Computer Forensics expert, Cyber-crime Investigator, cyber-stalking expert and programmer of 25 years knows all too well the other side of what it looks like in a courtroom when somebody is the victim of cyber-stalking or white collar crime. He is often giving forensic evidence or reports in relation to high-tech computer crimes as an expert witness or private investigator. He has also worked on cases involving child pornography and the police, and is a strong advocate against Cyber-bullying, Cyber-stalking and Cyber-crimes civilly and criminally, and has helped hundreds of people attain justice and resolution in many cases, especially involving children and violence and forensic impersonation.

As a Commonwealth Appointed Family Dispute Practitioner, with the very difficult job of dealing with awkward family disputes along with his specialised cyber forensic knowledge and cases as a private investigator, he speaks of cases where he has dealt with kidnapping, abductions, cults, poisoning and more. Never, however did Mr. Smith predict that what he calls "Cybergeddon™" would come so soon. Simon explains the term "augmented reality" in the new Pokemon game as going too far. "Imagine walking in a straight line and a cartoon character appears in front of you.

That is simply what it is. A technology that draws a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world (knowing on their phone where they are via the GPS), in this case a character or an object named a Pokemon. It then uses the camera on the back of the phone to paint the background, so it looks like there is a cartoon in your view".

He further says, the earth is made up of various known areas comprising longitude and latitudes. These are known to the game and randomized, and the object of the game is to find Pokemon and physically step within a meter or so of it to interact, and likewise, collect other objects in the game". He further explains that "these objects are randomly placed on or around you are on earth without any data verification". Mr. Smith asks you to imagine your child, or teenage son or daughter walking around with head buried in their phone, jumping complete stranger's fences, in and out of their neighborhood, exploring places they shouldn't be - knocking on stranger's doors, asking if they can collect a Pokemon from their backyard.

Then he asks you to stop imagining because it is actually happening now. He then asks you to imagine a destination that may be randomly picked in the game for your child to visit. Imagine if one of these stops was say in the case of America, The Windsor Hotel in Phoenix Arizona. Would you be concerned if you knew that in this instance, this was a halfway house for sex offenders? He also asks you to not imagine, and says, Well, that happened too!

Mr. Smith deals with reverse cyber stalking cases all the time. Finally, he asks you to imagine that a group of bullies had a special directory which told them where a victim would be going at a certain time. It would allow them to lay a trap, and wait for the prey. Of course Mr. Smith says, let's not imagine - that actually happened too. In fact, only a few days after launch a gamer was robbed at gun point in dangerous unchartered neighborhoods because the attackers knew he'd be chasing Pokemon they used game bonuses to lure there.

Mr. Smith, both as an IOS and Android programmer and cyber stalking forensic investigator and court expert witness strongly warns the community and rates this at a risk of 10/10 to any parent. He states that It could be used as a directory for stalkers and pedophiles to find children, and cause danger to society in an already understaffed and unqualified area of policing, being organised cyber-crime.

Mr. Smith further states that it could even be considered the Yellow Pages of Children and Teens for Sex Predators - it could be easily argued that this is in fact no longer augmented.

Mr. Smith strongly advises everyone to be conscious of the line that has just been crossed - and understand that crime is still crime even if it is hidden in what appears to be a 'fun super-artificial method of game play'. It is not a game anymore, Mr. Smith strongly states. It's dangerous, it's real and it is most likely in the hands of your children now.

Mr. Smith feels very passionate about the dangers he sees, in his expert opinion, he would strongly recommend parents remove the game after doing further research as he truly believes it crosses the line by masking serious cybercrime. He finishes by stating that, It is ironic that people used to be afraid of the psychological effect of what violent artificial games may have on people, now I'm saying backed by evidence and experience, they should really be worried - because it has now crossed over to reality."

This is general advice and not to be taken as legal advice and naturally, not all game players are likely to contribute to this conduct, this is an opinion expressed by me raising concern in this area of augmented reality.

eVestigator®, Simon Smith
Computer Forensics Cyber Expert
CHFI, SANS-ACE
Investigator, Private Investigator

URGENT PUBLIC MEDIA RELEASE
© Simon Smith

eVestigator invited by (ISC)2 to IISSCC as a recognised information security professional - 19 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "(ISC)2 is the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. A non-profit organisation which specialises in information security education and certifications. eVestigator was contacted and personally invited to participate in the Global Information Security Workforce Project. It is the largest study of its kind designed to provide analysis of important trends and opportunities within the information security profession. The aims are to provide a clear understanding of pay scales, skills gaps, training requirements, corporate hiring practices, security budgets, career progression and corporate attitude toward information security for the benefit of companies, hiring managers and information security professionals."

"It is an important study to keep track of and examine the growing importance, interest and need for information security and how the profession is growing to be a more and more integral and necessary part of every business, no matter what industry it operates in."

eVestigator® launches his powerful Penetration Tester Smart App to Kindle Devices as well as Android - 15 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "Just a quick note to let you know that now the App is live on Amazon, and all Amazon device users including but not limited to: Kindle Fire HDX (2013), Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 WAN (2013), Fire HD 8 (2015), Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (2013), Fire HDX 8.9 (2014), Fire Phone, Kindle Fire (2011), Kindle Fire HD (2012), Fire HD 6 (2014), Kindle Fire (2012), Fire (2015), Fire HD 7 (2014), Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012), Kindle Fire HD 8.9 WAN (2012), Fire HD 10 (2015), Fire HDX 8.9 WAN (2014), Kindle Fire HD (2013), Kindle Fire HDX WAN (2013), BlackBerry Leap, BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry Passport, BlackBerry Z3, BlackBerry Z30, BlackBerry P'9982. Now all can benefit from the FREE eVestigator Pen Tester App on their device. To download, simply click here or click here."

Is it a virus, spyware or just simply a mistake you may be making when installing software? - 14 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "The newest trend everyone is going crazy for mostly due to scare tactics in the media - there has to be some logic applied to security warnings - the media will just grab a maybe and scare everyone! For example, just last week a man in America caused a highway accident when he parked on the road to catch a Pikachu. Yes, that's right I'm talking about Pokemon Go, the app newly released in Australia that let's you become a "real life" Pokemon catcher and trainer. So while this is not a hacking issue and not as bad as the hype makes it out to be, it is worth looking at as a simple act of stupidity - not a security or cyber lesson. I personally, don't install one piece of software to block viruses or spyware because I never let them get installed in the first place."

People are throwing caution to the wind to "catch 'em all'." It is not just physical safety however but personal security. Logging in was reported as granting the app full access to the Google accounts of iPhone users. A Google account is required to log in and start using the app for Android and iPhone users. Now this is a case for checking just what you are agreeing to and an extremely good example of why. The true full account access status may not have actually been full and total access to the users Google account and is now irrelevant as an update released just yesterday now includes a pop up on install allowing the user to choose how much permission to allow. The extent of account information is essentially limited to your email address and name. This is important - it is not a hack, a security issue, it is what YOU are granting the App to do - so it is important to read what it is requesting." Still it is a good lesson to consider just how much trust you put into any apps and the unknown developers that create them without even thinking. Poor programmers just add library after library to do the least amount of coding as possible and bloat your phone with as much unnecessary bloat ware as possible. You must understand and be aware of just what you are agreeing to when you grant apps and programs permissions because most of all you should understand that in this technology-driven world you are the master of your device, and by saying yes, the deed is done. You could be giving information and privacy of all your contacts unless you cut yourself off from the digital world entirely.

Whether this security scare was legitimate or not, it highlights a problem and attitude or perhaps desperate ignorance of just how pervasive technology has become but apart from lazy programming it is not all poor technology. The user is the one that says yes. Not just phone apps but software, hardware, browsers, social media and other online accounts that all track your search history, browsing habits, location, purchase history, the videos you watch, the things you download and upload, emails - who, when, what and where and more, you would have noticed secret little tick boxes in their installation packages to install toolbars etc." The problem is to use the technology, program or app, you 'think' you have to accept these things. The only way to truly protect your personal information and privacy is to just say no. Stop installing more bloat ware in virus scanners and device cleanup scanners which only make the problem worse and just say 'NO'. Partially this mentality comes from the industry expecting Apps to be free and speaking from a developers' perspective they see this as a way to make money by totally inundating you with intrusive spyware popups to make a few cents during their App. I'd rather pay 99c and have a clean phone. However, I don't see this getting any better - certainly not the practice of developers using these tactics on mobiles and as a professional desktop developer - I've seen the major shift in the Application installation phase - with sites like download.com. If you don't press custom and look for that check box you're guaranteed to get a toolbar! These things are not going to change as long as people are willing to sacrifice their security and privacy for a few cents or seconds of their time. If people only accessed, bought or download things with little to no permission requirements and boycott the products of companies that track everything it might be a different future. I have had first-hand experience at what you are giving for those few cents. Has anybody watched the Ghostrider movies? In an ironic way it's like selling your soul to the devil. You are selling your privacy and human rights to the Goliath companies for next to nothing - and now you must wonder how every website seems to know what you are interested in buying from a completely different shop you looked at last week or talked about on Facebook or in an email recently. It is getting very bad people, you need a security cleanup from top to bottom or identity fraud that I deal with daily almost will be hourly." All you can do is be smart about what you access, what devices you use and what permission you allow. Any semblance of privacy is long gone but the illusion will forever cover the eyes of the consumer. Take my first hand free advice."

eVestigator® launches a powerful Android App his customers can use for Pen Testing - 12 Jul 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it did not take long. One of the biggest cyber-crimes that people forget about is the ex-employee logging into the work systems from home - sabotaging the entire network - or perhaps it's that SEO guy that I caught who caused a debt of $500,000 to my client and remotely setup a chain of incoming servers conveniently hosted at my clients premises unknown to him."

"In the Cyber world, the art of finding holes that can be hacked in from the outside in is called 'Penetration Testing'. I don't just do the basics. My App goes all the way. As a Certified Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) - this is almost a reverse attack on you to determine just 1 aspect at first. If one of your 65535 ports are open to the world that should not be on your public IP address."

"To put it extremely simply Penetration Testing or a 'pen test' is an attempt to scrutinise the security of an IT infrastructure by intentionally trying to exploit vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may exist in operating systems, routers, services and application flaws, with improper configurations, forwarding or risky end-user behavior."

"The App is with the Android App Store ready for publishing and should be out shortly. For now, check out this YouTube video of the App in action - with a mini demo by clicking here, or better still download the App by clicking here."

eVestigator® solves case via IP Tracing a twisted 7 in 1 reverse cyber harassment case - 25 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "In an utmost unbelievable series of non-traceable emails, of a harrassive serious nature - to the point of potentially one of the worst cases of impersonation and fraud I have seen to date, eVestigator® has succeeded in catching 7 stalkers in 1." "Although in instinct, it was known in 5 minutes, in evidence it took about 8-10 hours to get the evidence. IP Tracing as you know from Hotmail or Gmail is not possible. eVestigator® has to use other techniques in order to get a positive match on both the stalker, combined with investigative techniques to match it to a suspect." "It was determined that this particular stalker was sending emails to himself in the third person and then forwarding them to his ex, purporting that they were received from the partner of his ex in an attempt to defame the partner of his ex, along with 6 other identities aimed at the workplace of the partner of the ex, false testimonies from both sides and it was a major case." "The results of this case are still pending as the remedies are multi-jurisdictional. It is unknown what the victim will do in this situation. He and his partner both were surprised of the outcome. To me, it seemed to fit like a jigsaw - yet it is something beyond somebody's normal conscious understanding to comprehend. Since catching many cyber-stalkers it surprises me with the blanket of strength the internet places over them. People have to understand - it is still a very serious crime."

eVestigator® prepares to go corporate with a new Cyber-Legal direction - 25 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "As eVestigator®'s focus expands more into the Expert Witness, high-tech cyber-harassment, cyber-crime, cyber-stalking, cyber-defamation and cyber-legal arena's - it has considered a Corporation structure to host its main investigation activities, not just its forensic activities." "As the class of work is more in demand for Simon's expert witness and opinion services, the Corporation is also able to provide both the IT and Investigative services combined instead of individually." "Most of Simon's services are in forensic cyber-legal discovery now, but in the event that full scale investigations are needed this is seen as a positive move into the future, as eVestigator through its Corporate structure seeks to expand its range of software, services and e-learning activities as well as its expert witness services to Australia and beyond in the near future."

Simon Smith asked to act as single Expert Witness in an IVO Melbourne Magistrates Court case - 20 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "In a complex case of cyber stalking, cyber harassment and cyber bullying, where both parties are in a contentious situation, Simon Smith (eVestigator) has been appointed by the parties to an intriguing legal battle between 3 parties to where there has been a case of stalking and mental harm as defined in the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010 but by whom? I am completely independent in all cases and only report on facts so provided parties cooperate, it will be one of my many interesting cases." "Simon has succeeded in many of these, including recently a reverse stalking case that ended up in finding 7 identities relating back to the one sole entity with no IP address whatsoever. Cyber email skip-tracing is something that is eVestigator's specialty and it is not easy without the ability to perform a summons or have police help when stalking is performed by means of a 'FREE' webmail account in an overseas jurisdiction with hidden IP headers and absolutely no technical or legal means of getting those details from the source." Having succeeded in other cases, this case poses a very different perspective. The reason for his appointment demonstrates a rather large whole in the system. To be fair, Cyber Forensic Investigators are not Lawyers and Lawyers' are not Cyber Forensic Investigators. In some ways this action may be at the wrong time in the proceedings. It is not a question of law, rather, it is a question of investigation." "There could be several outcomes. Both parties could have nothing to do with the conduct. Either party may. My findings are to the court and I have to do whatever I need to do to ensure my findings are independent and in my training of lawyers as mediators - this is not something that lawyers typically like doing!" "However at the end of the day I look for the quickest path to get to the best solution for a result as long as those paths are not distorted or tampered with. I always find alternative methods and it relies on working cooperatively with all the parties, because litigation and wondering is worse than knowing both for the victim and the stalker (whoever that may be). Update: As it turned out - as I was restricted to one chance at gaining evidence, I asked for a very high threshold of evidence under summons as I leave no stone unturned. I was shortly notified that the parties settled by voluntary undertaking."

eVestigator® draws the line between a phone and smart phone - 24 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "While Apple hardware may be well-built and likely to last for years, the software is another story as Simon Smith of eVestigator® discussed with Jackson Stiles of New Daily earlier this week. Read the article here. (link on the 'The New Daily' website at the time of placing this blog - dated April 18 2016)

'A phone is a phone but a smart phone is not just a phone,' says Simon Smith. 'it is fair to say that the majority of phone users these days are smart phone users' therefore this must be considered when discussing phones in this day and time and this is what came up recently. With every iOS update consistently, and so it would seem intentionally, aspects of previous coding becomes obsolete, different or removed altogether forcing iOS programmers to update their apps or risk incompatibility with new devices and operating systems. Effectively limiting the usability and life of a smart phone. An example of this is the iOS 9 implemented an update which restricted access to insecure websites on older phones. Although this is great for developers like myself who already use an encrypted system internally, such encryption should be part of the operating system and such encryption is welcome. However, with little to no notice to developers such an implementation caused havoc to software and their developers. 'The life expectancy of a phone is three years, in a way. It would probably hold up in a court of law(misquoted as 'life') if something went out of warranty.' you can have a phone, but you're not going to get the most advantage and functionality out of a smart phone as technology grows because the phone is only as good as the hardware and the software they allow you to use. And sometimes you can actually get more out of the phone with the software, but they don't let you."

"A phone is a phone and will last as long as the hardware does but the other functionalities of a smart phone decrease and become obsolete over a far shorter period of time."

The Government has announced a new Cyber Security Initiative - 24 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Turnbull cyber security policy tipped to 'safeguard legal profession' , an interesting article worth reading. The government recently announced new funding for a cyber-security initiative which sounds very good if it is properly managed and implemented. It aims to establish public-private intelligence sharing centres, bolster the government's enforcement agencies, and create a Cyber Security Growth Centre led by the industry."

"15 million of the money pledged is to be set aside for grants for small businesses to have their systems tested and improved by accredited experts, which is something they most likely would be unable to afford as it can take days or even weeks to do a thorough analysis and make recommendations and though an expert's time is not cheap, investing in such a test can save you a whole lot more in the long run."

"It is a step in the right direction in boosting the country's defences against online assaults and good news for our businesses that deal locally and overseas. In response to this, the Law Council is working on the development of a cyber-security information initiative for Australian legal practitioners. Knowledge and awareness is lacking in many industries when it comes to cyber security and system vulnerabilities. This imitative will hopefully help raise awareness and wake up Australia about just how easy it is to fall prey to a hacker and lose hundreds, thousands even millions of dollars to scammers."

eVestigator featured on the Today show talking electronic pickpocketing - 13 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Around 7:30 am this morning a story ran on Channel 9's Today show about the security of contact-less credit cards. It was a good balanced story however I am not of the opinion that criminals can generate the CVV or a derivative of it via a mathematical algorithm and magnetic strip data. Needless to say, the number and expiry date could book you a nice week at the Hilton Hotel or anywhere MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order) is accepted, as it is not a merchant requirement to request the CVV for contact-less sales."

"And of course it featured the eVestigator® himself, Simon Smith!! I was happy to help with the story and taping went well. It was really good to see the finished story and somewhat ironic and funny in a way with the placement of the MasterCard statement! I would have liked to have seen it live but television scheduling can be hectic and the decision to use it was probably last minute, so there was no warning to anyone involved with the story. I am just happy to help shed some light on the possible risks of using this technology. It is an interesting subject and worth looking into further."

"The fact that 'Mythbusters' were banned from investigating and/or doing a story related to this technology is disturbing but also understandable to an extent. Methods of stealing and copying credit card information shouldn't be advertised and made publicly available without proper countermeasures as readily available."

"However, if the technology is as secure and unhackable as they say, why wouldn't they be confident enough to allow people to publicly test it? It would reassure the public if all attempts are unsuccessful. A copy of the exclusive is available here."

The public is crying out to find their cyber-stalkers. We need a better system for the abusers. - 10 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Already we have an abused flawed system where anybody can go in front of a Magistrate without a Defendant and make up anything they want and gain an interim personal safety / stalking or family violence intervention order. What is worse is the courts do not punish liars for abusing the system with either made up evidence or none at all." "People are tending to take basic investigation work into their own hands now. One would expect you need evidence to even get a hearing of who you Defendant is? Not so. There are some people out there that trick the Magistrates', and likewise Magistrates' that hand them out to compulsive liars like lollipops."

"This is an interesting article about people who need to ordinarily (apart from the above mentioned loophole) need to know who their stalker actually is. It is nothing special - it is merely a user driven database of phone numbers. It just shows what people will do to know what they need to know, before wasting court time. In any event it is a common trend that more and more people are using social networking and cannot make that exact connection to the Defendant." "I have been very successful in this difficult task and help allow real victims to gain justice."

Legal counsel seminar a good day for all. Glad to hear the feedback! - 09 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "I would like to thank Legalwise for their invitation and the opportunity I had last month to talk to in-house counsel about cyber security. I just wish I had had a little more time to go into some activities I had planned to illustrate the dangers I was talking about. Maybe next time!"

"Feedback I received was very positive averaging at 4 out of 5, 1 being poor and 5 being excellent, I would say that is a good outcome and I'm glad people found what I had to say interesting and enjoyed my presentation, still I barely scratched the surface of the issues and risks businesses face today from not just without but within. It can be as simple as allowing an employee to use a personal device on the business network. This creates a vulnerable and possible point of entry if the device is compromised or if the employee is less than trustworthy and missuses or abuses the privileges afforded him or her. Being slack in deactivating former employee's accounts and passwords also creates vulnerabilities."

"All the comments on my presentation were positive; 'presented well', 'interesting information' and ' it would be great to receive more practical tips' to list a few. The whole day was good for all attendees and the other presenters were interesting and engaging as well with 'high quality presentations', 'presentations were informative' and was 'one of the better seminars' I was a slide or two away from my conclusion when I had to wrap things up but I could have filled a whole day with the amount of information I could share, there are so many dangers and risks, one absent-minded acceptance of a seemingly harmless application can open up your whole network to a competent hacker. Always be mindful of what you are downloaded and accept the risks of what you are agreeing to when you chose to install that app. That is one of the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to cyber security."

New Cyber Threats Predicted this year. Is Australia equipped to handle them? - 07 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well I hope you have your cyber-plans ready. According to WIRED, these are the most predominant threats we can expect this year. I also would like to add that another major threat is the non-acceptance of cyber-crime being a crime like any other. Too many people shift the liability when at the end of the day, a crime is a crime. In my experience, there is just too much misinformation and lack of consumer awareness out there, partially given by insurance companies, banks and the like. Not even the courts seem to understand the technology that faces the crimes or judgments they have to deliver. I have had firsthand experience in educating a court on what is essentially - yesterday's news. One step closer to Cybergeddon™. That is for another day! For now, let's take a look at the expected cyber threats of 2016 and turn to our international colleagues."

"Extortion Hacks - Following the Sony hack in late 2014, we predicted that hacker shakedowns would increase in 2015. By shakedown, we were referring not to standard ransom-ware attacks, whereby malware encrypts or otherwise locks access to a victim's computer until the victim pays a ransom. We meant extortion hacks where attackers threaten to release sensitive company or customer data if the victim doesn't pay up or meet some other demand. With these attacks, even if you have backed up your data and don't care that hackers have locked you out of your system, public release of the data could ruin you and your customers."

"There's just one problem with tracking such attacks. If the victim caves and does pay, the public may not know extortion occurred. We do, however, have at least two extortion hacks on record for 2015: the Ashley Madison hack, which took down a CEO and exposed possibly millions of would-be cheaters to public ridicule and worse; and the hack of InvestBank in the United Arab Emirates, which resulted in the exposure of customer account information. Extortion hacks play to the deepest fears of companies and executives-if not handled well, company secrets are exposed, customers file lawsuits, and executives lose their jobs. Expect such attacks to become more prevalent in 2016."

"Attacks That Change or Manipulate Data - In testimony this year, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told Congress that cyber operations that change or manipulate digital data in order to compromise its integrity-instead of deleting or releasing stolen data-is our next nightmare. Mike Rogers, head of the NSA and US Cyber Command said the same thing. "At the moment, most [of the serious hacks] have been theft," Rogers said. "But what if someone gets in the system and starts manipulating and changing data, to the point where now as an operator, you no longer believe what you're seeing in your system?"

"Data sabotage can be much more difficult to detect than the kind of physical destruction caused by Stuxnet. That's because data alterations can be so slight yet have enormous consequences and implications. Anyone remember the Lotus 1-2-3 bug back in the 90s that would produce accounting miscalculations in spreadsheets under certain conditions? That was an unintentional error. But attackers could get into financial and stock-trading systems to alter data and force stock prices to rise or fall, depending on their aim."

"Certain types of data manipulation could even result in deaths. In 1991 a Patriot missile in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War failed to intercept an incoming Scud missile due to a software glitch in the weapon's control computer, allowing the Scud to hit an Army barracks and kill 28 soldiers. Again, this was an unintentional bug. But Chinese spies have invaded numerous US defense contractor networks in the last decade, raising concern among US military officials that they're not just stealing blueprints to copy weapons, but might also alter or insert code to sabotage the integrity of weapons systems and change how they operate."

"Chip-and-PIN Innovations - Any time the security community closes one avenue of attack, hackers adapt and find another. When retailers stopped storing customer credit card numbers and transactions in databases, hackers sniffed their networks to grab the unencrypted data live as it was sent to banks for authentication. When retailers encrypted that live data in transit to prevent sniffing, attackers installed malware on point-of-sale readers to grab data as the card got swiped and before the system encrypted the numbers. Now banks and retailers have begun rolling out new chip-and-PIN cards to thwart hackers once again."

"The cards contain a chip that authenticates it as a legitimate bank card and also generates a one-time transaction code with each purchase, preventing hackers from embossing stolen data onto fake cloned cards to use for fraudulent purchases in stores. But this won't stop fraud altogether; it will simply shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers. In the UK, where chip-and-PIN cards have been used since 2003, card-present fraud-transactions done in person-has dropped. But fraud for card-not-present transactions-those completed over the phone or online-increased from 30 percent to 69 percent of total card fraud between 2004 and 2014, according to the UK Payments Administration. Neither a PIN nor a signature is required when customers use their cards online, so simply stealing card numbers is sufficient for this kind of fraud. Expect those online fraud numbers to rise in the US as well."

"The Rise of the IoT Zombie Botnet - There are many who say that 2015 was the year of the Internet of Things; but it was also the year the Internet of Things got hacked. Connected cars, medical devices, skateboards, and Barbie dolls, were just a few items shown to be vulnerable to hackers this year."

"If 2015 was the year of proof-of-concept attacks against IoT devices, 2016 will be the year we see many of these concept attacks move to reality. One trend we've already spotted is the commandeering of IoT devices for botnets. Instead of hackers hijacking your laptop for their zombie army, they will commandeer large networks of IoT devices-like CCTV surveillance cameras, smart TVs, and home automation systems. We've already seen CCTV cameras turned into botnet armies to launch DDoS attacks against banks and other targets. Unlike a desktop computer or laptop, it can be harder to know when your connected toaster has been enlisted in a bot army."

More Backdoors - The year ended with a startling revelation from Juniper Networks that firmware on some of its firewalls contained two backdoors installed by sophisticated hackers. The nature of one of the backdoors-which gives an attacker the ability to decrypt protected traffic running through the VPN on Juniper firewalls-suggested a nation-state attacker was the culprit, since only a government intelligence agency would have the resources to intercept large amounts of VPN traffic in order to benefit from the backdoor. Even more startling was news that the backdoor was based on one attributed to the NSA."

"There's no evidence yet that the Juniper backdoor was installed by the NSA; it's more likely that an NSA spying partner-possibly the UK or Israel-or a US adversary installed it. But now that companies and researchers know for certain what such a backdoor would look like in their system and how it would operate, expect more backdoors to be uncovered in 2016 as companies closely scrutinize their systems and products. And despite the fact that the Juniper incident shows that backdoors intended for US law enforcement and intelligence agencies can be subverted by others for their own malicious use, don't expect the FBI and NSA to give up on their quest for encryption backdoors in 2016."

AFP Subpoena email is a scam - 29 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "The latest version of this email apparently issuing a subpoena I have received, the AFP logo looks like it is a missing picture, this in itself doesn't prove anything as it could just be human error. It is the content and reason for the email that is suspicious."

"A little bit of fact checking, as simple as a Google search, will bring you to a link on the AFP website stating they do not send subpoenas by email and not to click any links in an email purporting to do so. If it had been genuine, the link would at least look like it directed to the AFP website but the link to the site to learn more and the link to download the supposed subpoena is exactly the same 'http://a-ip.com/H1fOYVRBS/Art0jP74.php?id=youremail@yourprovider.com.au' I have changed it only to exclude my email address."

"The link obviously does not go to the AFP website. a-ip.com is an automated invoicing service. It is doubtful they are actively involved in the scam but their services may be implemented by the scammers in some way. However, all you need to know is that if you receive this email you are not in trouble and you should just delete and forget it."

Fake love costs money - $22.7 million lost to dating scams in 2015 - 29 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Having solved many of these myself last year I must say, I'm not surprised. This is the official figure now reported by the ACCC. It is reported that last year, 2,620 Australians reported losing almost $23 million to dating and romance scams to the ACCC. One of my clients' make up $500,000 of that!"

"Remember that it is eVestigator's advice that you need to check the source and destination of all correspondence. Love can be 'in the air', but if you have a look at our website there are ten golden rules you should read before making any decisions. This is all of what I call the makings of Cybergeddon™. It is the fake world. Believe in what you can see, feel and touch and if you can't, there is a reason."

"My client was dating on a Christian dating site. In this case, the scammer felt that religion was a vulnerability. It worked for them. I have recently had the opportunity to hear from a scammer's mouth the here lack of care and dignity as to the damage and affect this has on others. To them, it is a way of life. There will be more on this shortly. Remember also to check out my blog entry containing bank guarantees. I have something to say about the banks you might want to know."

By spying on your partner, did you know you may be committing an offence? - 26 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "It might be time to seriously evaluate your relationship when spying on your significant other becomes a viable option in your mind. You must get professional advice and support and not take matters into your own hands. There are things you can do but many things you can't do without a security licence and things that are plain illegal and unethical."

"Last year, a man was arrested in Spain for installing spyware on his girlfriends' phone, which was a gift from him with the monitoring software installed before he even gave her the phone. He was monitoring her messages, accessing her WhatsApp messages and her social media posts as well and could also activate the camera and microphone."

"Talk to eVestigator today about your concerns, options and actions you can take."

Fake Mobile Apps - A new medium for phishing - 25 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "As an avid developer of successful Android and iPhone Apps myself, its sad to see it come to this, but it's not the technology, it's the criminal. There's now malware out there targeting major Android apps including Google, PayPal, Banking, eBay and Skype among others. It is designed to mimic the login screen of 20 different banking apps from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey as well as the above. It overlays itself over the login screen in order to capture your usernames and passwords and bypasses two factor authentication by intercepting authentication codes sent by SMS, forwarding it to the hackers and hiding it from the user. It gets onto phones by imitating Adobe Flash Player, which many websites require. Avoid this by only downloading apps from trusted sources like Google Play."

"If you are worried that your phone may be infected, check the list of device administrators found under the Settings > Security > Device Administrators menu. If infected, 'Flash Player' will be include on the list. Ignore warnings about data loss and remove 'Flash Player' from this list. Now it is possible to uninstall the malware via Settings > Apps/Application manager > Flash Player > Uninstall."

"If you cannot access the Device Administration list for whatever reason it means there is malware trying to protect itself and prevent deactivation. Restart the Android device in Safe Mode, which disabled installed apps, preventing the malware from blocking access to the Device Administration list. Check your device manual or support website if you don't know how to access Safe Mode."

"Again NEVER download files or apps from unknown sources."

Australia Post 'Locky' scam emails - 25 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "The latest Australia Post email scam is very elaborate. Using advance scraping software, they scan social media to glean personal details like your name, address and occupation to make the email seem legitimate. The emails refer to an undeliverable item with a link or download with more details. The attachment or link it asks you to click looks safe to a lot of antivirus software as it is a small file or a Word document. However it actually contains malware called 'Locky', which runs a java script code that locks your computer files, demanding a bit coin ransom worth hundreds of dollars. If you are unsure about the legitimacy of an email Australia Post will never: Ask you to click on an email link to print off a label to redeem your package. Email or call you to ask for personal or financial information including password, credit card details or account information. Send you an email asking you to click on an attachment. Email you to reconfirm your physical mailing address by clicking on a link. Call or email you out of the blue to request payment. The above was taken directly from Australia Post's website. Most businesses that have been victims of these kinds of scams will have such a checklist to advise of email/telephone contact legitimacy."

eVestigator® presents at Legalwise CPD in-house Counsel conference on Cyber-Security - 20 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "If only there were more hours in the day. So much I had planned, I was expecting to hopefully find some time at the end to do some demonstrations at let people know where they have been (according to their mobile phone Wi-Fi beacons) as well as giving them a surprise or two when they mysteriously email each other from one side of the room to another" "The core topics were essentially based around how to mitigate a Cyber Attack once it has been established, and how to prevent such attacks from occurring. There was also some general discussion on liability. Interestingly we got to get through the content that needed to be shown and we can save the extra fun stuff for another time." "A question was asked of me, and I had to be honest. I say it how it is. That question was somewhat like, 'What do we do with regards to this new Cyber-Insurance'? I asked, 'Do you want my honest answer?'. The crowd said yes - and I gave it to them! It is merely a new name for existing liabilities that are otherwise easy to label outside of a policy for the benefit of the insurer to remove liability and/or a new idea to make money for the same insurance the customer already held.' Essentially, I see it as a way of 'handballing'." "I state, with all my experience, Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Security threats have always existed. A computer is like a watermelon. Where do you store that watermelon, how do you protect it, who uses it, does anyone take it home, can anyone put their hands over the window and pinch a bit to eat? The answer is yes, and it always will be. Computers don't do anything, people do!" "Employee fraud is employee fraud in any case that I have done and should be treated by the police and the courts accordingly, regardless of how they committed that fraud!"

eVestigator® acquires cybersecurity.com.au and discusses Cryptology - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "In celebration of this, Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is planning to use this site in the nearby future to enhance Cryptology Training and Online Safety. Simon has just finished a PD from the popular Cybrary series, entitled "The History of Cyber Security Intelligence S3SS10N - Presented by George Schu." "This short PD offers a background to the history of cryptology; which is the making and breaking of code. In this lesson, the instructor offers a brief background to cryptology dating 4,000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians and then goes onto the discuss the birth of modern cryptology. It describes that, Cyber security can be seen as a descendent of Cryptology. The making and breaking of codes dating back to biblical times and beyond."

"It is very useful to understand the history of Cryptology. The knowledge known to eVestigator® and repeated in this PD demonstrate a background to the history of cryptology; which is the making and breaking of code. In this PD, the instructor offers a brief background to cryptology dating 4,000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians and then goes onto discuss the birth of modern cryptology, and best Cyber Security Practices and Solutions." "eVestigator® agrees with the genius Herbert Yardley (who is considered the Father of Modern Cryptology) and he dates back to World War I as he began his efforts after realising the United States did not have a focused cryptologic effort. He stated this would surely effect their ability to fight well in the war and persuaded the Army to set up an effort and as such, was hired by the Army to make this effort permanent and eventually gave way to the 'Black Chamber', which was credited in 1921 with cracking Japanese code, which was critical for the USA with negotiation with Japan at the end of WWI."

"Cryptology considered to be used and resulted in tremendous strides in World War II. Cryptology continues to grow and help the world keep an advantage on the forefront stage today and is one of the most important aspects of cyber security." "eVestigator® will be introducing some new initiatives around this area shortly."

eVestigator® Invited to Channel 9 to demonstrate a new type of SCAM - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Cyber Forensic Expert Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is soon to appear on Channel 9 exposing a major new style of SCAM for consumer awareness sweeping the country. More shall be revealed after it is aired."

eVestigator® finds a peak in domain hijacking and registration SCAMS. - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it is obvious to say that we already knew we cannot trust a domain name. According to Google, a domain name 'User' is the legal entity they are dealing with, not the holder, not the company, nobody. So beware if you have Google Apps for business and one of your staff members changes the authentications settings and or assigns it to a Master Account outside your company. It's theirs! I have now more than 2 major Google related SCAMS and Frauds I am working on, and please take my advice above seriously as imagine what it feels like when you are told, "you have no proof of ownership of that 'account' despite owning the domain!"

"As an online expert and due to my own experience, and many of my investigations involving domain hijacking, it's safe to say I know the Worldwide Domain Name system backwards. Personally, I register a LOT of domain names. Another thing to look for is the now manipulated fake domain registration SCAM. You register a domain name (and of course you have probably seen similar SCAMS with Trademark Applications) and then you are bombarded with services emailing you from overseas claiming to 'finish off the registration' or 'properly register it or later renew it'. Again you have never dealt with this company before. Today I received an email entitled, 'Domain Registration Incomplete'. Note the word 'Registration'. Inside that email up comes 3 bright and beautiful trademarked logo's (obviously without permission) of the 3 potentially largest search engine logos in Australia. Google, Yahoo and Bing. The email was did not even go to the effort of informing me of my recently registered domain (note the word 'registered') - and note that is even if it knows I did, or it is a cold SPAM email."

"It was NOT picked up from Google SPAM and was sent from 'admin@realyou.pw'. Note: Always check who is sending you an email - no matter what it says, then check the reply-to address. This is what it said.

(Now that you've bought your domain, it's time to register it.

By registering and listing your website with the major search engines you are allowing your website to be searched by the entire online community.

You can verify and submit your website with Google, Bing, Yahoo and 20 other top search engines by clicking the button below.)

It is sent with a nice badge showing quality endorsement from 'Copyright © *2016 Official Domain Directory*, All rights reserved. PO BOX 12114 San Francisco, CA 94112."

"Now note that it says (Now that you've bought your domain, it's time to register it.) Not buying is registering. They are trying to confuse you into thinking that SEO work on the domain name is registering. Also note, that you are dealing with complete fraudulent SPAM with a reply-to address of 'admin@realyou.pw'. The bottom line, the word SPAM has changed into more the word Impersonation. Always be in control or have someone in control of your IT. I am auditing a company at the moment who has no idea how their $500,000 online business works. My first advice was more of a question. Please, get me the source code!"

eVestigator® takes on 600K SCAM. An email address does not identify an entity! - 05 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well what a week it has been. It seems that Cybercrime is getting worse and worse every day. Someone behind a computer screen has a virtual concept that their actions and consequences are also virtual. This is not true."

"As this is a current investigation I cannot talk much about this case, save for the fact that a Goliath Corporation is involved, seeking to rely on what seems like just an email address. As you know it is very easy to compromise an identity and I will be presenting at the Legalwise CPD seminar exactly on this concept."

"Solving major cases of fact is what I do best, especially in the new war, the war of Cybercrime. There are not too many people who understand the potential of a hacker and what can be done. Needless to say I shall keep you up to date as to what the law considers a binding contract, as if it is relying on a representation via email, then the liability of due diligence on one or both of the parties must be resolved. Who's responsibility is it to ensure they are not compromised, and if so, is the civil repercussion a duty of negligence in not detecting by the other side? These are hot topics at the moment. As a Cyber Technologist, I plan to present case studies on both sides."

eVestigator® invited to speak at Legalwise CPD Counsel Conference - 23 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "On Friday, 18 March 2016, at the Intercontinental in Melbourne, Simon Smith will be teaming up with Melissa Kirby from Sharpe and Abel for the Legalwise CPD. He will be appearing as a Forensic Cyber Expert Witness and presenting useful advice and anonymised case studies designed especially for in-house Counsel when dealing with Cyber-attacks."

"He is proud to be invited to speak at the 9th Annual In-House Counsel Conference seminar, focusing on the very challenging and new specialised area of Cybercrime Loss Mitigation. It looks like it is going to be a great event. In-house counsel can be asked for all kinds of advice-some legal, some business and some off the record personal questions from co-workers. This blending of roles and responsibilities creates a very challenging legal and ethical landscape for which there is a depth of clear guidance."

"The seminar addresses several issues facing in-house counsel today, and my topics discuss case studies of 'When Your Organisation Faces a Cyber Attack' and 'How to mitigate a typical cyber-attack of Denial of Service (DDoS), or potential theft of trade secrets and IP after the event?"

"It also addresses the very important issue of 'What steps should be taken to establish quantum of damage to the organisation?' and 'How to best implement lock down and typical methods used to locate the offender.'"

"I have the pleasure of presenting with Melissa Kirby, Founder of Sharpe who specialises in working with engineering and technical professionals, supporting clients and keeping their businesses safe through difficult times during the Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis and all the times between. Ms. Kirby is the Legal Director of Sharpe & Abel and I will be discussing real life scenarios that as a Forensic Cyber Expert Witness/ Private Investigator - eVestigator to provide valuable intelligence in this area."

"I look forward to seeing all attendees there and am grateful to be part of a well-structured, and well organised event."

For the second time eVestigator succeeds on second opinion - 19 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "In no way does this blog entry take away from the good work that my colleagues do as I believe that everybody has unique skills in various areas and deserve equal recognition for those skills. In choosing a forensic investigator it is often difficult to determine whether you will get the outcome you want, the outcome you don't want or any outcome at all. I have completed two cases recently where I was able to successfully satisfy the customer by achieving a result that another respected high profile Forensic Investigator could not achieve at almost half the cost.

My main philosophy in investigations is to deal with facts only. Especially in cyber-crime, it is safe to say I've had extensive experience in IT and security, most acclaimed via actual practical work as I just happened to have grown up at the right time when the little baby we call the "consumer internet" was born. The point of this entry is to state that knowledge and skill is relevant not to someone's age or potential doctoral degree in an ever-changing industry, but to the actual hands-on physical experience (in my case 20 years) of software engineering at a master level and teaching others to do similar.

If you are looking for a true forensic cyber expert who actually has won cases, has the knowledge of not only the entire programming language of the internet but the backbone of the very beginnings, which is lacking in every university degree today, then look no further than eVestigator. Sometimes innovation and thinking outside the square can provide an outcome that nobody else can provide. To understand the depth of knowledge that eVestigator brings into an investigation, it is wise to look at the broad range of qualifications on this website combined with the broad range of actual outcomes. The reason why I have a 100% success rate to date, is because I am adaptable to change my methodology, writing my own code and not relying on a piece of software to conduct my investigation. eVestigator in fact writes the software most often if necessary because no two cases are the same.

So it pays to get a second opinion and eVestigator does have a 100% success rate because he will only complete a job with the understanding and co-operation of the client that the strategies that can start off and change is led by him and not interfered with. It is only when a strategy is interfered with that eVestigator chooses to not participate in an investigation. It is otherwise his nature to complete in full, from scratch every task he starts to obtain a factual result for the client. Opinion is secondary."

eVestigator®'s Gains WASC Accredited IT University USA (CHFI) Accreditation - 13 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "CHFI stands for 'Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator' and was awarded on the 10th February 2016 by IT University based in California. The University is WASC Accredited. WASC accreditation also places ITU among the recognised list of institutions on the U.S. Department of Education's database of recognized institutions of higher learning and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's Listing of Accredited and Candidate Institutions (CHEA)."

"ITU is also recognized as an approved institution by California's Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)."

The Subjects covered with depth included Computer Forensics, Forensics Investigation Process, Searching and Seizing, Digital Evidence, First Responder Procedures, Forensics Lab, Hard Disks and File Systems, Windows Forensics, Data Acquisition and Duplication, Recovering Deleted Files and Partition, Using Access Data FTK, Using EnCase, Steganography, Password Crackers, Log Correlation, Network Forensics, Wireless Attacks, Web Attacks, Email Crimes, Mobile Investigation, Investigative Reports, Expert Witness and more."

eVestigator® provides forensic evidence in 4 of Australia's largest SCAMS! - 09 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well there was such thing as justice, or was there? I have cooperated with ACORN and given them intelligence that lead to some of the most major discoveries of direct hit IP addresses behind some of Australia's largest SCAMS. One being a major dating SCAM, now claimed over $510,000 and being misled by banks to place the onus away from the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, and the other being the fake Microsoft 'tech support' SCAM which is well known - where somebody purporting to be Microsoft calls an unsuspecting user and is told their computer is infected."

"They then get them to download a Trojan Horse that purports to be merely remote control software, and in fact is, with a little bit more. They then use it to lock the person's computer at a very high OS level demanding payment to fix the problem. This was reported to my client, and then by me to ACORN. ACORN accused me of not reporting the data I found, when this is how they treat their customers. I inform my clients that they are a reporting network, but still via the AFP and Interpol they could make an arrest with my data, but not so."

"Here is a letter given with permission from the original client that 'got their backs up' just because I was doing my job. I have anonymised the letter for the client and have full permission from him to publish it. I make no comment as to its contents or otherwise. The customer and I have the right to freedom of expression and speech. Here is his most recent letter. I can unfortunately do no more for him, as mentioned on my website I contacted ACORN with consumer concerns and it was not well received, in fact, it resulted in what will most likely be contested legal action for alleged false statements and misleading statements and ethical standards complaints to the police. It is actually my belief that the banks are answerable to this and are shifting liability setting people up for failure when their own website is supposed to protect them and even guarantees this under various circumstances. It is important to note, that a bank is neither legally able to Investigate nor purport to be an authority making a decision without Police intervention. The letter he permits goes as follows"
...

"Dear Sir / Madam



On XXth Nov last year, the Bank External Investigations contacted me to advise that I had been scammed after an online romance. I will not go into details as the details are irrelevant. I was told they (XXXX Bank) could not do anything more and to submit a report on the ACORN website, which I did the following day.


Subsequently, I have submitted a further 23 reports as it is the only means of actually reporting any suspects, including phone numbers in Australia and Malaysia, bank account details in Australia and even beneficiary addresses overseas. I have submitted a substantial amount of evidence to enable Authorities in Australia and Malaysia to act on seeking the perpetrators and in fact all the possible money mules or persons colluding with the perpetrators.


I have had to play money launderer as a last resort to try to bribe the XXXX Bank to take some action to involve the AFP which to some degree may have worked.


As a last resort, as my own finances are completely negligible now, I informed XXXX Bank External Investigations that a deposit of $XX,000 in my account from an unknown sender would remain frozen until it was investigated by the AFP. I received a call from the XXXX CID . According to XXXXXXX, the call was in in relation to my last ACORN report. To my knowledge XXXX CID may not have received the report as a result of the ACORN report, and may have been a result of XXXX Bank's report to Vic Police.


I used $XXX of the unknown deposit to hire a very efficient and ethical Forensic Investigator to trace the IP addresses of the two perpetrators successfully and without any doubt, and his report was submitted on the ACORN.


To date and after three months without any communication from the AFP, other than an email from the XXX Police stating that the case was in the the hands of the AFP on 4th Dec 2015, I have had no communication.


My concern is that: The ACORN really doesn't care
The ACORN is too slow to respond, given real time information


And as a result- the evidence is no longer useful.

To cap off there are another 5 victims of this scam known by the XXXX Bank in Australia who have full knowledge and all the details and in some way they can be considered accountable in the loss of possibly $1.5M.

The prime suspects can be located in South Africa and Nigeria. Found by eVestigator®.

I request a reference to report this to the AFP Ombudsman.

Regards
eVestigator® Customer"

What happens when a victim self-sabotages their own case? - 04 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "If you were to visit a Doctor, and engage a Specialist, you would do so because of their experience. Sometimes I have seen the victim without realising it, introduce self-harm into their own case."

"They say you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. This is very true. Sometimes in cases, the victim actually is so entangled in the emotional trauma that they play 'investigator' and lose sight of the massive amounts of obviousness small pieces of advice from an external expert point of view can make. It ends up turning into a sheer path for self-destruction. My policy is, that I will not work with anybody who does not take my suggestions - because the hard work in setting up all the layers for an outcome is interfered with if it is not isolated to 1 person who can and will make a change for the better."

"I think a priority list is vital for clients so that an Investigator can understand the exact facts which are required first, prior to seeing the 'Goliath' of information. Things are actually pretty simple and easy if you take a systematic approach. I have had great success with every single client and in speaking to others in the industry - it is a common trend that you need to set a plan and stick to it." "Results and facts come from research. I am a factual investigator; I don't give 'opinions'. I leave no door open. The key to a good outcome in an investigation is communication and understanding of overall value and accomplishments one wishes to achieve, and as with all others in the industry - it is clean sailing from there."

"I am happy to say my strategy is succeeding and by having some common rules in place it is possible to avoid situations that displease customers. You only have to look at my testimonials. All of these people followed my advice and received an 'outcome' after research without interference. When I send an invoice I don't see money, I see outcomes and injustices, and think of ways from the information I've given to correct such injustices." "It is also important to help your client not become misinformed, as sometimes they get the wrong advice, even when you know the outcome. Sometimes, however this is out of your control. It is fantastic to see positive results and I continue to see them. I just wish to advise any potential customers to allow yourself help, and help will come to you."

"I often go out of my way and use other contacts and expertise that compliment services. This has and can end up saving customers hundreds of thousands of dollars. eVestigator® is like the lollipop (man). I help direct, and strategy is so important in this area. When you are at the investigative stage, after initial research, you start to see extreme value for money."

"Being a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Marriage Celebrant and author of books on Grief and Trauma I can see the signs of 'self-sabotage'. Depending on the case, it is good to choose an investigator that has a cross range of abilities in all areas, still performing a sole service, but at least there is awareness."

"I say it how it is, and don't tell somebody what it is that they want to hear, I speak the truth and I speak based on experience and fact gained from cases I have been involved in and resolved. The level of communication is required on both sides to come to a fruitful outcome. Here are just some of the comments I have received in the course of helping people."

"It takes 2 to tango they say! These clients are gold and I want to applaud them on their trust and belief to get them successful results. I ultimately take your instruction, but be prepared for honesty. If I recommend something I am happy to explain why - and how later it can save you. All these sample customers I applaud for showing strength in their traumatic times, yet maintaining themselves from the potential to 'self-sabotage'." "Full cooperation and confidence that everybody is on the same team is a must to produce successful outcomes. Three cheers for these successful happy customer examples!"


Thank you customers!
--------------------
* "Intellectually, he is clearly a star."
* "Brilliance is an understatement."
* "It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do."
* "Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed."
* "Simon is also a genius computer programmer, who has helped find cyber stalkers, assisted ASIC find and prosecute unlicensed practitioners"
*"Hello Simon, I just wanted to let you know how encouraged I felt after speaking to you" "Simon's findings from forensically examining both an iPhone and an iPad gave me almost too much information than I was prepared for"
* "He knows the workings of the internet, that's a fact."
* "Thx Simon. Through all this as much as I have learnt about how nasty and shady people are, I have met a lot of good honest ones! You are at the top of the list."
* "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA XXXXX account, and complained about the lack of action."
* "Thanks for all your help, greatly appreciated."
* "Simon is the utmost professional that goes beyond what's on paper"
* ""He genuinely cares about your well-being and mental status"
* "It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do"
* "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA account, and complained about the lack of action."
* "Simon stood by me and saw the process through. He was not just a Forensic Investigator."
* "Simon was directly requested to volunteer some advice and put forward a willing participant on Channel 7's Today Tonight program"
* "I recommend Simon fully for any investigation as his programming and forensic investigation skills are outstanding"
* "Simon not only solved my case but from Today Tonight's expert request, he enabled me to explain some views on Cyber-Bullying"
* "I have gotten to know Mr. Smith over the past 10 years, both as a person and as a Computer Programmer. As a Computer Programmer, Mr. Smith stood out, from early in our relationship, as an articulate and perceptive programmer. He has shown a tenacity in dealings with several International Companies and Governmental Departments"
* "Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed"
* "Simon was onto the lawyers and made sure things were done!"
* "I highly HIGHLY recommend Simon and eVestigator® especially to sort out the lawyers and give amazing factual results."
* "He was smart enough to get the actual evidence from the cloud and the iPad at the end of the day didn't even make much difference! He is superb."
* "I am a great judge of character and you, especially you, have given me strength to go on. Thankyou so so much, you are a gem.

The Banks and the Increase in Cyber Crime in Australia - 03 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "It is evident in cases that I'm currently performing that cybercrime has increased dramatically over the last three years. There are now smarter ways for criminals masking their identity that contributes to the typical attribute of misinformation that is used to target vulnerable people. I have noticed an increase in dating cybercrime especially in the Christian sector as there is a higher level of trust among Christian dating site users and it appears that one may come to the conclusion that a particular religion seems to be an innocent victim. I say that this is not so. It is a guess that potentially in the past has worked but anybody is a victim in these strategic cybercrimes that I am witnessing. Mostly what I'm seeing is a co-operative team of individuals that work both nationally and overseas. Nationally they are able to open up Australian bank accounts and overseas they are able to concoct stories as to the transition from the Australian bank account to a Malaysian, Nigerian or South African bank account. There is however one major flaw in this whole system. I question the banks and I put them on notice that they themselves are negligent in the way they handle or attempt to handle what they consider to be cybercrime."

"The lay customer is the victim and the bank is the commercial entity that is ultimately performing the transaction. Take this analogy; imagine you are buying a fridge from your local retailer. If you experience problems with the fridge within seven days of your purchase and your retailer tells you to call the manufacturer then your retailer would technically be (and this is not legal advice) in breach of the Australian Consumer Law being the Competitions and Consumer Act 2010. Ultimately the responsibility lies with who you pay or who commits the conduct. The banks have guarantees that are considered to be consumer guarantees and they protect customers against fraud. However, I find it ironic that the banks themselves will not communicate with police or to higher authorities to report such fraud, I wonder why this is the case. I believe that the banks would ultimately be reporting themselves because the result of the banks reporting that they have given money to a criminal would ultimately give responsibility back to the bank and their consumer guarantees when it comes to online safety and digital fraud."

"There are three massive cases at the moment I am dealing with where I am going to be recommending legal action against the banks in addition to cyber forensic data that identifies the criminals internationally that was obtained through propriety cyber forensic methods as it is obvious that the IP address of such criminals isn't forthcoming. My understanding is that the banks have an obligation that, again without indicating any kind of legal advice, could possible put them into a position called 'Unconscionable Conduct'. I suggest anybody who has any issues with digital fraud to contact a forensic investigator like myself if they get nowhere with the bank or the police."

"There is another angle to this that everybody is missing. Ultimately at the end of the day, the banks may very well be contributing to the fraud by rewarding those who are actually engaging in fraud. Without getting into specific conduct of a particular case that I am currently working on, I would like to state that this is most likely the case and I will be making reports to the Australian Federal Police of this nature. I strongly advise every person to read their guarantees that the bank give them and the Terms & Conditions that they rely on when they conduct internet banking and/or permit others to conduct internet banking on their behalf and the way that the conduct is intentionally hand-passed to multiple liability and discovery sources like ACORN, the banks fraud team, the local police, INTERPOL and the Australian Federal Police."

"As a forensic investigator, I can tell you now that the banks have a lot to answer to and any person who is experiencing such problems should contact me immediately."

$200,000 dating scam BUSTED by SCAM expert Simon Smith! - 21 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "I had the pleasure today of using special forensic techniques to attain the exact IP address and location details of a massive dating scam that involves potentially hundreds of people in a pyramid style dating arrangement. I have requested my client report the details which nobody has (specific IP/Device/UA String) to ACORN, and really hope for the benefit of all victims ACORN will use the AFP to make Federal arrests."

"This involved Australian bank accounts and a series of people both in Australia, in Singapore and wait for it, Nigeria. I must say that this is not the only case that involves this kind of money. I am just about to release a press release in this matter as I have grave concerns that the banks are involved. At least in this one case I have evidence that suggests that the bank are not cooperating with their Fraud guarantees. This is a major issue for Australian consumers and must be reported to the public."

"There is more than one SCAM like this I'm working on. People forget the part the bank plays in this and the level of protection and security they are entitled to. I will be advising in my report to my client that he provides ACORN with specific information that in this case implicates the bank, at least allegedly by way of conduct and advise that the ACCC must be involved. So far I have solved over $750,000 worth of SCAM's."

"The proof is evident, the scammers are exposed and I shall update you if the police update my client. For once we hope the countries can work together. The details (all except my incriminating findings) have been reported to ACORN. My findings are the "Golden Bullet" that will enable an exact location and arrest. I not only found out the true IP of the SCAMMER's, but the method and scheme they use. Innocent people are setup as part of the scheme in a massive money laundering exercise. Sadly the banks take the so called unproven "victims" word for it, however I shall be reporting to the AFP this conduct as the banks are neither investigators nor are they the police. They have however frozen money in my victim's account due to unproven information and they will have to answer to the ACCC and the Banking Ombudsman as well as the AFP, because not only did they witness the victim being used in the SCAM, they are rewarding an alleged "victim" by freezing his account."

"Nevertheless you cannot get a better result than the source, and that is what shall be passed on to ACORN. I will also be making my own recommendations to the AFP on this matter."

Ending a Relationship? Make sure you know what you are entitled to! - 18 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Story of the week is more some useful advice. As a Commonwealth Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (and trainer thereof) and Forensic Investigator that deals with extensive Personal Safety Intervention orders, I see a lot of 'hiding' of assets."

"One such example is, that if in the event you are going through a divorce (ironic that I'm also a Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant) but life is very unpredictable to say the least, you need to know your rights. Usually you see the typical behaviour that is similar to that of what I call a "pre-stalker". You see some niceness, then some dictatorship and a bit of control and maybe more niceness and what looks to be open attempts to 'help' the other party."

"I have done many cases like this where help=hide information. If it happens, and if it must happen, then remember that nothing is black and white in the Family Court but don't be bluffed by what people 'say' the judge is likely to do and get scared off during mediation. At least do your research. $1 spent on my forensic services could not only get results but save $5 spent on lawyers writing unnecessary discovery letters."

"One such case presented and I am happy to say that due to my services she is at least $200-300k better off than what she was 'told' she was getting. Much of what I do is facilitate the 'Project'. I don't see an investigation as one simple fact. I see it as a project. A project that I can coordinate all parties, save you money and get you results. The only time this is affected is when you are presented with a brick wall, then we need to knock it down!"

"The moral of this story is when it comes to divorce and money, trust nobody, get facts, then get lawyers for the important parts. Don't waste all money contesting wills, or assets in churning letters up and down. You may be missing a $200k term deposit sitting in one parties name that is half yours!"

Computers vs Humans, Processes -> Models -> Outcomes. Biometrics and voice example - 08 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Many people can recognise a person straight away by their face and also sometimes by their voice. But how do computers recreate or examine a face or voice for what a human brain would assume is equivalent."

"Firstly as a master programmer and lecturer for over 25 years, a developer of innovations, I will be the first to admit that the 'computer' is not at all the only tool in my toolkit for forensic IT services, however it is a necessary tool though as it forms part of a process which leads to a method and produces an outcome, with the addition of many other sub-components, all of which rely on each other. Imagine a computer is just a giant calculator that can do nothing until you press the buttons. Well that is true. However, can you press the buttons 240,000,000 times a second? I draw similarity to today's programmers who make 'websites' and work as I used to as Senior Analyst Programmer with popular tools. People think that a template or software is the be all and end all and nothing else matters. They invent many words and accreditations for nothing more than a heavyweight unreliable set of locked down (or even worse not locked down your way) code. When I first started programming I literally had to draw every pixel on the screen. If I wanted to do something intelligent I would have to do it low level. Nothing has changed for forensics, but for programmers it has."

"What is it that has changed? Programmers have got lazy and trained to use pre-built templates. The issue with this is you lose all the control in between (and you inherit their bugs). I have written many API/SDK/plug-ins as a programmer FOR programmers because nowadays there is not one method to use some magic software the way you want you to use it 'exactly' for. So, you lose creative control, increase security risks not knowing all the code and/or everybody knowing the open source code and risk your entire business or assets on someone's "playground". You can see my certificates and credentials below and yes they are a token but how do you do cyber forensics if you're a template trained expert or trainer?"

"My answer is you simply can't. Imagine a painting hand painted half way; you can't touch the first half. The point I am making is that a good expert does not have to mention software packages (and all the jobs on job sites are direct evidence of people wanting to employ puppets of these products) they should be able to do ANYTHING AT ALL. Notice in that statement there was no mention of a computer?"

"Recently I was asked to both forensically analyse a voice and reconstruct a face. The first thing that came into my mind was OF COURSE, THAT'S EASY AND I'VE DONE THIS MANY TIMES. The first thing that would come into perhaps another mind is hmmm I'll try to go to Google and look for free software that does that. So because I understand the raw mechanics of any sound file I don't need fancy named software. I just write my own! Take that logic and look at the human face, facial reconstruction and recognition, or any biometrics for that. At the very basic level an expert should remove the computer from the question and ask themselves how I as a human could do this (understanding that the computer has an incomprehensible advantage over a human in consistency and is necessarily sometimes an absolute must to form a method as a process, with its speed and other advantages). Without getting into artificial intelligence concepts which I actually call Official Intelligence, I am happy to report a successful outcome."

"If someone says can this be done and a human can do it, the invention and intelligence lies in what you can do with that computer that makes a difference to the outcome to form that piece of the puzzle, not what the computer is going to do for you. There are plenty of parts to a method and system even in everyday life, but they should be treated as one element to complete what would be necessary to complete the next element, and so on. Such a process creates a method, which creates an outcome. It is no indifferent to any other necessary piece of the project, for example investigative ability or data extraction. Computer Forensics and implementation is necessary to do things that are still logical but out of absolute reach of the normal way of thinking, it is strategy. It is the strategy that forms the process which creates the method which produces the outcome - it really is that simple but not many people understand this (not even some Government departments). The use of a computer in forensic investigation is a necessary component as a whole and does nothing not as the sole attribute. It is also the same for the reverse. Without a computer, computer forensics (in the nature of this article) would not form the process that creates the method. Computers are necessary for their speed and collective use to deliver a logical outcome. If you take one piece of the puzzle out that is the heart of the puzzle in any process then there is no process. So in reverse if someone claims to be an expert in XYZ named software, what they are really saying is 'I am an expert in using somebody else's restrictive set of rules'."

"The moral of this blog it to give an expert's point of view to distinguish fact from fiction in how a process that uses a computer is required but not the magic tool or sole tool people thinks it is. We tell computers what to do. They do it faster and either make a workable process or make an impossible process! To understand the backbone and the place of the computer in any process, it is necessity to value the hardware contribution and not the software, and that contribution may be utmost necessary to create a real process or strategy. In my eyes that is what defines innovation."

If a pineapple was able to give mechanical benefit of the raw unparalleled computer (just being one necessary component to the entire system) then you would use the pineapple, and it would be mandatory! In Forensic Investigations as we are doing facial reconstructions and voice analysis, to attain a match you need speed but you are still relying on what you first opened your eyes to as a baby. It is the mechanics of the human mind in picking the tools necessary to create the method and process that attains a result in both innovation and investigations, and this requires strategy."

I caught the stalker stalking the stalk-ee yet I uncovered the stalk-ee as the stalker - 05 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it did not take long for the stalkers to come out. Well this was an interesting case that I'd like to share with you. Imagine finding a stalker that is the victim to stalking and being presented with the person being charged for stalking, and turning the tables?"

"Well it happened. I managed to completely reverse justice in this instance. Firstly, stalking is a crime and should be reported to the police but cyber-stalking is something new to this country. This is something I am an expert in as I grew up through the birth of all versions of the consumer internet and saw where things went wrong as a programmer from the age of 11."

"So, I was approached by a guy who was accused of stalking and had a LOT to lose. Despite stalking usually being treated civilly, it is dangerous, because if you get an AVO, IVO or PSIO against you it has criminal repercussions. I should know - I've got someone put to jail on a suspended sentence on this very subject. But what I did for this client was not only cost effective but well worth it. I performed some IT forensic work on his computer and found that the very person that attained a 'ex-parte' application for an intervention order was monitoring him before, during and after they sought that order."

"I'll say that again. The actual 'victim' was monitoring every email of the alleged 'stalker' whom she had forced out of the house by perjuring herself in the Magistrates court and not telling the full story. It was in fact her that was stalking him. After some simple evidence on paper (as I always report only fact) - and a mention, things reversed quite rapidly for the Applicant. So let us just say at the mention things reversed pretty quickly. It was a small but ironic success."

"It just goes to show, you can't hide behind a masked IP address from eVestigator®"

Happy New Year Everybody - and on comes identity fraud! - 01 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "First of all Happy New Year, and we do hope that you take this year to look at your cyber security techniques and learn ways to prepare for what I call CW3, Cyber War 3. Essentially, it is already happening in front of our eyes."

"This year started off with a client being the victim of Identity fraud, which branched out into credit card fraud, and very rapidly became an international fraud syndicate."

"Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is currently working on this case and cannot reveal anything until data is confirmed but it is safe to say that due to the rapid discovery of information, the pieces of the puzzle are all fitting together nicely, waiting to be finalised and validated, then reported to the AFP or ACORN."

eVestigator® solves the Fake Microsoft Support Scam (gives ACORN IP info) - 26 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well, this particular customer only lost $1500, but as an ex-ACORN unhappy client, he was very happy to see that I was able to identify a unique IP Address and Date/Time of the attacker. This was reported to both the ACORN and the client."

"Now, with our support hopefully an arrest can be made. We were able to find all the Australian details that our client tells us ACORN dismissed, but went one step further and via strategic Digital Forensic Programming, captured the scammer red handed - with all his/her IP details, including browser, language, origin - essentially enough information to put them away for a long long time."

"If you want your Cyber-Crime or forensic crime solved in any jurisdiction, there is only one person that can get you there. Give Simon Smith a call on 0410 643 121, and at such a minimal cost, this client is now happy that their scammer is caught. Naturally we are working on some large scale cases - but this SCAM revealed an "Indian" operation that we probably never will know the outcome of - and of course, as ACORN told the customer they could not do anything about it the first time, now hopefully with the help of eVestigator® they can. That's another success story to end the year with!"

eVestigator wishes everybody out there who is a victim of Cybercrime hope - 25 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "I wish to let you all know that no matter how hard or how big your matter is, it is recommended to take these couple of days and get some clarity and know that I will help you with your issues when you need. I am not planning a major break but there are some times I will not be available. If you are the victim of cyber-crimes or cyber related activities, know that you can still attempt to contact with me during this period."

eVestigator refunds customer a portion of invoice for doing too good a job! - 21 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well, we have a new win - and a victory for the client in 2 ways! For the first time in history within less than 24 hours I had achieved an outcome for my client from what seemed a massive cyber-stalking case involving an unknown stalker - with 3 Facebook profiles."

"Ironically, my first set of intelligence hit the nail on the head. Within a bit more than half the time quoted, I had actually identified the stalker of multiple forms of media - attained for my client a full 1 year intervention order default judgment and the stalking stopped."

"So in this case it took me less time and I returned the outstanding funds to my client! This is why people trust me because I do the right thing. Even though giving money back is essentially unheard off (say if it was another profession for a fixed price job) - with me, it's fair and it makes the client happy."

Sample dating scam - that just came my way - 19 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "It's almost a daily exercise for me deleting thousands of SPAM (as I don't trust SPAM filters) and of course amongst all this SPAM is the human check of reality which I can detect in about half a second."

"Here is today's dating scam that happened to make its way to my inbox. As I always say, how do they know me, where are the purportedly writing from and where am I purportedly responding to and do I even know this person and if so, why would a non-identifiable random email just pop into my door. So welcome to Svetlana."

"Hi,Im Svetlana. Are you for real?! Im interested in knowing you better but Im not sure what are you looking for? Send me your reply directly and I will send my pic."

"Now this came from k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru - va at qatarairwaysvirtual.net. I don't recall having anything to do with this surprisingly. Most importantly (and not that it matters to me) but we have a reply address of "k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru" k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru.""It's important to realise that Russian girls called Svetlana don't just randomly email you when you have not visited to a chat site, and even if you did it would be a giveaway because they don't even know your name!"

WARNING: New Scam Email purporting to be National Australia Bank - 19 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Dear customer,

"In our precautions against internet fraud, our bank comes up with a new policy to prevent costumers from being victims of illegal transactions."

"There are 2 steps required in this procedure, in order to avoid problems with your account."

"What should i do ?

The email is as follows : 1. Download the attached file and open it on your internet browser. 2. Confirm that you are the owner and follow the instructions carefully! Thank you for the cooperation and once again thank you for choosing our bank. © National Australia Bank Limited. Use of the information contained on this page is governed by Australian law and is subject to the disclaimers which can be read on the disclaimer page. View the NAB Privacy Policy."

"Naturally this is obvious - always look at the reply to address and the sent from address. Further check to see if it was actually sent to YOU and whether or not it even mentions you. Of course you should report this to the police/ACORN."

"Another obviousness is the spelling and grammar mistakes in the bank email. We all make mistakes, but you would think that a multi-million dollar institution would have a spell checking system!"

Phishing scams are all over the place, look out for the latest one - 16 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "A new email purporting to be from PayPal is lazy and one of the easier to spot scams. The subject line is 'Limited Account Please Update'. The logo looks to be the right colours otherwise it looks completely different, it starts with 'Hello Dear Customer', there are grammar errors and the sent address is paypal@support.cu.ma."

"If you are still not sure and they did actually guess or have your full email address correct, not just the domain, from a new browser window login to your PayPal account. If your account really has been limited there will be a very prominent message on your account to tell you so. Some scams can be hard to spot, with great attention to detail. This isn't one of them."

Sony Corporation wishes to inform you that your Identity/Location has been endorsed as the winner of $1million - 12 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well today I'm feeling lucky. I woke up to this:"

"Please send Ur Name address age Tel for More Info. Your Sincerely, Mrs. Barbara Deemer [Your Sony Key Code: SYUK0303#]"

"I WON! It's amazing. Firstly let us take a look at the email domain it comes from: Sony iPrize (claims@yale.edu) seems interesting, but I want to know how it got to me. It is sent to: winner (claims@yale.edu), with a reply to address of: claims@yale.edu"

"Well, so a) they didn't know who I was, b) they are not Sony and 3) what has Yale got to do with Sony? In this instance I deem it obviously as fake and unless someone at Yale is fraudulent, then I would count this as SPAM."

"The moral of this story is 'phishing' is the art of purporting to be someone or some entity you are not. This could probably be just someone trying to bring down Yale's servers in a DDOS attack. Either way the first thing to look for is 'Why me, and is it really me they are sending to or is it generic?' The second thing to look at is at 'what domain does it actually come from and is it the domain of the real company?' Then you need to look at any reply-to addresses, as people might use a legitimate spoofed sending name and address and beautiful graphics to fool you, but if they want your details, unless they are Sony, the reply to address will tell you really where you are sending your personal information to."

"Typically, a scammer would make a domain or add a sub-domain to an existing domain like winner@mysony.com or winner@sony.myblog.com."

"Finally as Judge Judy says, if it doesn't make sense, it's not true! She's very right"

Grief and Trauma and how an Investigator needs to understand - 08 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "I am the former CEO of Australia's largest marriage celebrancy Academy. I authored and taught thousands of students via my own written course materials in grief and trauma, conducting funerals and the like. I also draw upon my Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution, Nationally Accredited Mediator status and Bail Justice Training Course as well as relationship education experience as a marriage celebrant and counseling qualifications."

"This week has started off with some pretty serious cases m An Investigator by all means should not claim to be an expert in this area but at minimum I believe must have some training to enable them to determine whether a case is needing to be paused pending more important health reasons. At least having a toolkit of referral information and some training to determine whether or not you can rely on instruction from your client is mandatory."

"I have often had to suspend the case asking my client to consider first attaining outside help. I sometimes must rely on such expert medical opinion to ensure I am doing the best job for my client. Investigators have to have empathy and know where they stand and clarify instructions carefully as for both parties it is not conducive to the case, if the client is unwell. I have direct experience in handling such cases and especially knowing how to detect and refer."

A simple fast victory stopping 1 year of trauma - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "When somebody knows your every move you have to wonder how? Most importantly it is best to get onto it straight away and not put up with threats or extortion as it is a crime and potentially the longer you leave it, the higher probability of data loss and more emotional trauma."

"I succeeded today in an extortion case where people may think they are safe behind a mail.com email, a fake Facebook account or a prepaid mobile, but think again! Whilst sometimes there are technical restraints, a good investigator has to use logic and simply strangely enough common sense. An arrest will be made and justice will be served in this case for only 2 hours cost to the client of my time and I get to enjoy the weekend too."

An investigator does more than just the job at task - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "In a current case I am working on I noticed on the side a discrepancy in the billing and conduct of previous dealings in the case. Completely voluntarily I offered my client to look at the legitimacy of those charges and do a little bit of forensically informed conciliation. Bang. 13,000k given back to my client they never would have had. I give my all to every customer so when looking at an investigator you need to look at the proactive capacity and passion they have for their work. They were over the moon and never would have known about this." "Having built some of Australia's largest educational institutions valued at over $26m as well as being an expert auditor I had no trouble in just 3 discussions and 4 emails attaining in a separate capacity $13,000 worth of credit for my client of which I sought no benefit rom. I just like people not getting taken to the cleaners! $13,000 was welcomed, believe me."

"In a similar unrelated case I anticipate just through my mediation and conciliation add on skills, I may have spotted an opportunity for my client to recover up to $40,000 for unlawful charges. In no way am I a debt collector and in no way do I want to be one :), I am just making this statement to show my intuition and problem solving skills out of court. I am not a lawyer and do not ever claim to be one, but I am certainly equipped to understand what is right and what is wrong, both ethically and in common sense human behavior."

"There are lots of good lawyers out there and I rely on them sometimes to present my expert evidence. The point of this blog is with me, you don't just get a phone call or suspicion without supporting evidence, you get fact (and fact only - good or bad) and action if there is action to be taken on any angle. That is why people choose me. Please feel free at any time to view my Vocational and Higher Education level Qualifications above."

eVestigator succeeds again. Finds a criminal stalker forensically in 4 minutes - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Yes you heard correctly. Never before has it been this easy. Investigations are not just about expert computer forensic knowledge. They are about strategy. People often ask how much to find this person? How long is a piece of string that has cuts and twists and tangles all the way through? Strategy and direction and the complementary knowledge of having grief and trauma qualifications and teaching this discipline, a counseling diploma, combined with being a Nationally Recognised Mediator as well as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Marriage Celebrant and having a qualification from Victoria University in the 2011 Bail Justice Training course lets me have some level of directional intuition. Hence, 4 minutes :) The customer is very happy and that is the main thing! "

Just a quick note to keep your eyes open wide on the media as eVestigator has busted potentially Australia' Biggest Scam - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well I must not say too much until it is charged but I uncovered one of Australia's if not Australia's biggest scams and forensically identified the offender. Keep an eye on the media."

ACORN - I must say I'm shocked - 02 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "May I direct you to the section of the website dedicated to what I have achieved and discovered from some disgruntled ACORN customers of which many cases I have solved. Please read the article which will be updated regularly near the top of this site. "

Timing of police serving intervention orders - 01 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well you have a victory, you do the hard work and attain an intervention order on behalf of your client and over 24 hours later the cyber stalker strikes again. In this instance with the excellent assistance from the police it is not served yet but may be in a day or two. It is fair to give everyone an opportunity to be served but it is a hit and miss on the timing opportunity. A breach and arrest would have been made but there is always next time!"

What happens when a client doesn't take your advice? - 01 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "This is often a sticking point for most Investigators/Mediators. You may have seen the text book scenario unfolding so many times and yet if somebody believes they cannot do something they cannot do something."

"Similarly if someone believes they can do something they can do anything! I wish to report another success story today. A dangerous stalking/harassment case turned nasty where I saw the alleged 'victim' almost having conversations with himself setting up a plan for an intervention order"

"I predicted this action in the words spoken and am very proud to say that this person who was alleging they were the victim and constantly harassing my clients, building a story ready to get an ex-parte 'lollipop' injunction. I therefore instructed my clients 2 sets of important advice. One - go to the police but 'in a certain way to a certain officer' and Two - go ask for a statement to be made again 'in a certain way in a certain manner' and Three - ask for the police to take out a Personal Safety Intervention Order as this man is likely to breach it as it was getting so obsessive and dangerous to the point of physical danger to my clients lives - and guess what - they got it!"

"A good investigator doesn't sit there and watch people they know 'human nature', 'process' and 'procedure' and naturally, areas of failure and potential human barricades. This advice worked perfectly and now they can concentrate on living safely after years of harassment, bullying, false accusations and stalking. That was a good result."

"Those that don't listen to advice or believe in an outcome will get that outcome, there has to be a point where trust is earned and respected, and then justice can prevail!"

The line between Defamation, Stalking and Imagination - 30 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well another successful week has passed. I have solved 4 cases this week. People often don't realise the crimes they may be committing. This week we have seen people lie and caught out by me in court, false imaginative creations of stories of which they may have lied to a Magistrate but don't realise my evidence won't only overturn their allegations, but potentially get them in jail!"

"No matter how it is framed, if you lie you may leave a digital fingerprint that gives you much more than you ever bargained for. Let's just say that if you think you are anonymous behind six Facebook accounts, think again. Upcoming will be a rather large blog entry relating to how the Internet and social media will destroy our privacy and show what I already see now as the new war so many are untrained to understand. The Cyber War!"

eVestigator® annihilates an intervention order action with a forensic defense - Who really is the stalker? - 28 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "This is a story that I'd like to share with you, anonymously of course. It is a well-known fact that people can lie in court and in Victoria (the Acts change but represent similar systems in other states) the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act allows a person to enter the stand ex-parte and allege an incident and occurrence, and likely achieve an interim intervention order potentially destroying someone's life for the next 2 months before they get a contested hearing."

"This is an area that I forensically specialise in and would like to share the story of how useful a Forensic Factual Investigator can be in these instances. Understanding that there is a serious risk of an order being placed on a person (if it was not a correct series of events), the bigger risk is the breach. I have done over 50 cases but none like this. A breach could potentially give someone jail time and a fine depending on the complexity of the breach and the police's willingness to follow through with it. Remember, all this can be initiated civilly with a lie."

"One such case occurred where my client was alleged to have been stalking a person and keeping him under surveillance. After only 2 hours of forensic investigation of her iPhone, social media links and internet behaviour, I found concrete black and white evidence that his exact iPhone was logging her under surveillance before during and after the interim intervention order was granted!"

"Even further I found it had been going on far before and way after. The evidence I committed was compelling. It happened to coincide with what people don't realise could be a digital fingerprint. I suppose, if a person who accuses they are being stalked, and goes on the stand under oath, and then my client comes up with the name of his iPhone literally stating say "James's iPhone" has logged in every day to her account before during and after he placed an intervention order, then that is somewhat strong. More so, it was found coincidental to be happening after the order was granted with the release date of the iPhone, and forensically the phone was proven to have had its password physically changed and tampered with during these events, and synced to his iPhone."

"Not only for my client did this mean that they are actually the ones being stalked, a crime of surveillance has been committed, and the use of her mobile phone was intentionally tampered with to set the new password as my client could always login via the phone but not the computer. The tracking and forensic data further proves that my client was potentially the subject of GPS surveillance. So it looks like someone is up for charges. My client for just a couple of hours has probably saved thousands of dollars in unrecoverable legal fees in a no cost jurisdiction and has evidence to charge him with perjury, stalking, and using an electronic device to track a person."

"So I'm guessing that the gentleman that attained the intervention order without truth is going to regret ever getting on that stand. eVestigator® gets results."

Best Outcomes Advice - 02 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "Although it can be hard to know where to start, to take full advantage of any investigation time it is important to be clear in your brief to us so we can focus our attention in the area you need. Carefully consider the worth of new information compared to what you know and take a 'needle in a haystack approach'. These messages relate to successful iPhone, iPad and Android investigations, and believe me when I say if you think you have deleted something, think again! Sometimes not even the device is needed to attain intelligence. We have succeeded in this area and have many happy customers attaining answers that are crucial to them. Some criminal, some civil, however all equally promoting the same message."

The 'Cloud' (a friend or foe) - 09 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "The lesson for this week is to be careful what you put on your iPhone or Android device. Regularly backing up your devices is prudent, but pay particular attention to where you are backing anything up to and also how they protect the transmission and redundancy of the data."

"A lot of people find value in open source 'solutions' and 'plugins' like Word press and all these magical instant websites and themes (I call it a lazy man's programming- sorry but I'm just being honest). Not that there is anything wrong with a template but that is not logic. From what I've seen in relation to hacking, you want to say thank you for the visual and goodbye to the 'supposed' programming. Real programming (in my opinion) is to control and write my own code, I'm sure you can appreciate if someone knows the exact code behind your entire website, they clearly can read backwards and reverse engineer such 'common' open source. This could cause criminal or civil repercussions or identity theft."

"eVestigator® can forensically search and locate any remnants and security holes of corporate networks to properly and securely backup (or perform an emergency forensic data restoration) efficiently with both redundancy and security, keeping in mind (in the case of individuals) privacy. Imagine a non-programmer running your entire income stream of which you have no access to the code behind it. Then one day, all your income stops and an error pops up. What would that do to your business?"

"We have extensive experience in larger cases and have had quite a few wins. One such client won an uncontested hearing and is now gratefully seeing the end of a tormenting period of time and benefiting from the complimentary and combined skillset of eVestigator®, plus the $200k default judgment we helped control and coordinate with handpicked lawyers might have put a smile on her dial!"

Android Devices - "Apparently the FBI has fined you - 11 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "The latest amazement of the week was the famous modal screen bypassing all your Tablet or Phone with a message stating that you have been caught by the FBI watching porn and must pay a fine. 3 minutes and it has gone, but people these days create scams and viruses in a new way. Think of the psychology behind it. Everyone probably has an eBay account. An email purporting to be eBay can be made up by someone in about 5 minutes, leading to a $1 domain called ebay123.com for example.

"Amazingly it looks exactly like eBay - because it's merely a capture of the screen. The lesson here is in one of my golden rules (check the reply email address) - although even that with a virus affecting your local DNS could spoof that. However the point of the message is about the psychology. Who doesn't have an eBay account? The lesson here is to look at the start and the end (not what you think is the middle). Did you make such a transaction or debt, and who are you communicating with. eBay is the trick. It diverts your attention away from the real method of the SCAM which is so obvious, but by then you've already seen the colour logo's, clicked the links and sharing your identity with someone in a foreign country."

eVestigator® gets IP Address to solve cold Acorn and High Tech Police Cases in Record Time, attaining a Suspended Jail Sentence as against the Defendant. "In 2 separate cases, eVestigator was approached as a last resort by some very unhappy victims. One had been waiting 5 years, the other 1 year. It is good to see the government is doing a great job in 'determining' there is a problem - with this new 'war' - the 'Cyber War'. It is fair to say it is also ever-changing and new technologies and ways of security breaches and exposure to identity via social media is expanding at an enormous rate. The cases are naturally very complex and can lead to both criminal and civil liability. However, there was a case that sat with the Victorian High Tech Police Unit for over 5 years (one of eVestigator's cases many years ago) which was solved in just 2 weeks from Cyber Investigation, leading to a possible sentence to jail or suspended sentence."

"How? Facebook, intelligence, common sense and other mechanisms. Further, he has also just solved a case that was delivered to Acorn gathering dust for over 1 year, in 1 day. Further, he has personally seen factual wrongdoings from IBAC. This is just Victoria!" "The message is, that clearly there needs to be more emphasis or resources on education at a young age because people simply don't know where to go, and in both instances, the delay was potentially more damaging than the conduct found in the investigation. It still is no doubt a good thing for Parliament to have mechanisms in place but are they working? Also the crime itself is half the story. The trauma and grief that follows the victim from being held waiting can lead (and has lead) to people having to get themselves onto mental health plans merely due to the injustice and time delay."

eVestigator attains a massive victory and solely defeats the entire WA Government Training Accreditation Council board's erred decision worth proving the government does not even understand their own regulatory definitions. "Well everybody said it could not be done. eVestigator® Simon Smith invented, successfully passed at audit and created a massive private accredited training college like as big as a Private TAFE.

The Training Accreditation Council however refused to a) make a decision in breach of legislation (despite 3 of their chosen auditor's declaring a pass on the audit) and b) refused to register the RTO (Registered Training Organisation).

A skills recognition initiative (the largest private institute in the southern hemisphere)."

"After 3 years of demands against the board who had no lawful excuse 'not to grant it' to make their decision so it could be appealed, so they did, on baseless grounds. Almost 2 years later, evidence from eVestigator® Simon Smith (of which Slater & Gordon could not achieve) given on appeal to the State Training Board deemed the Training Accreditation Council to have erred several times in breach of the standards not once, but twice, and reversed the decision around 5 years later.

The damages are expected to be at minimum $20m. It is noted though, that the WA Ombudsman was completely wrong and justice sometimes does exist. This cost WA thousands of jobs and skills upgrades and deteriorated market growth from Mr. Smith's creation. The State Training Board were undermined and forced to reconvene twice and found in Mr. Smith's favor twice - and later stated words to the effect of, "Never before have we seen anything like this", and have requested the Minister make changes to the system. Mr. Smith is unable to make any comment as to this matter.
Expert samples of how he can help

Cyber Security, Cyber Bullying, Workplace Issues, Criminal Success, Civil Success, Digital Forensic Expert Evidence and so much more..

His successes - not even a fraction, check testimonials and request advice

He has saved people hundreds of thousands of dollars in establishing hard facts prior to and in avoidance of litigation. Such facts are unknown to the general community and the investment in his services has proven this over and over again. Human testimonials are available.

The Industry

As a successful Expert Programmer and former Lecturer of Advanced Programming and Entrepreneur at a very young age, he grew up with the birth of the internet and knows the skeleton foundations of where to look, making this statement fact, proving successful outcomes in many cases.

Cyber Crime

Statute and treaty law both refer to cybercrime. In Australia, cybercrime has a narrow statutory meaning as used in the Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth), which details offences against computer data and systems. However, a broad meaning is given to cybercrime at an international level. In the Council of Europe's Cybercrime Treaty (EST no. 185), cybercrime is used as an umbrella term to refer to an array of criminal activity including offences against computer data and systems, computer-related offences, content offences, and copyright offences. This wide definition of cybercrime overlaps in part with general offence categories that need not be ICT dependent, such as white-collar crime and economic crime as described in Grabosky P & Sutton A 1989, Stains on a white collar. Sydney: Federation Press.

High tech crime

High tech crime is a common label used by both the Australian High Tech Crime Centre and by the National High Tech Crime Unit in the United Kingdom. These agencies deal with crimes that rely on the use of ICT, or which target ICT equipment, data and services. Their focus is on the complex networking capacity of ICT, which creates a previously unimaginable platform for committing and investigating criminal activity. High tech emphasises the role of ICT in the commission of the offence. Different practical considerations arise according to whether ICT equipment, services or data are the object of the offence, or whether ICT is the tool for the commission of a 'material component of the offence'.


©Commonwealth of Australia - Australia Cyber Crime & Security Survey Report 2015

eVestigator® (a 100% positive result success rate to date)

Civil, Criminal, Corporate Factual & Digital Forensic Investigations, Fact Finding, Data Recovery, Bug Detection (iPhone, Android, Surveillance & Computer Forensic Expert), Litigation Support, Corporate Security Penetration Testing, Intelligence

Hi I'm Simon Smith, Cyber Forensics Expert Court Witness, Expert Investigator and the eVestigator®. I have worked on too many high, middle and low profile cases to count. This page only lists very few. It is amazing to see how much difference fact makes and how much money it can save a client. I often see clients who have wasted $100,000+ on litigation and got nowhere, and then I have a result for them (in one particular case) in just 2 weeks. That is how I work. I am just the person, with the independence, skills, knowledge and background, equipped as a specialist forensic, qualified Private Investigator to trace conduct back to its source, to affirm, expand on or re-create a scenario of alleged conduct for you.

I was born in an era of technology and rapid advancement, I manage and have managed enormous enterprises for over 20 years+ - programming in every language combined with strong and proven civil, criminal, factual and government investigation skills and credibility, having given intelligence to Ombudsman, Ministers and the Auditor-General. My knowledge and unique experience gives me that competitive edge to give independent, expertly obtained fact.

When I was 20, I started a three-year stint as a lecturer in Advanced Computer Programming at Swinburne University of Technology. I was also employed as an Analyst Programmer at the time, I already had about 10 years (mostly childhood) experience of programming in earlier languages and programming a server capable of handling the very first real commercial internet traffic. eCrime and White Collar Fraud, eFraud, Cyber-Squatting, Cyber-Legal assistance, Cyber-Stalking, Cyber Attacks (denial of service and more), Intellectual Property Breaches and so much more have grown from systemic mistakes made in the growth of the public internet/intranets over the years, and *will* continue. As the inventor of computer-reliant patents, I am making history and was praised by three Federal Court Judges in the full Federal Court of Australia in a case related to defeating the Commissioner of Patents attempt to revoke a patent.

I am an expert in software related IP marks. I am in a position to demonstrate algorithms that can assist a Court or jury with understanding a crime or offence in simple terms. With experience, credibility (Commonwealth FDRP, NMAS Mediator, CMC, Forensic Investigator and more) alongside commercial experience programming and investigating software engineering holes, and expert programming on all platforms spanning 20 years+, I can help illustrate to the court, justice and/or jury, beyond reasonable doubt, how, when and why events occur in simple terms to affirm intent and conduct.

Corporate & Government Forensic Investigations (Any kind of investigation or SCAM discovery including corruption, fraud and more)

I am independent and provide a completely impartial service. I can and have used my abilities to assist the government in many ways by providing external investigations and forensic dispute resolution. I specialise in high-tech white collar fraud and can and have identified system issues of corruption in government departments, be it influenced internally or externally. Rightly so, the public expect the government act in a way consistent with their charters and legislation and the guidance of their Ministers.

I have had exclusive experience in unveiling fraud in government departments and providing intelligence to senior independent officers like the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman. My Mediation skills are often used in conjunction with my forensic programming/reverse programming skills to determine fact to apply policy.------- In the corporate world Cyber-crime, Cyber-stalking, Cyber-bullying, Facebook abuse, email abuse, YouTube abuse and cyber-related staff harassment/stalking has become a systemically increasing problem for internal personnel as well as the corporation.

I have assisted in cases by gathering intelligence via the new world of social media, I assisted in jailing a person in Victoria for the serious offence of stalking. It is important to trust your employees and a breach of that trust must not go unnoticed. There are three main qualities that when combined, produce absolutely super cost effective output. See below.
"We do not have to all be experts, sometimes common sense is enough". eVestigator® - Simon Smith
Keep Reading...

Why Me? - I'm not just a Forensic Cyber Expert

I am also a Nationally Accredited Mediator, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Reverse Engineering Expert and Cyber Security / Cyber-Legal Expert. I also have Graduate Diploma level skills Digital Education and Management and have a strong business understanding, as well as businesses experience when it comes to disputes and how to save money and not fall into a loop where you spend money and get nowhere. I have had significant experience in IP disputes, Patents and Trademarks and I am an expert in the Education Industry, as well as a commercial authorised Apple, Android and Certified Windows Developer, having made several commercial applications and having built several multi-million dollar enterprises. I understand, which is where my advocacy service assist greatly, and saves you or your client money.

I am a Forensic Private Investigator qualified under the Victoria Police Private Investigator Licencing Regulation Department - Simon Smith (CHFI) t/as eVestigator

This gives me the skills to see through the lines, get fact, without fear or favour, whether its for or against the government or for or against a civil entity, I find fact.

I am a Nationally Accredited Mediator accredited by the MSB under the NMAS and Commonwealth Appointed Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner

These skills are an absolute necessity and are often what is missing with other professionals. It enables me to determine the suitable jurisdiction and to better understand the dispute and resolutions, which saves you or your client money, and my client's praise this ability. Especially with family situations, as in many cases an FDRP, in normal circumstances, is the only person that can sign a s60(i) under the Family Law Act granting permission to enter proceedings involving children after mediation.

I am a Professional Advocate

This is the most important part. I am happy to say that by joining all my skills together, and gaining permission from my clients to work with others like Lawyers, Barristers, Government Authorities, the Police, I can guide them through to an actual total outcome. Many people deliver services in pieces, and you either end up wasting your money with nothing, or having to re-explain everything again multiple times costing you more money. I like to see them through. My clients have told me I have saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and come to an expedited outcome after years of fighting.



Success (Samples have been de-Identified)

Note: This is only a very early stage layout of some successes. There has been many more over the years and many more happening almost daily. They tend to now appear either anonymously or via way of comment, updated regularly as time permits in both the blog or evident in the numerous testimonials. Please make sure you check them out.


I love my job - the best way to show competence is with fact, so here is just a sample of de-identified cases Simon Smith, Australia's very own eVestigator® has been involved in.

I found the IP identity of the fake Microsoft Tech Support Scammer (or one of them - and gave it to ACORN). Now this was interesting. More than 90% of my clients come to me frustrated after not having any luck with the police or ability to make a statement. This one particular client (a very smart man) received a call one day and being the trusting person he is, he was strongly led to believe his computer was infected with a virus and Microsoft have detected it and are calling him to fix the problem. Everyone has different thresholds and trust levels but I can understand how an older gentleman would believe this could be the case. To cut a long story short the person with an Indian accent got him to install remote control software on his machine, allowing the 'hacker' to install malware, giving full access to his computer when connected and online at anytime. Plus, he thought he would throw in a low level password and bribe the gentleman to pay money in order for Microsoft to remove the password from his computer.

The gentleman spent $1500 (it could have been more) to this 'entity' and nothing happened. They still however said they needed more money. The gentleman then reported the crime to the police who did not take a statement despite it being a crime under the Crimes Act 1958, and sent him to ACORN. ACORN (people believe) is a division of the police force to report and act on cyber-crime. The gentleman swiftly received notification from ACORN with a fact sheet and some general advice and said nothing could be done.

This is when I got involved. When he presented his laptop to me I was able to take off the important data and remove the entire malware/virus, and even further since they were still trying to get money out of him, I decided to locate them. Via proprietary techniques, I attained the criminals IP Address, IP, Mobile device make, firmware which was in India. As it turns out, ACORN ended up making a complaint about me for not telling them what I found out - saying I had a duty to report it. I did tell my client to report it but must admit was taken back from that approach and was insulted. Nevertheless I got over it, and sent ACORN the identifying details so they 'might' take action. What happened to Interpol? The police have always had the ability to report international crimes. I have seen letters from customers where ACORN have said "we cannot investigate international crimes" or words to that effect. So, I solved perhaps one of Australia's biggest SCAM's that ever existed. My client thanked me profusely and that was relieving. I ended up taking it further with ACORN but at the end of the day it is a small world and a lot of crime and this was something that they may have been too busy for. Nevertheless I continue to help people get real justice.

I uncovered one of the largest DDOS cyber-attacks (with this case being followed closely in the media) involving defamation of a celebrity. I uncovered and traced an underground crime syndicate that was responsible for spamming over 24 million people at the request of a disgruntled ex-business partner. I found the link to identify the accused on the balance of probability. This was a massive find, with no leads, and with sheer investigative work, a series of events have led to what could be considered extreme reasonable doubt against the accuser's story. The case is privileged and ongoing, no more generic information can be provided in this matter.

I was approached on behalf of one of the world's largest insurance companies to assist in the underwriting, in conjunction with their solicitors, of new Cyber-Security and Indemnity policies, the development of new risks in this ever changing industry, requesting assistance in indemnity wording and risk and creating PDS's around new and innovative white collar fraud and cyber-attacks in the media at the moment.

I was requested to analyse voice biometrics to determine if a suspect had made a hoax bomb threat by telephone and was requested to advise the lawyer of the accused on what should technically be requested from the police and gave intelligence as to the voice codec and causing reasonable doubt of biometric distortion in a compressive lossy voice algorithm. This was a very serious case with charges under the new Anti-Terrorism laws.

I was recently approached by an individual seeking help after being accused of several counts of hearsay sexual offenses leading back over eight years, with the evidence reliant on MSN and Facebook data. This case is pending; however as the accused was pleading innocent, I was able to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt the unreliability of supposed forensic data relying on old MSN messages.

I was approached and subsequently investigated and compiled an expert report in conjunction with a solicitor's privacy policy detailing the privacy implications, after inspection of the source code and auditing of the non-identifiable hash algorithms that intercepted mobile Wi-Fi beacon signals for the purpose of tracking retail customers, I gave security and privacy protection recommendations based on my findings.

I worked with State Regulators, providing intelligence which led to two convictions, stopping an unqualified electrician performing further illegal, unsafe and non-compliant electrical work. He was convicted and fined.

I investigated and provided evidence to ASIC of the deceitful and misleading actions of a Director who allegedly breached the Corporations Act and committed an act of Bankruptcy. He on behalf of his company allegedly applied for deregistration during court proceedings to avoid paying debts arising from judgment against him. I supplied a brief of evidence which is now with the CDPP for prosecution. I also achieved reinstatement of the closed company. The company is now in liquidation.

I uncovered fraud and corrupt conduct within a government department and provided a full investigative report to the Auditor-General and Ombudsman, proving a breach to the Minister's Gazette pricing structures in the education regulatory instrument unveiling over $7m of overcharging of education stakeholders, as well as affirming in person with the Auditor-General and Minister identical evidence found in his audit, uncovering identical breaches to legislation.

I have since uncovered corrupt and improper conduct on the part of the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission and the Department of Justice, which will be subject to further legal action initiated by myself.

I have uncovered at least five dating scams involving the usual request for money to 'come to Australia' to meet their new love but never having enough money. I was involved in working with Western Union to take this to the police as a crime to stop the conduct.

I have acted for a high profile corporate client who had been cyber-stalked for five years, living in terror, with the police and their High-tech Crime division investigating without success. After just two weeks I found the accused (via social media, cyber methods and traditional investigative techniques) and my evidence later helped prosecute and convict the stalker under the strict Victorian Anti-stalking laws.

As an expert in social media and cyber-stalking cases, I assisted the NSW police via Interpol in tracking down the stalker of a popular YouTuber to Scotland. And so working with the Scottish police the stalking was concluded.

I have assisted individuals extensively in finding their cyber-stalkers via Facebook, dating websites and email scams, using email tracing and cyber intelligence mechanisms. When in all situations the customer was informed by police that nothing could be done.

In an impersonation case, a man purported to steal the identity of an individual and consequently put up a dating profile soliciting gay sex and sending interested parties to the victim's address. The suspect had blocked his IP address and was difficult to track but using forensic tracking I was able to identify the address of the accused, leading to his arrest.

15 years ago I discovered a flaw in (one of the world's largest accounting software companies) that revealed credit card details in the hexadecimal binary of the unencrypted data file and alerted the producers of the software to the problem.

My mediation skills are often also used in conjunction with my forensic programming/reverse programming skills to determine fact to apply policy.
-"If only you could see information as a jigsaw, releasing via Social Media and its risks could be the final piece". eVestigator® - Simon Smith

Some case studies are subject to Non-Disclosure agreements. Please contact me for a massive list of experience and real Success. My work speaks for itself. Looking for a testimony from a real corporate client who was stalked for five years, living in terror, with the police and their High-tech Crime division investigating without success? After just two weeks I found the accused (via social media, cyber methods and traditional investigative techniques) and my evidence later helped prosecute and convict the stalker under the strict Victorian Anti-stalking laws. Contact: Lifestyle Portraits, Darren Tilnak

Real Life Practical Experience and Qualifications

Below is a redacted SAMPLE of some of my Qualifications/PD (Excluding Case Studies/Experience/Appointments). It is relevant to note that Cyber-Threats in my view is the new world war. New hacking methods are created, and smarter e-Crime is committed day by day. There is not one degree one could do without the knowledge of such degree being expired at conclusion. eVestigator® has a magnitude of Nationally Accredited and Professional Development (Some endorsed by Charles Sturt University) to maintain currency. I grew up with the birth of the internet and every day cases bring new threats that may not have existed yesterday. My work and customer feedback speaks for itself. Please find below a sample of some of the official Qualifications and PD I have undertaken. Mostly, I teach others Cyber-Security trends, and this is something that is popular in America but lacking in Australia's training system. Children should be taught about current cyber risks in primary school as (from experience) the exposure with social networking is so open, people do not realise how much intelligence someone like myself could gain from merely a Facebook profile. This is something we are working on, in educating Australia. There will be more on this shortly.

Professional development is often maintained via world renowned Udemy platform. Udemy has been discussed in The New York Times, The China Post, Fast Company, the BBC and TechCrunch, with much of its coursework originating from Stanford University Expert material noting "Udemy offers an experience that rivals the real classroom, and should prove to be a useful utility for teachers and students of all subject matters.

Since I was just an 11yr boy I have been programming in almost every language on every platform available. My brothers played games, I made them! Aside from the 25+ years of HANDS ON major computer programming and cyber security experience, I developed many applications. From web servers, mail servers, my own protocols, all low level, design - pixel by pixel, code line by line, nothing like the 'wizard' and 'open source' attempts of lazy coder attempts today. At 19, whilst employed as an Analyst Programmer and working on integration with a VERY WELL KNOWN commercial accounting package for our CRM software, I found a major security flaw in the raw binary of their database exposing credit card numbers, that's where my interest for cyber security investigative 'programming' developed. Having already becoming a growing expert my commercial experience was like facing a truck head on. As at the same time, after VCE I was in the top 3% in Australia in my VCE (Common Assessment Tasks) for Information Systems and Technology (4 A+++), then after a short stint flying through High Distinctions at first year Uni, I was hand picked and employed immediately to work for real projects as an Analyst Programmer, then Senior Analyst Programmer, and later became a CEO, Assessor, CIO and CSIO, PI, and CHFI and Forensic Investigator/Expert Witness. In those earlier days in addition to working as an Analyst Programmer I was in demand by Swinburne University as one of the very few who could teach the all new .NET advanced programming suite sessionally and did so for a period of about 4 years after hours. I shortly opened my own international businesses in the Voice Analysis/VOIP medico-legal industries. I programmed handheld devices, multi-million dollar corporate software and systems widely used by physicians overseas to dictate via Windows CE Pocket PC's (way before the iPhone and Android existed) that interacted with custom typist equipment for dictation and transcription.

Since then I built some of Australia's largest IT companies and educational institutes and gained recognition of my expertise both before, during and after my practical experience - calling from the golden principles of expertise from what you cannot learn at school - but what was embedded in me since 11 years old - first programming on an Amstrad CPC 464 64kb tape deck machine. I have seen the entire life cycle of today's computer systems file systems and further, from the perspective of the consumer birth of the internet and have shared this knowledge and lead teams of up to 50 people, developed major commercial applications, built 2 of Australia's largest training institutes, a Computer Implemented Software Patent, and am considered a master in programming principles and reverse ethical hacking. From understanding the roots of programming, something that is not taught these days, I understand client needs, and can understand the full dynamics of source code layers (as they have evolved), enabling me to have an investigative advantage in any matter relating to computer crime or computer related fraud.

I am especially useful in white collar crimes, cyber stalking, cyber harassment, and reverse IP tracing. Much of the API programming tools I have created over the years are used by millions of people all over the world by 'other programmers' as software plug-ins for Microsoft (IE/Spartan/Edge/Surface Pro/Windows Phone), Apple (iPhone/iPad/iTunes), VLC, Real One, and other major vendors. I have always been the programmer for programmers. I have been asked to give expert opinion in cases involving IP theft and high-tech crime requiring analysis code line by line and contracts involving disputes over source code theft and disputes, and I that is one of the reasons why I can attain forensic data that many cannot when it comes to situations where most people give up when they cannot get an IP address on a silver platter. I have succeeded in many cases, because there are many more ways to locate a person who wishes to remain anonymous who is damaging a reputation or company.

20 years+ industry experience as a Master Computer programmer covering all areas plus...

ITU (CHFI) Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (Internationally Accredited) - US Dept. Education Accreditation
WASC Accredited: WASC accreditation also places ITU among the recognized list of institutions on the U.S. Department of Education's database of recognized institutions of higher learning and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's Listing of Accredited and Candidate Institutions (CHEA). ITU is also recognized as an approved institution by California's Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE). Subjects: Computer Forensics Introduction, Forensics Investigation Process, Searching and Seizing, Digital Evidence, First Responder Procedures, Forensics Lab, Hard Disks and File Systems, Windows Forensics, Data Acquisition and Duplication, Recovering Deleted Files and Partitions, Using Access Data FTK, Using EnCase, Steganography, Password Crackers, Log Correlation, Network Forensics, Wireless Attacks, Web Attacks, Email Crimes, Mobile Investigation, Investigative Reports, Expert Witneste Development
Diploma of Website Development
Diploma of Database Design and Development
Advanced Diploma of Public Safety (Communs

UNSW Global Pty. Ltd - Expert Witness Training Certificate
Master of Information Management
 Master of Computer Forensics
 Master of Cyber Security
 Advanced Diploma of Government (Workplace inspection/Investigations/Fraud control)
Certificate III in Investigative Services (Simon Smith is a Licenced Private Investigator)
Certificate IV in Government Investigations (Government Investigator)
Diploma of Government (Investigation)
Diploma of Security and Risk Management (Cyber Security Analyst)
Advanced Diploma of Public Safety (Community Safety)
Graduate Certificate in Digital Education
Graduate Diploma in Management (Learning)
Graduate Diploma of Strategic Leadership
Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution (Commonwealth Appointed FDRP Family Court Matters Mediator)
Graduate Certificate In International Education Services
Graduate Diploma of Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Leadership
Certificate IV in Mediation (Also a Nationally Accredited Mediator - LEADR Member)
Diploma of Court Operations
Diploma of Software Development
Diploma of Information Technology
Diploma of Information Technology Networking
Diploma of Information Technology - Websiity Safety)
Advanced Diploma of Marketing and Communication
Internationally recognised Diploma in Information Technology (Management) - Advanced Level Programming, Systems, Databases, Security, Machine Code, Viruses, Risk Mitigation
Advanced Diploma of Program Management
Advanced Diploma of Project Management
Certificate IV in Security and Risk Management (VIC PI Electives)
Victoria University Bail Justice Training Course Certificate 2009
SANS Cyber Aces Certification
PD: Hacking Academy: Monitoring Transmitted Data
IT Security Academy (Associates IT Security Professionals. Certified experts (MCSE:MS, CISSP, CEH) have created courses from Beginner to Advanced level. They provide high quality materials to prepare you not only for passing certification exams, but teach you practical skills.) & The Hacking School (The Hacking School courses are prepared by people who are professionals in what they do. Authors of their courses are well known in the world of computer systems' security. They provide up-to-date knowledge on IT security and ethical hacking.)
Author of VET Accredited Course Material 'Dealing with Grief and Trauma'
Advanced Diploma of Network Security
 Advanced Diploma of Computer Systems Technology
 Advanced Diploma of Network Security
 Graduate Diploma of Telecommunications and Strategic Management
 Graduate Certificate in Information Technology Sustainability
 Certificate IV in Intelligence Operations
 Graduate Certificate in Information Technology and Strategic Management (Expert Programmer/IT industry)
 Graduate Diploma of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing
 Diploma of Government (Fraud Control)
 Diploma of Government (Security)
 Certificate IV in Programming
 PD: Social Media for Business
Diploma of Information Technology
 Diploma of Digital Media Technologies
 Certificate IV in Government (Security)
 Graduate Certificate in International Education Services
 Graduate Certificate in Statutory Child Protection
 Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling
 Diploma of Government (Workplace Relations)
 Certificate IV in Web-Based Technologies
 Certificate III in Intelligence Operations
 Graduate Certificate in Career Development Practice
 Advanced Diploma of Network Security
 Diploma of Leadership and Management
Comply with organisational requirements for protection and use of intellectual property
Contribute to intellectual property management
Develop and implement strategies for intellectual property management
Manage intellectual property to protect and grow business
Graduate Certificate in Management (Learning)
PD: Cyber bullying - as taught by Andres Saravia
Diploma of Counselling
PD: CCNA Security 2015 Video Boot Camp: CCP and More
PD: Investigator Ethics for the PI, Consumer and Client
Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management
PD: Maintaining Cyber Security
Certified iOS (Apple), Android (Google), Amazon, Windows and Mac App Developer
PD: BrainBench™ Certificate in 'Amazon Web Services (AWS)'
(A private research university in Stanford, California, and one of the world's most prestigious institutions, with the top position in numerous rankings and measures in the United States.)
Certified Android, iOS, Amazon Device App/Play-Store Developer
Andres Saravia (Andres earned a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Philosophy of Law, Data Protection mention at the University of Zaragoza, Spain with Magna Cum Laude. He has also completed the Course on Personal Data Protection by AECID and Communication Science Foundation and the Graduate Course of the School of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Law on "Updates of Information Law" Module I. Uruguay. Andres has specialized in Germany, Chile and Spain, in the areas of e-Government and Data Protection latter including in computer and cyber bullying crimes. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Information Law Uruguay).
Professor Robert Bunge (An information security educator for the past eight years. He is an active coach and organizer in the Cyber security Competition Federation, Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, National Cyber League, and Cyber Patriot.) & DeVry University ( a regionally accredited institution.) Rosa Augostino (An author, consultant and entrepreneur she has written extensively about the subjects of marketing and business-building. Her background includes advertising, marketing, business growth and customer growth.)
PD: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Jeffrey Lau (A data engineer who constructs operational reporting, dashboards, and other visualizations. He has experience with object oriented programming, scripting automation, digital VLSI, and infrastructure performance management. He has a B.S. Electrical Engineering.)
Advanced Diploma of Management
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI (Dean began his investigative career in 1987. He is a Certified Legal Investigator and Certified Criminal Defense Investigator, and is a POST certified instructor, and experienced forensic autopsy assistant.) & Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI (Karen began her investigative career in 1996, also earning her Bachelor's in Social Work (Magna Cum Laude). She is also a Certified Criminal Defense Investigator (CCDI) and certified in Medico legal Death Investigations.)
PD: IP Addressing and Sub-netting
Sikandar Shaik, CCIE (RS/SP# 35012) (A senior technical instructor and network consultant. He has been training networking courses for more than 10 years. Sikandar Shaik has delivered instructor led trainings in several states in India as well as in abroad in countries like China, Kenya and UAE. He has also worked as a Freelance Cisco Certified Instructor globally for Corporate Major Clients.)
Advanced Diploma of Management
Diploma of Quality Auditing
PD: Cyber Criminals Want Your Information: Stop Them Cold
(Jeremy O'Connell ... He holds some industry certifications via CompTIA (A+, Net+, iNet+) and received training from Oracle University's OCP DBA program.)
PD: Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing
(Jerry Banfield (Jerry has a Masters degree from the University of South Florida and is certified as a state law enforcement officer in South Carolina. He also has a Bachelors degree earned from the University of South Carolina. He teaches 38 courses on Udemy.) & Ermin Kreponic (Ermin is an IT expert, Linux enthusiast with a passion for troubleshooting network related problems. Advanced knowledge of Linux command line. Installation, configuration and maintenance of servers that run under Unix/Linux type. operating systems: DNS, TFTP, FTP, SSH, APACHE, SMTP, VSFTP and some others.)
Certified Apple Watch App-Store Developer
PD: Trademark Law for Entrepreneurs
Dana Robinson (A founding partner of TechLaw, LLP, where his practice focuses on trademark prosecution, trademark licensing, copyrights, and business transactions. Dana is adjunct professor of law at the University of San Diego School of law, where he is involved in the law school's new IP Law Clinic. Dana has taught a variety of seminars and moderated panels on intellectual property and technology law since 1999. Dana received his bachelor's degree from Life Pacific College and went to earn an M.A. at Azusa Pacific University and his J.D., from the University of San Diego School of Law. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the law school's faculty journal, the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues. He is admitted to practice in Nevada and California, and before the Federal District Courts for the Central District of California, the Southern District of California, and the District of Nevada. Dana was the Co-chair of the first Nevada State Bar Committee on Intellectual Property (2002-2003). He is a member of the IP law section of the State Bar of California, and is a member of the San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association. Dana has spent 20 years+ as an active entrepreneur and investor and continues to advise his portfolio investments.)
PD: Authenticity on Twitter
Rebecca Clark (Training & Development professional anxious to nudge students in the areas of program management, entrepreneurship, accountability, and in pursuing their life goals.)
Diploma of Training Design and Development
Certificate IV in Training & Assessment
PD: Innovation and Technology in Accounting
PD: The Bitcoin Basics
PD: Draper University/Udemy platform (Silicon Valley's top entrepreneurship program for builders and innovators from around the world. Cutting-edge, hands on curriculum taught by the most successful entrepreneurs in the Valley. Learn how to launch a business in this unique start-up boot camp for entrepreneurs.)
Advanced Diploma of Marketing
PD: Mastering iPhone programming - Lite
EDUmobile Academy (Founder Vishal Lamba has a mathematics and computer science degree. Vishal works closely with content creators and teachers to ensure that every course released meets the internal rigorous quality standards.)
PD: Mastering Android programming - Lite
EDUmobile Academy (Founder Vishal Lamba has a mathematics and computer science degree. Vishal works closely with content creators and teachers to ensure that every course released meets the internal rigorous quality standards.)
PD: Social Entrepreneurship: An Introduction
Greg Werkheiser (Greg is a Social Entrepreneur, Leadership Educator and Attorney with over 20 years+ experience. He has held public service roles at the White House, U.S. Embassy in Paris, U.S. Information Agency, and Congressional Management Foundation.) & David J. Miller (David is the Director of Entrepreneurship at the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship (MCSE). Miller is also a supporting faculty member at George Mason University's School of Management (SOM) teaching New Venture Creation and a PhD Candidate at Mason's School of Public Policy working with Dr. Zoltan J. Acs. Miller holds an MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business (Entrepreneurship, Finance, & Strategic Management), an MSc in the International Politics of Asia from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and a BA in International Relations from the University of Michigan.)
PD: Decoding AP Computer Science A
Moksh Jawa (Though just a sophomore at Washington High School in Fremont, CA. He self-studied for and performed well on the AP Computer Science test as a freshman. He teaches AP Computer Science to students at his high school.)
PD: Professional Communication Essentials
Rasmussen College/Udemy platform (A regionally accredited private college and Public Benefit Corporation that is dedicated to changing lives through high-demand educational programs and public service.) & Brooks Doherty (Brooks is Rasmussen College's Dean of General Education. He is completing a doctorate in Education at St. Mary's University, earned an MA in literature from University College London, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Political Science and English.)
Diploma of Project Management
Advanced Diploma of Management (Human Resources)
Advanced Diploma of Event Management
Diploma of Practice Management
Diploma of Vocational Education and Training
Diploma of Training, Design & Development
Diploma of Business
Advanced Diploma of Business
Diploma of Management
Diploma of Human Resources Management
Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy
Certificate IV in Small Business Management
Diploma of Business Administration
Certificate IV in Business Administration
Certificate III in Business Administration (Medical)
Certificate IV in Frontline Management
Diploma of Counselling
PD: Financial Analysis: A Recipe for Success
Professor and CPA Ellen Jakovich (Has experience in IT, communications, finance, electronic engineering, project management, and accounting. Holds a Bachelor's in Electronic Engineering Technology, a Master of Science in Finance and a Masters of Accounting & Financial Management.) & DeVry University
Certificate IV in Human Resources
Diploma of Training and Assessment
Project Management For Entrepreneurs: 10X Results Today Rico Rodriguez (Entrepreneur, Python Expert, Word and Windows Trainer. He has started numerous businesses and both failed and exceeded. He uses Python and JavaScript and C# in daily life to both make a living and to gather data online. He also helps small businesses streamline their business to reduce cost and increase productivity.)
Diploma of Community Services Coordination
Diploma of Disability
Certificate IV in Disability
Certificate III in Disability
Vocational Education and Training in Schools Certificate in Information Technology

Tips from Australia's #1 Cyber Forensics Expert

Private Investigator (Simon Smith), Dispute Resolution, Advocacy, Forensic Expert Court Witness, Digital Forensics, Forensic Data Recovery, Social Media Investigation, Workplace Relations & More (See Above)

We rely on computers to eat, breathe and live in today's society. Since a young child I always had an interest in forensic programming. My brothers used to play games, I used to make them. This was back with the old Amstrad tape deck CPC-464. Since then, I have programmed with every language that has ever been built. The job of a forensic programmer is not as the stereo-type predicts. To be a forensic programmer you have to be a DBA, Project Manager, Analyst, Consultant, IT Hardware/software expert, Problem Solver, Support Engineer, Security Expert and much more.

Being an expert witness to the court, I am able to establish routines and phishing and/or programming interfaces and trace these back to a potential crime or breach of information. I am considered an expert in the area of digital forensics, and computer programming and innovation, and have built over seven commercial programs and worked for over 100 companies in creating solutions that are so important that a breach of confidentiality or trust in information sources could cause severe detriment to consumers and the company's future. In order to understand and be a true expert in logic, one must be able to reverse that logic.

In unraveling conduct that the court needs, I have the ability to demonstrate in black and white English routine mechanisms that an accused could have easily used to achieve a goal. I can also write demonstrative routines. This is especially important in cases involving expert testimony on White Collar Fraud, Stalking and breaches of confidence, Cyber-crime and denial of service attacks. A denial of service (often called a DOS attack) can cost a company millions of dollars. I am able to track its source, assist in prosecution or defend and provide genuine independent fact to court - especially with my combined ability to investigate.

A careful word and some human testimony

Looking for a testimony from a real Corporate client whom was cyber-stalked for 5 yrs, living in terror, not finding his stalker after five years of attempts with the Police and the High-tech Crime division without success? After just 2 weeks I found the accused (via social media and cyber methods amongst traditional investigative techniques) and later prosecuted and convicted under strict Victorian Anti-stalking laws based on my work. Contact: LifeStyle Portraits, Darren Tilnak Tips on Security and Technology Be aware of just how much information you share online. 1 in 5 Australians have been victims of identity crime with computer hacking, online banking and shopping to blame SO you think you're safe online and take all the necessary steps to protect your information? Think again - your details may not be as private as you think. More Australians than ever are falling victim to identity crime and the victims aren't signing up to dodgy scams and being careless either. More Australian's than ever are falling victim to identity crime and the victims aren't signing up to dodgy scams and being careless either. Did you know that Australians have lost over $45 million to scams in 2015 already? The ACCC is urging the community not to send money or personal details to strangers after $45 million was reported lost to scams already this year and 45,000 complaints made.

Ten Top Rules to Limit your risk of being a Cyber Scam victim, but first I want to stress three golden rules....
1. Don't open any file or link attached to an email. Email is harmless, executable files or links to cause you to run executable files are the risk. Email is for reading. If the document is readable (pdf), or (text), go for it. Virus scanners are virus's themselves. I will write an article on this.

2. Check the sender and receiver email address that you actually would be replying to or the headers it actually was sent from - but don't assume they are who they say they are. See how they address you, is it an email chain with a known colleague? How did they just pick you? The simplest check is who emailed who and why, and how (or if) they know you.

3. Get your details off Facebook! I have found people who I've assisted police send to jail from a profile.
 ©The eVestigator®, 07/08/2015

In any situation, if you are being offered something for nothing (or very little), it is more often than not, not worth the price.

1. Always check a sender's email address (where you would be replying too - the exact .com), no matter how legitimate it seems. An active example is offers for free vouchers or free money.

2. Look out for any kind of incorrect spelling or unusual grammar. Often bogus emails do come from places where English is not the first language so look out for the use of the wrong tense, pronoun and plural or singular noun.

3. Completely disregard the email policies for any business/service you receive bills or correspondence from via the internet. They probably came in an email!
 
4. A real-life example is that PayPal® list the following criteria on their website to check if an email is legitimate, and I quote:

  "You see your name or your business name in the email. We always address you by your full name or your business name as registered on your PayPal account. We'll never use generic greetings like "Dear user" or "Hello PayPal member". We'll never ask you to include your financial information, your password, or the answer to your PayPal security questions in your emails to us. We'll never attach any software updates in our emails and ask you to install it to your devices. Correspondence regarding transactions will also appear in your PayPal account, so if you still aren't sure, log in to see if the email details are also there in your history."

 WRONG: Does anybody remember which goliath company's security was breached sending millions of people's personal information out to the public? How did you get that message? Via email? How do you know it was PayPal? Go back to Golden Rule #1.
 
5. Do not respond and report any email from people you did not initiate an email trail with. Report and provide as much detail as you can about the message. Compare suspicious emails with any legitimate ones you have received previously. If there are omitted details, such as logos, footers, disclaimers or images are different and/or look old delete and report it.
 
6. You didn't win anything via email, nor does anyone who 'found' you that you did not initiate a conversation with 'loves' you!
 
7. If anyone anywhere at any time asks for personal, or credit card/bank details via email or cold calling for that matter, NO. Don't do it. If they try to push you, voice your privacy and security concerns. If they still don't want to take no for an answer ignore and delete or in the case of cold calling, hang up. Always report to the police. If the police don't help you, report it to me. This is actually a crime and known as stalking, of which I am an expert (not stalking itself!). If you are personally apprehensive from this conduct and it continues, then you should first contact the police, and secondly apply for an interim intervention order. If the person seeking details is legitimate they can and will provide you with other payment options and remember they are paying you (well not really - it doesn't happen).
 
8. There is no "Get rich quick scheme". Ask any millionaire, and they will say 'hard work'. No promise of large future returns for money now, no matter how convincing or legitimate they say they are, have proven to be true otherwise why aren't they holidaying on the Bahamas?
 
9. Tying into this is the online dating risks. First, do you even remember the person, keep a log. Nobody is magically found. Be wary of online dating contacts who speak the word 'love' too quickly or seem very invested emotionally in a short amount of time without actually telling you much about themselves personally. It is easy to write or say lot without actually revealing anything. As you are getting to know someone it is a good idea to save conversations to read back over them later (and quiz them). Consider the kind of information they want from you and look at how much they are telling you, if they are a bit evasive in some areas, just take note of it and what subjects they seem reluctant to talk about. There may be a genuine, reasonable explanation or they may not have fleshed out that part of their story yet also think about where there were lags or delays in responses. Keep the relationship at a pace you both are comfortable with. I strongly recommend not loaning money or giving financial support before your first face-to-face meeting. There is no easy step-by-step guide to spot an online dating scammer (apart from those that are obvious to the normal human). The dynamics of every relationship is unique. Use your common sense; remember things that sound too good to be true usually are. Meet your date in person at a safe place as soon as you can, it is easier to get a real impression of someone in person and a lot harder to lie to or misunderstand one another. Has anyone met a beautiful girl who just doesn't have enough money to get out of their country to meet their soul mate? Every time they try, the consulate demands them to prove they have money to live, so they need more, and more and more... I will not delve too deep as I have conducted three cases in these situations.
 
10. If you suspect something might be a scam, trust your instinct and steer clear, it's a scam, especially if they are offering something you have been looking for but unusable to find easily - and don't know initially much about you. Also remember the Golden Rules. Who contacted who and when you reply where does it go? It is very tempting to click on something you want "just in case" only to find yourself host to one or more nasty viruses or scammers. In line with my recommendations, I also point out what the Australian Bureau of Statistics said about personal fraud and the various types, that don't necessarily have to be of a 'cyber' nature. The following information and data is produced under the ABS Attribution 2.5 Australia license and is unmodified.


Victims of Personal Fraud By Fraud Type, 2007 and 2010-11

It is estimated that a total of 1.2 million Australians aged 15 years and over were a victim of at least one incident of personal fraud in the 12 months prior to interview in 2010-11. This equates to a national victimisation rate for personal fraud of 6.7% of the population aged 15 years and over. This is an increase from the 806,000 victims of personal fraud in 2007 (5.0%).
 
 Victims of Personal Fraud by Fraud Type, 2007 and 2010-11: Persons may have been a victim of more than one fraud type so components may not add to total. Australians lost $1.4 billion in 2010-11 due to personal fraud. Three in five victims of personal fraud (60% or 713,600 persons) lost money, an average of $2,000 per victim who incurred a financial loss. The median loss for personal fraud was $300. This means that half the number of people who lost money due to personal fraud lost less than $300 and half lost more than $300.

 Identity Fraud: In the 12 months prior to the survey, an estimated 702,100 Australians were victims of identity fraud, or 4.0% of the population aged 15 years and over. This is an increase from the 499,500 victims of identity fraud in 2007 (3.1%).

Credit Card Fraud: An estimated 662,300 Australians aged 15 years and over were victims of credit card fraud in the 12 months prior to interview, or 3.7% of the population aged 15 years and over. This is an increase from the 383,300 victims of credit card fraud in 2007 (2.4%).

Identity Theft: In the 12 months prior to survey in 2010-11, an estimated 44,700 Australians were victims of identity theft, or 0.3% of the population aged 15 years and over. This is a decrease from the 124,000 victims of identity theft in 2007 (0.8%).

Scams: According to the survey results, an estimated 6.4 million Australians were exposed to a scam in the 12 months prior to interview. This equated to just over a third (35.8%) of the Australian population aged 15 years and over - the same proportion as in 2007. An estimated 514,500 Australians aged 15 years and over (2.9%) responded to a scam in the 12 months prior to survey. This is an increase from the 329,000 victims (2.0%) that responded to a scam in 2007.

Comparison of Fraud Types: Australians were more likely to fall victim to credit card fraud (3.7%) than experience identity theft (0.3%) or a scam (2.9%), and more likely to become a victim of a scam (2.9%) than identity theft (0.3%).

Victimisation Rates by Fraud Type: (a) Persons may have been a victim of more than one fraud type so components may not add to total. Reporting rates were higher for credit card fraud (49.9%) and identity theft (65.5%) than a scam (31.2%).


Reviews (Identity available only with permission)

"Thank you for the link. I was so excited, I had to check it out right away. Yes the interface is very intuitive and I believe it is very compelling to submit a request for estimate. So exciting - what a business transformation for you!! Congratulations to Simon too - great work!! It is challenging taking business requirements and translating that into a really interactive technology solution. Wow - this is a wonderful use of spatial technology for you and your team. I can't wait to hear the statistics on usage once you start to promote it out widely.":::Small Online Geolocation Programming Job - National Geolocation Letterbox Delivery Service, 03-06-2016

 "Thank you for the link. I was so excited, I had to check it out right away. Yes the interface is very intuitive and I believe it is very compelling to submit a request for estimate. So exciting - what a business transformation for you!! Congratulations to Simon too - great work!! It is challenging taking business requirements and translating that into a really interactive technology solution. Wow - this is a wonderful use of spatial technology for you and your team. I can't wait to hear the statistics on usage once you start to promote it out widely.":::Small Online Geolocation Programming Job - National Geolocation Letterbox Delivery Service, 03-06-2016

 "I highly recommend Simon of eVestigator and encourage anyone to use his investigative and forensic services. Simon is the utmost professional that is transparent in all that he will be doing for your case. He genuinely cares about your well being and you achieving your goals. He is not only focused on getting you through your mess but he is there to also separate you from the emotions. He is not motivated by money yet his work is SO valuable. He is motivated by the injustices people face and doing what is right by them.

The fact is Simon is not emotionally involved, shows in that he keeps with the facts. Unlike us victims who are stuck on "why did this happen to me". As Simon said, "you focus on you and your future and let me and the lawyers sort out your past"::: Civil Judgement case - intelligence and discovery in attaining an outcome.

 "My name is Tony, retired, who recently found myself the victim of a worldwide credit card SCAM. After all attempts with the bank and the police failed I approached Simon. From the outset, Simon was very strategic and helpful. I simply followed Simon's suggestions exactly. He totally walked through any opposition that stood in his way for me. ANZ mucked me around for a month or so, presumably to test how fairdinkum I was about them honouring their Credit Card guarantee, then after Simon's intervention and a period of 'nothing' all of a sudden they paid the full amount into my account. I would have no hesitation in recommending Simon. Simon absolutely knows how to get results - he's right on the money! - His clarity principled approach explained my position well and strengths was very prompt. He was one step ahead on the banks likely attitude and behaviour; I felt guided by his expertise. Success!":::Happy Customer with results from my intervention with the bank. This case will become precedent in other cases shortly, 04-05-2016

 "Simon is intuative and flexible. His experience means that he can predict possible and real roadblocks and opportunes Plan B's. His skill set is absolutely useful and he knows how to get results. Simon is able to speak with clients in such a way as to put them at ease prior to, during and after his investigations. His strengths are his assuredness, confidence, patience, flexability, intuition that underpins his professionalism and skills. He showed no weaknesses. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Simon's services and would be very happy to work with him again. I was blown away at how quickly Simon was able to bring resolution to our case and how he was available at all hours of the day and night which with the time distance made it possible to 'catchup' at times suitable to me.":::Sensitive Reverse Complex Cyber Stalking Matter, 27-05-2016

 "From the bottom of my heart, I'll say again you have gone above and beyond for me and your partner is very patient and understanding. Thanks for your effort, thanks for your patience and for not giving up on me. This has been a very long journey for me and for a complete stranger to help me like you have, well I consider you a good friend now, someone who doesn't want to see a family torn apart and really find the truth as do I. Thanks Simon, it really means a lot , it really does":::Sensitive Family Law Matter, 12-05-2016

 "Thank you so much. You don't know how much of a difference you've made over the last 24 hours to a very, very tired person initially and now a little bit more saner one. You've made a massive, massive difference so thank you.":::Family Law Custody Parent."::: 28-04-2016

 "You just put a smile on my face Simon. Like you, I'm a straight talker, and can't abide liars nor injustice. I have been accused of being brutally honest on many occasions in my life!":::Self Represented Litigant. 26-04-2016

 "YOU ARE THE MASTER!!! Sent email to my older kids as YOU SUGGESTED, re no contact with their Dad OR at least not PASSING ON ANY MESSAGES to me or XXX and it stopped!":::Extremely highly rescued family cyber-stalking matter. 20-03-2016

 "Thank you so much it was helpful. I will suggest your company as i know of at least 1 person who is interested. Thanx again Simon....":::Android Forensics Matter. 30-01-2015

 "I have been fortunate enough to obtain advice and witness Simon providing support to other professionals during our 8 year relationship. I have always found Simon to be a highly motivated, intelligent and capable person." :::Name protected, 01-02-2014

 "Simon, THANK YOU!!! Not only for what work you put in but just for being so positive and believing me and in me. You know, it's amazing the power of a persons words. In this case, it's the words of a person that should have no say or ability to have a say that see's me to be in the position I'm in today. 'No fact. No evidence.' And similarly, I was having a very hard day today. I had got my hopes up that that scumbag was going to let the kids be home for the weekend for my birthday.. But of course, I found out this morning that was not the case. But for some reason I have connected to a person, the person I have needed and searched for for almost a year now. And today you lifted my spirits more than I can ever express." :::Name protected, intervention reversal matter. 03-01-2015

 "Simon, I found your help in reporting and remedying my situation post a fraud on my computer to be Professional, Clear eyed & Modest charged where I had no clue as to what to do to protect myself. I would have no hesitation in recommending you" :::Name protected, another ACORN failed case, Massive Australian Dating Scam - lost over $250,000. 28-02-2015

 "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA XXXXX account, and complained about the lack of action. Thanks for your great work and your interest in my case. I am going to make a complaint to the AFP through a website I have found.":::Name protected, another ACORN failed case. 28-02-2015

 "Thx Simon. Through all this as much as I have learnt about how nasty and shady people are, I have met a lot of good honest ones! Youre at the top of the list." :::WA Victim of long term mental abuse. 02-12-2015

 "Simon had no issues in finding valuable data that was deleted from my iPad. Not only did he find what I was looking for, he found too much information I had to say stop!! He was smart enough to get the actual evidence from the cloud and the iPad at the end of the day didn't even make much difference! He is superb." :::Family violence victim in Queensland. 15-09-2015

 "Simon did a tremendous job in assisting my counsel in finding the Defendant of a massive cyber-attack and defamation against my business. He actually uncovered an international major scam network in the process and not only solved my case but solved so many others. He knows the workings of the internet, that's a fact." :::Protected name celebrity in Sydney. 20-09-2015

 "I wish to congratulate Simon on his absolute expertise in finding my online scammer. Everybody said it was impossible, but he did it. His method was mostly common sense. His skills are varied and I believe that anybody that utilises eVestigator® gets so much more" :::Dating chat scam victim. 20-09-2015

 "Simon's findings from forensically examining both an iPhone and an iPad gave me almost too much information than I was prepared for. He is very accurate and factual and knows the ins and outs of the technologoes, not from a useability level but from a ground up level - and it shows. I've worked in IT for 20 years and he blew my mind away with his findings and logical way of solving my defamation case. I think his skills as a mediator seriously complement his work and it shows." :::Protected identity undisclosed 12-08-2015

 "Simon was able to forensically examine another expert's report and politely speaking 'teared it to shreds'. Simon uses a factual approach to his investigations and his knowledge seems to be more than just a expert programmer, more than an expert investigator, but a real person who can understand your problem and come to a solution. He makes things happen, and saved me thousands in lawyers fees when I was at the brink of being summoned to the county court on a report that otherwise would have destroyed my case." :::Protected identity undisclosed 21-08-2015

 "eVestigator's knowledge of the government policy, experience and Qualification as a Government Investigator, as well as first-hand experience in government corruption helped our team uncover a major injustice and unlawful decision of an asset properly created but stopped from bureaucrats worth over 20 million dollars. Through persistence and fact, eVestigator (despite barristers saying after $40,000 there was no chance of success) persisted on the facts in review and after 5 years won not once but twice and had the decision overturned."

 "Thanks Simon, you're a life saver !" :::Protected identify undisclosed - found FaceBook Cyber-Stalking Defendant after ACORN had not succeeded, enabling the customer to attain a Personal Safety Intervention Order 26-11-2015

 "Hello Simon, I just wanted to let you know how encouraged I felt after speaking to you. You have no idea how much pain and suffering I have had to endure over last few years,so I hope you can sort this out because there have been so many twists and turns over this whole affair, that really sometimes I thought I was going cuckoo. As it happened all my hunches and my 'WOMENS INTUITION" really have been right and really I dont want to waste another year of my life , excuse my french, on a a couple of ********** who are hiding in the shadows.Thankfully my husband has come on board ,especially the last 6 mths ,to not only help me but also do some serious work on himself.As you will gather from the information I send ,I have had to do this all on my own with little computer skills ,working part time looking after 3 boys and generally trying to keep my **** together.I know that i am not wrong with the things ive found and generally i am a peace loving and kind person but i am also thankful to this sociopath for re awakening the fighter that lay dormant in me for years. Thankyou!" ::: Another cyber-legal case with forensic analysis of iPhones, Hard Drives & Computers.

 "My name is Mark Franchi and I am a decorated, retired Police Officer of 33 Years who worked as a Patrolman, Supervisor, and Specialist Squad Team Leader and worked who also worked as a Federal Officer within the ATO for 6 years. I worked with Simon Smith for almost 3 years from 2006-2009 and have kept in contact with him as a friend since then."

"Simon is an Entrepreneur, innovator, designer and is the most ethical person I know who is very honest in everything that he does. He is the person who changes the course of an industry because of the ingenious ways he turns ideas into inventions. I have seen him in business do the right thing when he could have turned his back and kept people's money. Without a hesitation he refunded people who never knew they were overcharged in the first place."

"Simon is also a genius computer programmer, who has helped find cyber stalkers, assisted ASIC find and prosecute unlicensed practitioners, helped ASIC find and prosecute people who have performed Acts of Bankruptcy. Through his inventions and clever designs Simon has accumulated quite allot of wealth and never has had the need to chase money, but always helps people who have been wronged or have had had an injustice done against them."

"Simon has been helping people for as long as I have known him and has not got one malicious bone in his body. He has had in the last few years quite allot of injustices done against him, especially with people stealing his inventions and Government bodies giving him a hard time because he had taken them to task over corruption issues. Simon is a great believer in restorative justice."

"If you wish to discuss Simon Smith with me in any way please don't hesitate to call me on 0468 522 700." ::: Mark Franchi, very senior respected person of authority and colleague."

 "I highly HIGHLY recommend Simon and eVestigator® for any investigative, mediation, or advocacy needs especially to sort out the lawyers and give amazing factual results from investigation to in my case personal service to see the job through, after many had tried and failed."

"He will take you through to the other side. You will get results. And PLEASE don't think he will be expensive, cause that is not the case. His work is SO valuable. He will save you money by simply being your voice. I did not realize that lawyers will charge for a simple email. The fact that Simon is not emotionally involved, he only talks fact. Unlike us victims who are still stuck on "why did this happen to me?"

"Whatever your problem is, yes you need to go to a lawyer for the official lodgement of litigation complaints but Simon is the one who truly gets the job done with you the right way! I can't stress enough how important he will be to your case simply because his factualness and understanding of the legal language and system and experience in getting results the quickest most cost effective way. Brilliance is an understatement."

:::Kind Regards, Emotionally Traumatised Victim of Crime/Trauma/Deceit/Injustice, Attained direction and default judgement > 190k, Jurisdiction: County Court of Victoria, Result: 4 weeks after 3 years of emotional distress and misguidance. 25-10-2015.

 "I have never given a testimonial before but felt the need to say a massive THANK YOU to Simon of eVestigator® and to encourage anyone that may need his services. It's one thing to be a victim to crimes or attacks against us but then there is the different form of attack that comes from the legal team. A financial attack."

"Simon is the utmost professional that goes beyond what's on paper. He genuinely cares about your well being and mental status. He sympathises and understands your fears but most importantly he understands the "lawyer language". It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do."

"Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed. From assisting me in advice presenting fact, and gaining fact in my paperwork, to getting a court order, it all happened in 1 month."

"Simon was onto the lawyers and made sure things were done! He corrected the lawyers Letter of Demand and made sure all the information was there on the 1 letter. Even though I gave the lawyers 300 pages of evidence. That letter basically was the only thing needed to get the court order stamp."

"Simon looks after you like a friend and is not only focused on getting you through your mess but he is there to also separate you from the emotional attachment that got you into this mess. My favourite thing he said to me, and this often crosses my mind, 'you focus on you and your future and me and the lawyers will sort out your past'"

 "There was a reason when i was searching that your name came up and i picked you.Ive had many moments of aha!!! over last 4 yrs.You are one of them."::: Very strong lady who wanted to know once and for all the truth after over 10 years of mysery. Truth was delivered enabling her to get on with her life.

 For Legal Counsel: From Senior Court Consultant, "I am writing this letter in support of Simon Smith. I have gotten to know Mr. Smith over the past 10 years, both as a person and as a Computer Programmer. In both capacities, I have been most impressed with Mr. Smith's talents, and I am confident that he will be an exceptional asset to aid any Attorney."

"As a Computer Programmer, Mr. Smith stood out, from early in our relationship, as an articulate and perceptive programmer. Simon repeatedly, showed me he was able to provide solutions to my company that we were able to use unaltered for over 10 years, that in the computing world is no small feat. It shows that the solutions he provided were designed by someone who took the "long view" in application design. Intellectually, he is clearly a star."

"His talents, however, do not end there. Mr. Smith is also a person of unusual energy, maturity, and skill. He has shown a tenacity in dealings with several International Companies and Governmental Departments, he tackled these responsibilities with spirit and sophistication, interacting in an effective, responsible manner. He is evidently a person with substantial experience functioning in the professional world, and it has been a pleasure working with him."

"In short, I recommend Mr. Smith to you strongly and without reservation He will be a wonderful addition to your team. If I can be of any further assistance in your review of his application, please feel free to contact me." :::Sincerely yours, Evan Kelly CEO vPedal

 "A man of integrity expects to be believed and if not he lets time prove him right.":::Successful Voiceover Artist directed to eVestigator®

  "I appeared on Today Tonight's request made to Simon Smith (eVestigator®), where Simon was asked to choose a willing former client discuss the impact of Cyber-Awareness, Cyber-Stalking and Cyber-Bullying. They were conducting an investigation and asked him if he would be willing to ask a former client pertaining to Cyber-Bully's and Cyber-Stalker's in his capacity as an Expert Forensic Private Investigator for the story which aired over 4 years ago."

"I used to run a YouTube channel which attracted people from all over the world as I aspire to be a character actress one day. I have built up a portfolio and had a successful YouTube channel. Not long after I continued to receive inappropriate emails and posts, which turned into serious Cyber-Stalking and Cyber-Bullying. Simon (eVestigator) helped me not only find my CyberStalker and CyberBully - which in itself was a challenge as he ended up being in another country, he also helped me get attention. It is so hard to be treated seriously with the police and almost an impossibility to get something reported outside the country."

"Simon stood by me and saw the process through. He was not just a Forensic Investigator. At each step he explained the most efficient process and through his strategy managed to get the complaint followed through the process to ensure an outcome. He was very thorough on mostly his own initiative with the Scottish Police. He is very talented with any online tracng, especially due to the fact we had no evidence where this person was - but with Facebook, and Simon's abilities he brought justice to my Cyber Stalker/Cyber Bully."

"Simon was directly requested to volunteer some advice and put forward a willing participant on Channel 7's Today Tonight program on behalf of his Cyber Stalking/Cyber Bullying experiences. I had the film crew come to me and the story was aired. Cyber-Bullying was the primary focus and I am really passionate on stopping this and helping others and perhaps working with Simon later, and thanks to Simon and Today Tonight, it was brought to the public."

"This was a good experience allowing me to give my opinion on what I think is a national issue, so Simon not only solved my case but from Today Tonight's expert request, he enabled me to explain some views on Cyber-Bullying which i feel strongly about. I recommend Simon fully for any investigation as his programming and forensic investigation skills are outstanding.":::Jasmine

eVestigator® Cyber Intelligence Reverse Mobile Phone Database

 Mobile phone forensics - Database Lookup/Enquiry

Num: *
0400 0401 0402 0403 0404 0405 0406 0407 0408 0409
0410 0411 0412 0413 0414 0415 0416 0417 0418 0419
0420 0421 0422 0423 0424 0425 0426 0427 0428 0429
0430 0431 0432 0433 0434 0435 0436 0437 0438 0439
0440 0441 0442 0443 0444 0445 0446 0447 0448 0449
0450 0451 0452 0453 0454 0455 0456 0457 0458 0459
0460 0461 0462 0463 0464 0465 0466 0467 0468 0469
0470 0471 0472 0473 0474 0475 0476 0477 0478 0479
0480 0481 0482 0483 0484 0485 0486 0487 0488 0489
0490 0491 0492 0493 0494 0495 0496 0497 0498 0499

Have you been scammed by anyone whose number looks like this? Attain your FREE Consultation below.

Enter your name: Enter your contact details and mobile number you would like more details on:
Telecommunication Authorities for Mobiles in Australia
Telstra Corporation Limited, Optus Mobile Pty Limited, Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Rail Corporation New South Wales, Dialogue Communications Pty Limited, Symbio Networks Pty Ltd, Clx Networks Australia Pty Limited, Pivotal Satellite Pty Limited, Compatel Limited, Mblox Pty Ltd, Lycamobile Pty Ltd, Novatel Telephony Pty Ltd, Victorian Rail Track, Australian Communications and Media Authority

Links

We have created a series of useful links and tools for your perusal.

Contact, Articles, Successes, Expert Witnesses Services, Free Cyber-Brief, Expert Witnesses Online, Eyes on the Spies (the Australian), Today Show, Crime Stoppers, SCAMWatch, Private Investigator Licensing, Lawyer & Counsel CPD Seminars, What is an Expert Witness, Federal Court Expert Witness Practice Note, Australian Institute of Professional Investigators, eVestigator® on Channel 9 talking cyber-security, eVestigator® Simon Smith discusses iPhone obsolescence with 'The New Daily', http://www.flagstaffotos.com.au

eVestigator® Free Android PenTester App Now Available



With this App, Simon Smith, Australia's #1 Computer Forensics Cyber Forensic Investigator and Expert Witness stops at no port before 65,535 across the entire TCP/IP list of ports on the IP4 internet. You are then able to know exactly if there is a breach to your internal internet FROM THE OUTSIDE - as one of the most common cyber-crimes Mr. Smith has dealt with is white-collar fraud, where hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone missing from within organisations - from external geographical locations.

Brief me as a Cyber Forensic Expert Witness

Expert witnesses in proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia
ACT - Expert Witness Code of Conduct
NSW - Schedule 7-Expert witness code of conduct
WA - District Court Code of Conduct - Expert Witnesses
Queensland - Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 - Division 2
QCAT - Practice Direction No 4 of 2009 Expert Evidence
NT - Practice Direction No 4 of 2009 - Expert Reports
NCAT - Procedural Direction 3 - Expert Witnesses
VCAT - Practice Note – PNVCAT2 Expert Evidence 
Victoria - Form 4A - Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses
Part 15.5 of the Family Law Rules 2004
SA - Supreme Court Practice Directions 5.4 & 5.5 
Expert Witnesses in Proceedings in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

As a certified Expert Witness, I am able to provide credible facts and opinions in expert witness format for any Australian Court or Tribunal. An expert witness, commonly known, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, credential, skill or practical experience, is accepted by the Judge, Magistrate or Member as an expert. In Australia, the courts and tribunals have specific rules for experts. The decision maker's) consider the witness's specialised (scientific, technical or forensic) factually informed opinion about an article of evidence or in many cases, prior to a hearing, facts before the court within the expert's area of expertise.

I have provided many "expert opinions" and "factual explanations". I personally prefer to provide factual explanations to avoid doubt. My duty is to the court to deliver "expert evidence" within the area of my expertise. My testimony is open for rebuttal by testimony from other experts or by other evidence or facts. Please see below on some tips of formally starting the briefing process of an expert witness:

When instructing the expert, you should explain the way the fact or opinion will be used and where. You should explain the experts' obligations and the limit and scope of the brief. It is important to also both verbally and in writing cover the specific elements of the case and the specific issues that the expert is asked to clarify or answer. This is vital as it forms part of your written 'Letter of Instruction'. This sets out the scope and expectations of the expert, and is used as the main referencing point. It is vital that the wording is clear and concise. Ensure that the exact elements of fact or key issues and any assumptions are identified, along with the specific questions for the expert. Note that it is typically not an expert witness's job to 'Investigate'.

If it your intention to receive a draft report, it is prudent to set this requirement out in your Letter of Instruction. It is vital to also cover hearing dates, timing schedules, and preliminary evidence that needs to be attained and inspected prior to the making of an expert report. Concisiveness is the key and there is no set format for an 'Expert Report'.

The expert can only rely on what you instruct them as to prior facts and assumptions as listed in their 'Letter of Instruction'. I will typically help guide the process, and always provide you with the relevant expert witness code of conduct and my obligations to the court.

Cybercrime Expert Witness Simon Smith, from evestigator.com.au discusses the 'hidden defendant’ appearing in almost every case.

Well, in my words it is "CYBERGEDDON". Not to be dramatic but I have now experienced an element of cybercrime in every single case that I have had to deal with in every jurisdiction including employee fraud, stalking, computer crime, theft (including identity theft), international crimes, police prosecution, civil disputes and extremely aggressive family law cases. As a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner also, I can appreciate the enormity of mudslinging that goes on in such cases that depend heavily on the credibility or lack thereof, and have reversed many cases by an interesting element of cyber-fraud where the Internet has reversed cases showing fake email evidence admitted into evidence, almost causing loss of custody and destroying families. This is real! I would like to introduce two short stories of fact anonymised for the benefit of counsel and readers of this newsletter to explain that from conducting a slight investigation and thinking outside the square, almost all cases are resolvable in such a way that they can be mediated or favourable to one side through computer forensics; as despite people thinking they are smart in sending anonymous emails or purporting to be someone else through TOR networks (of which I happen to own 'Orion Elite Hidden IP Browser Pro++’, the largest iOS software but it is supposed to be for the purposes of protecting the users privacy) they are not immune. I have saved many cases where justice has almost been destroyed because sadly in some situations the Magistrate, Justice, Judge or Member do not understand the complexity or the relationship between the technological credentials and reliability of the human and sometimes neither can the client explain it properly to their counsel or lawyer. This is detrimental because if nobody understands how to properly construct pleadings then they are likely to be struck out.

In my first case scenario, a person from India came to Australia to work for a company and provide Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services. In other words, they simply came down and suggested that they would take over the company’s Google marketing. This company was spending about $4000 a month on AdWords marketing. This new “employee” happened to own a SEO company in India, so he contracted himself to perform the work in conjunction with himself as an employee of this Australian company. He also set up various servers and operated several businesses from within this organisation—unbeknownst to the employers—through the company’s network. From Google’s perspective, all operations were performed by the employer. However, at least seven servers were set up, racking up a bill of $500 000 of debt without permission of the business owner; fraudulently, to the benefit of this employee who later was sacked and then demanded the employer pay more money as an alleged debt with the SEO company, money he claimed to be owed based on the trading relationship. What an ironic situation. I was called in to a very frantic company to determine how to get Google off their back for a half-a-million-dollar debt racked up by this ex-employee. The Google user account and IP address (internet location) pointed naturally to my client because the ex-employee had opened up several ports where he could dial in from home and pretend to be on my client’s network in performing his illegal activities, then he left the country. I took a very strong lead in finding negligence on Google’s side and technicalities in policy in attaining credit where credit was not authorised in order to defend my client’s liability and explain from a cyber legal perspective, before it even got to the point of litigation, that the company was not responsible for this debt. In normal law, most of you would agree that the liability, despite the crime, would still fall on my client. This was an enormous success. This is what I would call a 'hidden defendant’. You cannot always trust that the defendant is actually visible to you. This is also the case in many jurisdictions; one of which I would like to share with you that is quite extreme and how I completely overturned a massive case. Most people would like to think that people tell the truth in family law cases, especially doctors.

I had a case where I was called in to validate the characteristics of who may be telling the truth based on some SMS’s and forensic iPhone discovery. However, I found much more than that. As it happens in this Family Law case, the mother had taken the child and as possession, as they say, is 9/10ths of the law it was up to the father (who had nothing wrong with him) to seek psychiatrist reports, counseling, visitation rights, initiate family law proceedings and go through an enormous amount of trauma to prove that there was nothing wrong with him to still potentially be on the losing side as he didn’t have possession. An enormous amount of Affidavits were exchanged with the Family Court. Most Judges do not like to discuss perjury but I am a stickler for evidence and fact and I say it how it is; I did not intend on coming up with what I came up with. What I found was the last Affidavit of the mother, which was all allegations and no witnesses (and most allegations were in regards to forgery, rape, violence and no evidence other than her word as well as no police reports) and were very serious allegations. All of these accusations were of a man who seemed like a normal father, that due to this, limited him to three hours visitation, every three weeks to see his daughter of four months old with no notice. I do not take sides in cases however, I do take fact. I, in my investigations, usually look at what comes to me rather than what the client asks as my first duty is to the court. In what I found by perusing through what we like to call “big brother” Google records is that a strange IP address appeared that had hacked into his Gmail account. However, what this person did not realise was that this IP address, once in Gmail is also recorded to have searched Google for methods of fabricating evidence in Family Law Courts against ex-husbands, planning methods of suicide and/or faking suicide and cutting brake wires of the same model car as my client. Subpoena evidence showed that the IP address that conducted these searches and hacked into my clients Gmail account, came from the credible doctor who had submitted over 40 Affidavits alleging the opposite to the Court of Law. It also shows that the searcher was looking for fake emailers and on the header of the emails that were submitted as evidence to the court, I note that the exact emailers that she was searching for sent those emails purporting to be somebody else. This is also a crime as we know it of impersonation. Needless to say, I stumbled on something quite large here. My advice to the client was to start talking closely with the other side.

My final words are that I can make a big difference to any case in relation to cyber intelligence. It is part of every case at the moment. Everybody uses their mobile phone, I can find out what they have done, what they have searched for, what their intentions are and what their personality really is. Everybody has a record that is usually uploaded to iCloud in the case of iPhones or the Cloud if they are using Android. Everybody uses some form of security-based email like Gmail or Hotmail that tracks you. There is always a record. I would advise everybody to test the evidence before accepting the inevitable because sometimes, on a simple technicality of fact at a very low cost, an entire case can be destroyed and these are where my successes lie. These are just two examples of some very successful cases. I am currently working on an enormous case which is very similar and involves an accused that is facing a jail term of at least seven years who, based on current evidence, did not do the crime and the withholding of that evidence seems to be an abuse of his rights. I always give counsel, lawyers or clients a free pre-investigation on any case to determine whether I can help to ensure that I can maintain my 100% success rate. I will only assist in cases that I know will produce an outcome. You are an expert in litigation and cyber elements have unfortunately always existed but people have never realised how serious and how present they are in proceedings, now and in the past. Expert opinions and facts make a difference. Call me anytime on 0410 643 121 or visit www.evestigator.com.au and I’m happy to talk, anywhere in Australia.

Simon Smith is a Cyber Forensics and Cyber Security Expert Private Investigator, Certified Ethical Hacker, Technologist and Computer Forensics Expert Witness. He has over 20 years+’ computer programming experience and has appeared in various news publications regarding smart phone technology and on Channel 7’s Today Tonight in relation to Cyber bullying and recently the Today show on Channel 9, discussing credit card security. Simon has a strong persistence in finding a very fast and cost-effective approach to assist cases with evidence that can be detrimental to one side based on his extensive knowledge of programming. An example of this is just in knowing that he has prepared to stand behind somebody in support of two convictions from a legal services commissioner in a state of Australia, based on a technical inaccuracy on their part, they dropped all charges. Being a Nationally Accredited Mediator, although in the court room, Simon works for the court, ultimately his goals is to help produce an outcome that joins all the dots and perhaps resolve a situation in or out of court without compromising fact.



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We thank you for reading our website and encourage you to call Simon to see just how much he can help you or your business or department as he has helped hundreds more. As the information in this site is sometimes used for the purposes of civil or criminal investigation it is vital that it is a condition that your IP address of '62.210.77.51' and corresponding request details is recorded upon visiting our site.

SCAMStoppers™

In addition to our other feeds, we also provide this feed courtesy of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and SCAMWatch which show different kinds of trending scams. The most accurate place to look however, is my blog - as I report scams as I investigate them.

Sun Aug 07 23:17:35 UTC    Canberra Rep's Macbeth at Theatre 3  - Jordan Best's telling and clear-eyed production has a large cast of experienced players that bring the drama to vivid life....      

Sun Aug 07 23:17:26 UTC    Markets Live: Profits to test ASX  - Shares are set to open higher ahead of a busy week of earnings results....      

Sun Aug 07 23:16:11 UTC    Iran hangs nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri accused of spying for 'Great Satan'  - Iranian scientist who says he resisted CIA pressure to spill Tehran's nuclear secrets to his country's 'number-one enemy' has been executed for treason. ...      

Sun Aug 07 23:13:45 UTC    Police trying to identify teenage boy stabbed during brawl in Fairfield  - A teenage boy has been taken to hospital after being stabbed in south west Sydney on Sunday night. ...      

Sun Aug 07 23:12:12 UTC    Perth ex-cop loses appeal over sex with schoolgirl  - PERTH, Aug 7 AAP - A Perth policeman who admitted having sex with a schoolgirl has lost an appeal against his two-year prison sentence....      

Sun Aug 07 23:12:22 UTC    Ambulance crew dropped French gymnast Samir Ait Said after horror leg break  - French gymnast Samir Ait Said's horrific leg injury shocked the world, then bumbling paramedics dropped him on the ground....      

Sun Aug 07 23:09:16 UTC    Australian corporate fugitive Abraham 'Abe' Goldberg dies in Poland, owing more than $1.3 billion  - One of Australia's most notorious corporate fugitives, Abraham "Abe" Goldberg, has died in Poland more than 25 years after his textile empire collapsed with debts of $1.3 billion debts and warrants were issued for his arrest....      

Sun Aug 07 23:08:57 UTC    Mack Horton's parents are in Rio, but they didn't see him win gold  - Andrew Horton, the proud father of 400m freestyle gold medallist Mack, admitted he had no idea if his son had managed to win gold as his view in the last 15 metres of the race was blocked by the crowd in front of him....      

Sun Aug 07 23:06:42 UTC    Jim Furyk sets PGA Tour record with round of 58  - Jim Furyk has shot the lowest round ever on the PGA Tour, a 12-under-par 58 at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut....      

Sun Aug 07 23:00:05 UTC    Thai authorities hunt for a woman following the death of a Melbourne man holidaying in Bangkok: reports  - Thai authorities are reportedly hunting for a woman following the death of a Melbourne man holidaying in Bangkok last month....      

Sun Aug 07 22:59:06 UTC    Australian women's rugby sevens draw with US on way to semis at Rio Olympics  - Jarryd Hayne was onto something when he tried to dip his toe in Olympic rugby sevens. ...      

Sun Aug 07 22:58:16 UTC    Man charged over Blacktown boarding house stabbing  - A man has been charged over a stabbing at a boarding house in Blacktown on Saturday....      

Sun Aug 07 23:14:05 UTC    Tony Abbott hits out at Liberal Party's 'factional warlords'  - Former prime minister Tony Abbott has hit out at lobbyists and backroom powerbrokers in the NSW Liberal Party, branding their interactions with elected representatives "potentially corrupt"....      

Sun Aug 07 22:53:02 UTC    Canberra mornings: Monday August 8 2016  - The news, traffic and weather to get you up to speed....      

Sun Aug 07 22:46:21 UTC    Australia wins surprise bronze in Rio Olympics synchronised diving  - Five minutes after the big screen at Rio's Aquatic Centre flashed up Australia's surprise bronze medal in the 3 metre springboard synchronised team diving, Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney stood shaking and shivering in the briefing room, ahead of the imminent medal ceremony....      

Sun Aug 07 22:42:31 UTC    Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's torso creates internet storm  - Sightings of a shirtless Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are causing something of a stir across Canada....      

Sun Aug 07 22:40:07 UTC    Search for missing man Tumucin Caglar in bushland in Hawkesbury  - Police are searching for a man in bushland in the Hawkesbury area after he went missing from a camping party on Sunday night. ...      

Sun Aug 07 22:34:20 UTC    Annemiek van Vleuten in horror road race cycling crash at Rio Olympics 2016  - A horrendous crash has marred the finale of the women's cycling road race....      

Sun Aug 07 22:31:29 UTC    The indestructible kangaroo - orphan Cuejoe survives truck crash and eagle attack  - It's been a roller-coaster six months for WA Police Constable Mark Scott. Early this year his family suddenly doubled in size with the arrival of his his baby son Theo and orphan kangaroo Cuejoe....      

Sun Aug 07 22:30:52 UTC    Catherine Skinner and the long road to Olympic shooting gold in Rio  - Catherine Skinner says her university grades were "pretty terrible." She managed to graduate with a chemical engineering degree at RMIT, but it took eight years....      

Sun Aug 07 22:52:02 UTC    Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin announces new TV series Wild Cards  - With Game of Thrones heading into its last season in 2018, fans can rejoice that another universe created by George R.R. Martin may be heading to TV screens as soon as next year....      

Sun Aug 07 22:25:13 UTC    Man caught driving 215km/h on Hume Highway near Mittagong  - A man was found with drugs and a knife when he was allegedly caught driving 215km/h on the Hume Highway....      

Sun Aug 07 22:02:44 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016: Mack Horton bombarded with abuse after baiting Chinese rival Sun Yang  - Australia's 400m freestyle gold medallist Mack Horton has copped a barrage of abuse from Chinese swimming fans on social media in the wake of his sledge on rival Sun Yang....      

Sun Aug 07 23:19:11 UTC    Australian academic abducted at gunpoint in Kabul  - An Australian academic at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul is one of two people who have been abducted at gun point, according to reports....      

Sun Aug 07 22:32:23 UTC    Mackay McDonald's 'high-risk offender' surrenders after police fired at car  - "High-risk offender" allegedly sparked terrifying confrontation....      

Sun Aug 07 22:47:34 UTC    While Beyonce triumphs, Frank Ocean is keeping us waiting. And waiting.  - Frank Ocean's hotly anticipated follow-up to the chart topping Channel Orange album was a no-show on Friday and remains more dream than reality. Why are we waiting?...      

Sun Aug 07 21:56:20 UTC    US Nazi leader says Donald Trump is a 'real opportunity' for white supremacists  - Donald Trump's candidacy had electrified America's far right, which is hoping his outspokenness will give them better access to the political mainstream...      

Sun Aug 07 21:48:54 UTC    Pakistan crumble in second innings, England take 2-1 Test series lead  - Pakistan's second innings crumbled to 201 all out as England won the third Test by 141 runs to lead the four-match series 2-1....      

Sun Aug 07 21:47:49 UTC    Gold Coast Titans recruit Jarryd Hayne in referee touching controversy  - Jarryd Hayne conceded he can't remember if he accidentally made contact with a referee as the much publicised "Hayne Cam" threatens to create another judiciary controversy....      

Sun Aug 07 21:47:29 UTC    Suicide Squad tops the US box-office as fans ignore critics' mauling  - Suicide Squad, the latest feature from Warner Bros.' DC Comics, opened as the No. 1 film in North American theatres, breaking records for August despite a mauling by critics....      

Sun Aug 07 21:41:18 UTC    need2know: Wall Street boost for ASX  - Local shares poised for a strong start to the week after Wall Street posted record closing highs on Friday. ...      

Sun Aug 07 21:40:34 UTC    Size is largely in the mind: how your body image can change in two minutes  - Have you ever looked at yourself in a full-length mirror and wished you looked more like the beautiful people who grace the covers of glossy magazines? If so, you are by no means alone....      

Sun Aug 07 21:34:04 UTC    Queensland coroner to probe murder of Leonard Raymond Gordon  - Inmate placed in same unit as notorious offender....      

Sun Aug 07 21:32:05 UTC    Fake Seinfeld 9/11 episode begs question: Can we laugh at terrorism?  - It's a fake script of Seinfeld addressing 9/11 that went viral last week, but fans of the show have posed the question: Would Seinfeld episodes after September 11, 2001, have taken place in a post-9/11 world?...      

Sun Aug 07 21:28:25 UTC    What to purge and what to splurge on in the kitchen  - Splurge on these expert-recommended essentials that will make a real difference to how you spend your time in the kitchen....      

Sun Aug 07 21:25:22 UTC    Melbourne 'snowdropper': Police catch alleged panty thief with 'huge stash of wet bras'  - Police are calling on women who may be missing undergarments to come forward after a man was found with an abundance of bras in Melbourne's north on Monday morning....      

Sun Aug 07 21:16:31 UTC    RBA rate cut creates few market winners as policy limits chafe  - The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut interest rates last week has so far produced few clear winners....      

Sun Aug 07 21:13:20 UTC    Woman dies after tree falls on tractor  - A 60-year-old woman died on the far south coast on Sunday after a tree fell on a tractor she was driving, police say. ...      

Sun Aug 07 21:11:52 UTC    P-plater crashes into brick wall and bee colony in St Helena  - An 18-year-old who has only had his licence for two weeks crashed into a brick fence full of bees on Friday night....      

Sun Aug 07 21:10:59 UTC    Late Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike gives Jose Mourinho first Manchester United trophy  - Manchester United's new striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's struck late to ensure Jose Mourinho's reign got off to a winning start as the FA Cup holders beat champions Leicester City 2-1 in the Community Shield at Wembley....      

Sun Aug 07 21:09:59 UTC    Serena Williams gives advice to Cate and Bronte Campbell at Rio Olympics  - Fresh off ending Aussie Daria Gavrilova's Olympic dream, US tennis megastar Serena Williams has offered up advice to Australian swimming sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell: "Family first"....      

Sun Aug 07 21:09:54 UTC    AFL 2016: Melbourne Demons' turn to start dealing it out  - Melbourne have played some exciting football in 2016. But there's a new-found maturity and resilience about the Demons to go with it, too....      

Sun Aug 07 21:07:40 UTC    Nick Kyrgios wins Atlanta Open  - Nick Kyrgios has landed a second ATP title, defeating American John Isner in straight sets to win the Atlanta Open....      

Sun Aug 07 20:55:24 UTC    Players, coaches back Wests Tigers playing more games at Leichhardt Oval  - It may be a financial burden playing NRL games at suburban grounds however Wests Tigers may not be able to ignore the competitive benefit...      

Sun Aug 07 20:45:40 UTC    Fasten your seatbelts as big guns get ready to roll in epic 4x100m freestyle final  - Australia has qualified third fastest for today's final behind Russia and America, with Cameron McEvoy the star inclusion in a star-studded final that will also include American greats Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian....      

Sun Aug 07 20:46:06 UTC    Aquatic centre damaged, rowing cancelled as wild winds hit Rio Olympics  - The Rio Olympics had already kicked off under somewhat of a cloud, with security concerns and the Russian doping scandal casting a shadow over the Games....      

Sun Aug 07 20:33:45 UTC    $110bn: Australia's contactless boom  - Australians are estimated to be spending over $2 billion a week on contactless or "tap and go" payments....      

Sun Aug 07 20:31:30 UTC    Australia's first world surfing champion, Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly, dies aged 71  - Australia's first world champion surfer, Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly, has passed away at the age of 71. ...      

Sun Aug 07 20:14:38 UTC    No Princess Mary in sight as Denmark strike first handball blood  - The first-round match between Denmark and Argentina was billed as a cracker - and that it was....      

Sun Aug 07 20:13:41 UTC    Melbourne Express: Monday, August 8, 2016  - Melbourne Express is your morning primer - a live blog with breaking news, headlines, transport updates and weather....      

Sun Aug 07 20:03:57 UTC    Oscar Pistorius' wrists bandaged but self-harm reports are 'completely untrue'  - As world's best athletes gathered in Rio, the disgraced Paralympian was rushed to hospital under heavy guard after injuring his wrists in his prison cell....      

Sun Aug 07 19:56:05 UTC    American superstar Katie Ledecky poised to set another world record at Rio Olympics  - Like most of her career to date, the question is really only how much the American will win by....      

Sun Aug 07 22:19:18 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016: Australian Catherine Skinner wins shooting gold  - Having only just qualified for the semi-finals, Australian Catherine Skinner has overcome an early deficit match to triumph in the women's trap final....      

Sun Aug 07 19:35:27 UTC    Reporting season the focus for sharemarket investors this week  - The ASX is poised to lift on Monday after strong US payroll data pushed Wall Street to a new record....      

Sun Aug 07 18:56:47 UTC    Is cricket next? Sachin Tendulkar and IOC president meet at Rio Olympics  - Sachin Tendulkar might just be the man who kickstarts cricket's push into the Olympic games after meeting with IOC president Thomas Bach in Rio on Saturday....      

Sun Aug 07 18:45:06 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016: Strong winds force the cancellation of a full day of rowing at the Rio Olympics  - High winds have thrown the rowing schedule at the Rio Olympics into confusion with all competition cancelled on day two....      

Sun Aug 07 18:39:18 UTC    Australian Catherine Skinner to shoot for gold in women's trap  - Australian Catherine Skinner will shoot for gold after winning the women's trap semi-final. She will face New Zealand's Natalie Rooney who edged American Corey Cogdell in a shoot-off....      

Sun Aug 07 19:35:32 UTC    Late workers, long queues, no food: Day two of Rio Olympics' chaotic start  - Day two of the Rio Olympic Games has started as day one finished - with long queues, spectator complaints - and staff late for work....      

Sun Aug 07 18:16:34 UTC    New Syrian rebel alliance claims major breakthrough in ending Aleppo siege  - Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going....      

Sun Aug 07 18:15:56 UTC    Belgian police identify police machete attacker as IS claim responsibility  - Belgian police arrested a man with a machete in the eastern city of Liege, broadcaster VRT reported on Sunday....      

Sun Aug 07 17:57:02 UTC    Power to the generals after Thailand votes for military-backed constitution  - ​Thailand voted to accept a military-backed constitution on Sunday that will perpetuate the power of the country's generals and open the way for elections next year....      

Sun Aug 07 20:25:22 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016 Live Day Two: Catherine Skinner wins shooting gold  - Welcome to our live coverage of day two of competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Naturally there's no shortage of action to choose from. The highlights include the women's road race, women's rugby sevens quarter-finals and Cam McEvoy in the pool....      

Sun Aug 07 17:46:26 UTC    Olympics bosses claim credit for archery medal in Rio  - Australia's first ever medal in team archery has been claimed by the nation's top two sports administrators - the AOC's John Coates and the ASC's John Wylie - as evidence of each other's opposing views of what is required to drive this country to a top five position in the table of Olympic nations....      

Sun Aug 07 17:37:17 UTC    Vanderlei de Lima's Olympic marathon tackler lashes out after Rio opening ceremony  - Alone in his apartment in south London, a 69-year-old man named Neil Horan watched a middle-of-the night broadcast of the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics. Like other viewers, he wondered which Brazilian would get the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron....      

Sun Aug 07 17:31:53 UTC    Mourinho draws first blood as Manchester United beat Leicester in Community Shield  - Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored an 83rd-minute winner as Manchester United beat Leicester 2-1 to capture the Community Shield and earn Jose Mourinho his first trophy as the club's manager....      

Sun Aug 07 20:57:23 UTC    Brazilian crowd boo German tennis star Dustin Brown and cheer his suffering at Rio Olympics  - German tennis star Dustin Brown was booed, cursed and given a standing ovation by a parochial Brazilian crowd on a day that ended with the 31-year-old taken to a Rio De Janeiro hospital....      

Sun Aug 07 16:46:44 UTC    Russia kicked out of 2016 Rio Paralympics  - World Paralympic bosses have taken the hardline decision the International Olympic Committee baulked at: to ban all Russian athletes from their imminent Rio Games....      

Sun Aug 07 15:56:00 UTC    Alex Rodriguez announces retirement, will play last Yankees game on Friday  - The New York Yankees will release former MVP Alex Rodriguez from his 10-year, $US275 million contract and he will play his final game with the team on Friday....      

Sun Aug 07 15:38:23 UTC    Erdogan stages mass Istanbul rally in the wake of failed Turkey coup attempt  - * Hundreds of thousands attend rally...      

Sun Aug 07 17:35:04 UTC    Irishman arrested and jailed in Rio for scalping Olympics tickets  - An Irishman is in custody, his passport confiscated after being arrested at a Rio hotel accused of illegally selling Olympic VIP tickets....      

Sun Aug 07 13:33:32 UTC    Age Footballer of the Year: Round 20 votes  - Round nine votes for The Age Footballer of the Year award for the 2016 premiership season....      

Sun Aug 07 13:09:19 UTC    Why the era of economic reform has ended  - In case you haven't noticed, you're staring at the end of the era of economic reform. It has ended because it's come to be seen by many voters as no more than a cover for advancing the interests of the rich and powerful at their expense....      

Sun Aug 07 12:47:43 UTC    AFL 2016: Sparkling Silvagni cheers Fremantle coach Ross Lyon in derby loss  - Dockers defender Alex Silvagni gains praise after keeping key Eagles' forwards quiet....      

Sun Aug 07 12:45:29 UTC    CBA boss Ian Narev might want to reach for the blender to explain rate strategy  - The Big Four have struggled to explain why they stiffed mortgage holders last week and failed to pass on most of the RBA's rate cut. Is it time to get out Westpac's banana blender again? ...      

Sun Aug 07 12:31:59 UTC    Bloodiness in the water: Mack Horton has the last word over Sun Yang  - The more Mack Horton and Sun Yang avoided contact - body, eye, incidental - the more of a contact sport this became. ...      

Sun Aug 07 12:30:27 UTC    Rio Olympic Games: Swimmer Alicia Coutts completes Belconnen beers to Brazil swansong  - Alicia Coutts has juggled her swimming career with pulling beers in Belconnen or caring for cats at the RSPCA....      

Sun Aug 07 12:14:49 UTC    FareShare charity that feeds homeless robbed and ransacked  - An Abbotsford charity that feeds 5000 people a day has had its office robbed and ransacked for the second time in nine months....      

Sun Aug 07 12:13:06 UTC    Russia set for Rio Paralympics ban, Australian boss backs strong stance  - Russia is set to be formally removed from the Rio Paralympics after its able bodied team was spared a blanket ban through the International Olympic Committee's contentious handling of the biggest doping scandal in world sport....      

Sun Aug 07 12:09:45 UTC    UK considers paying households affected by fracking  - Prime Minister Theresa May wants to look at the option of paying residents directly rather than local authorities....      

Sun Aug 07 12:09:14 UTC    FFA Cup: Canberra Olympic want top A-League club at home in round-of-16  - Canberra Olympic coach Frank Cachia wants another home game in the FFA Cup round of 16 to excite the ACT public....      

Sun Aug 07 11:54:55 UTC    AFL 2016: Plenty to work on for finals, says Geelong coach Chris Scott  - Geelong coach rues missed chances in tight top-four battle, looks for improvement in lead-up to finals....      

Sun Aug 07 11:51:56 UTC    Is One Nation merely a one state party?  - Senator-elect arrived with a bang and a puff of smoke....      

Sun Aug 07 21:47:39 UTC    Make Uber legal across Queensland: RACQ  - Government getting close releasing ride-share response....      

Sun Aug 07 11:50:10 UTC    What a Life: How smartphones keep us chained to the office  - The more valuable our time becomes, the scarcer it seems....      

Sun Aug 07 11:49:42 UTC    Queensland feels pressure to remove children from adult prisons  - State inching closer to moving 17-year-olds....      

Sun Aug 07 20:25:51 UTC    Queensland crime statistics not black and white  - LNP stepping up attacks on minority government....      

Sun Aug 07 11:44:00 UTC    CBR Brave hockey gladiators get skates on as national ice finals loom  - On Saturday night passionate CBR Brave ice hockey fans emerged (feeling emotionally wrung-out and with nerves a'jangle), from the Arctic cold of the Phillip ice rink into the similarly Arctic cold of a Phillip, Canberra, winter night....      

Sun Aug 07 11:43:03 UTC    AIHL: Canberra Brave coach Josh Unice says 'nobody wants to play us in the finals'  - Canberra Brave established itself as an AIHL championship contender with a thrilling upset win on Sunday....      

Sun Aug 07 11:38:35 UTC    Discovered in a dacha wall, a clue to the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg  - The 1945 disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi gas chambers, ranks among the most enduring mysteries of World War II....      

Sun Aug 07 11:32:54 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016: Chinese fury after Mack Horton defeats Sun Yang for 400m freestyle gold  - Chinese sports fans and local media have turned on Australia's newest Olympic swimming sensation Mack Horton for calling home favourite Sun Yang a drug cheat....      

Sun Aug 07 11:27:51 UTC    Woman dies following suspected domestic violence attack in Liverpool  - A 26-year-old woman has died following an alleged domestic violence attack at Liverpool in Sydney's west overnight. ...      

Sun Aug 07 21:06:10 UTC    Rio Olympics 2016: Cate and Bronte Campbell, from Malawi to world domination  - One always had an Olympic dream, the other followed....      

Sun Aug 07 20:05:20 UTC    Oscar Pistorius taken to hospital with injuries suffered in jail: reports  - Jailed South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been treated in hospital for injuries to his wrists but denies trying to kill himself....      

Sun Aug 07 11:10:10 UTC    Austria threatens to block Turkish EU talks  - Austria's foreign minister has threatened to block the expansion of negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the European Union, which could scupper a landmark migration deal between Brussels and Ankara....      

Sun Aug 07 11:01:48 UTC    $150,000 Facebook post that destroyed a former deputy principal's life  - Before the Facebook post, former deputy principal Kenneth Rothe, 74, enjoyed his life running two small seaside motels with his wife and caring for his grandchildren....      

Sun Aug 07 10:57:23 UTC    Seniors getting raw deal  - I am outraged too that the banks have immediately reduced the interest rates it pays on senior accounts. ...      

Canberra Rep's Macbeth at Theatre 3
ACORN ALLEGED BY CONSUMERS AS BEING UNSKILLED, TIME WASTING, MISLEADING AND INCOMPETENT.

Simon Joseph Smith, Private Investigator, allegedly NOW is about to uncover two of the biggest SCAMS in Australia on the failure of ACORN. On his own motion he has identified the entities behind the Cyber-Scam and has advised his customers to report it to ACORN. However, in doing so - that's where they came from. ACORN did nothing for them. This SCAM was targeting Australian unsuspecting computer users who receive a call from 'Microsoft' saying that there is something wrong with their computer, forcing them to install a Trojan and steal identities, and pay money into an account. Also eVestigator® found by inspecting the device that it was locked at a BIOS level. eVestigator® is succeeding in fact-finding data surrounding a MASSIVE computer SCAM, yet another one that ACORN rejected telling a consumer who lost $270,000 to be careful on the internet. In exercising my freedom of opinion, and based on customer statements ACORN is absolutely useless and misleading the public as to what their role is.
Cyber Crime
 eVestigator® Testimonials™
    ★★★★★     "Thank you for the link. I was so excited, I had to check it out right away. Yes the interface is very intuitive and I believe it is very compelling to submit a request for estimate. So exciting - what a business transformation for you!! Congratulations to Simon too - great work!! It is challenging taking business requirements and translating that into a really interactive technology solution. Wow - this is a wonderful use of spatial technology for you and your team. I can't wait to hear the statistics on usage once you start to promote it out widely.":::Small Online Geolocation Programming Job - National Geolocation Letterbox Delivery Service, 03-06-2016     ★★★★★     "I highly recommend Simon of eVestigator and encourage anyone to use his investigative and forensic services. Simon is the utmost professional that is transparent in all that he will be doing for your case. He genuinely cares about your well being and you achieving your goals. He is not only focused on getting you through your mess but he is there to also separate you from the emotions. He is not motivated by money yet his work is SO valuable. He is motivated by the injustices people face and doing what is right by them. The fact is Simon is not emotionally involved, shows in that he keeps with the facts. Unlike us victims who are stuck on "why did this happen to me". As Simon said, "you focus on you and your future and let me and the lawyers sort out your past"::: Civil Judgement case - intelligence and discovery in attaining an outcome.    ★★★★★     "My name is Tony, retired, who recently found myself the victim of a worldwide credit card SCAM. After all attempts with the bank and the police failed I approached Simon. From the outset, Simon was very strategic and helpful. I simply followed Simon's suggestions exactly. He totally walked through any opposition that stood in his way for me. ANZ mucked me around for a month or so, presumably to test how fairdinkum I was about them honouring their Credit Card guarantee, then after Simon's intervention and a period of 'nothing' all of a sudden they paid the full amount into my account. I would have no hesitation in recommending Simon. Simon absolutely knows how to get results - he's right on the money! - His clarity principled approach explained my position well and strengths was very prompt. He was one step ahead on the banks likely attitude and behaviour; I felt guided by his expertise. Success!":::Happy Customer with results from my intervention with the bank. This case will become precedent in other cases shortly, 04-05-2016    ★★★★★     "Simon is intuative and flexible. His experience means that he can predict possible and real roadblocks and opportunes Plan B's. His skill set is absolutely useful and he knows how to get results. Simon is able to speak with clients in such a way as to put them at ease prior to, during and after his investigations. His strengths are his assuredness, confidence, patience, flexability, intuition that underpins his professionalism and skills. He showed no weaknesses. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Simon's services and would be very happy to work with him again. I was blown away at how quickly Simon was able to bring resolution to our case and how he was available at all hours of the day and night which with the time distance made it possible to 'catchup' at times suitable to me.":::Sensitive Reverse Complex Cyber Stalking Matter, 27-05-2016    ★★★★★     "From the bottom of my heart, I'll say again you have gone above and beyond for me and your partner is very patient and understanding. Thanks for your effort, thanks for your patience and for not giving up on me. This has been a very long journey for me and for a complete stranger to help me like you have, well I consider you a good friend now, someone who doesn't want to see a family torn apart and really find the truth as do I. Thanks Simon, it really means a lot , it really does":::Sensitive Family Law Matter, 12-05-2016    ★★★★★     "Thank you so much. You don't know how much of a difference you've made over the last 24 hours to a very, very tired person initially and now a little bit more saner one. You've made a massive, massive difference so thank you.":::Family Law Custody Parent."::: 28-04-2016     ★★★★★     "You just put a smile on my face Simon. Like you, I'm a straight talker, and can't abide liars nor injustice. I have been accused of being brutally honest on many occasions in my life!":::Self Represented Litigant. 26-04-2016    ★★★★★     "YOU ARE THE MASTER!!! Sent email to my older kids as YOU SUGGESTED, re no contact with their Dad OR at least not PASSING ON ANY MESSAGES to me or XXX and it stopped!":::Extremely highly rescued family cyber-stalking matter. 20-03-2016     ★★★★★     "Thank you so much it was helpful. I will suggest your company as i know of at least 1 person who is interested. Thanx again Simon....":::Android Forensics Matter. 30-01-2015    ★★★★★     "I have been fortunate enough to obtain advice and witness Simon providing support to other professionals during our 8 year relationship. I have always found Simon to be a highly motivated, intelligent and capable person." :::Name protected, 01-02-2014    ★★★★★     "Simon, THANK YOU!!! Not only for what work you put in but just for being so positive and believing me and in me. You know, it's amazing the power of a persons words. In this case, it's the words of a person that should have no say or ability to have a say that see's me to be in the position I'm in today. 'No fact. No evidence.' And similarly, I was having a very hard day today. I had got my hopes up that that scumbag was going to let the kids be home for the weekend for my birthday.. But of course, I found out this morning that was not the case. But for some reason I have connected to a person, the person I have needed and searched for for almost a year now. And today you lifted my spirits more than I can ever express." :::Name protected, intervention reversal matter. 03-01-2015    ★★★★★     "Simon, I found your help in reporting and remedying my situation post a fraud on my computer to be Professional, Clear eyed & Modest charged where I had no clue as to what to do to protect myself. I would have no hesitation in recommending you" :::Name protected, another ACORN failed case, Massive Australian Dating Scam - lost over $250,000. 28-02-2015    ★★★★★     "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA XXXXX account, and complained about the lack of action. Thanks for your great work and your interest in my case. I am going to make a complaint to the AFP through a website I have found.":::Name protected, another ACORN failed case. 28-02-2015    ★★★★★     "Thx Simon. Through all this as much as I have learnt about how nasty and shady people are, I have met a lot of good honest ones! Youre at the top of the list." :::WA Victim of long term mental abuse. 02-12-2015    ★★★★★     "Simon had no issues in finding valuable data that was deleted from my iPad. Not only did he find what I was looking for, he found too much information I had to say stop!! He was smart enough to get the actual evidence from the cloud and the iPad at the end of the day didn't even make much difference! He is superb." :::Family violence victim in Queensland. 15-09-2015    ★★★★★     "Simon did a tremendous job in assisting my counsel in finding the Defendant of a massive cyber-attack and defamation against my business. He actually uncovered an international major scam network in the process and not only solved my case but solved so many others. He knows the workings of the internet, that's a fact." :::Protected name celebrity in Sydney. 20-09-2015    ★★★★★     "I wish to congratulate Simon on his absolute expertise in finding my online scammer. Everybody said it was impossible, but he did it. His method was mostly common sense. His skills are varied and I believe that anybody that utilises eVestigator® gets so much more" :::Dating chat scam victim. 20-09-2015    ★★★★★     "Simon's findings from forensically examining both an iPhone and an iPad gave me almost too much information than I was prepared for. He is very accurate and factual and knows the ins and outs of the technologoes, not from a useability level but from a ground up level - and it shows. I've worked in IT for 20 years and he blew my mind away with his findings and logical way of solving my defamation case. I think his skills as a mediator seriously complement his work and it shows." :::Protected identity undisclosed 12-08-2015    ★★★★★     "Simon was able to forensically examine another expert's report and politely speaking 'teared it to shreds'. Simon uses a factual approach to his investigations and his knowledge seems to be more than just a expert programmer, more than an expert investigator, but a real person who can understand your problem and come to a solution. He makes things happen, and saved me thousands in lawyers fees when I was at the brink of being summoned to the county court on a report that otherwise would have destroyed my case." :::Protected identity undisclosed 21-08-2015    ★★★★★     "eVestigator's knowledge of the government policy, experience and Qualification as a Government Investigator, as well as first-hand experience in government corruption helped our team uncover a major injustice and unlawful decision of an asset properly created but stopped from bureaucrats worth over 20 million dollars. Through persistence and fact, eVestigator (despite barristers saying after $40,000 there was no chance of success) persisted on the facts in review and after 5 years won not once but twice and had the decision overturned."    ★★★★★     "Thanks Simon, you're a life saver !" :::Protected identify undisclosed - found FaceBook Cyber-Stalking Defendant after ACORN had not succeeded, enabling the customer to attain a Personal Safety Intervention Order 26-11-2015    ★★★★★     "Hello Simon, I just wanted to let you know how encouraged I felt after speaking to you. You have no idea how much pain and suffering I have had to endure over last few years,so I hope you can sort this out because there have been so many twists and turns over this whole affair, that really sometimes I thought I was going cuckoo. As it happened all my hunches and my 'WOMENS INTUITION" really have been right and really I dont want to waste another year of my life , excuse my french, on a a couple of ********** who are hiding in the shadows.Thankfully my husband has come on board ,especially the last 6 mths ,to not only help me but also do some serious work on himself.As you will gather from the information I send ,I have had to do this all on my own with little computer skills ,working part time looking after 3 boys and generally trying to keep my **** together.I know that i am not wrong with the things ive found and generally i am a peace loving and kind person but i am also thankful to this sociopath for re awakening the fighter that lay dormant in me for years. Thankyou!" ::: Another cyber-legal case with forensic analysis of iPhones, Hard Drives & Computers.    ★★★★★     "My name is Mark Franchi and I am a decorated, retired Police Officer of 33 Years who worked as a Patrolman, Supervisor, and Specialist Squad Team Leader and worked who also worked as a Federal Officer within the ATO for 6 years. I worked with Simon Smith for almost 3 years from 2006-2009 and have kept in contact with him as a friend since then." "Simon is an Entrepreneur, innovator, designer and is the most ethical person I know who is very honest in everything that he does. He is the person who changes the course of an industry because of the ingenious ways he turns ideas into inventions. I have seen him in business do the right thing when he could have turned his back and kept people's money. Without a hesitation he refunded people who never knew they were overcharged in the first place." "Simon is also a genius computer programmer, who has helped find cyber stalkers, assisted ASIC find and prosecute unlicensed practitioners, helped ASIC find and prosecute people who have performed Acts of Bankruptcy. Through his inventions and clever designs Simon has accumulated quite allot of wealth and never has had the need to chase money, but always helps people who have been wronged or have had had an injustice done against them." "Simon has been helping people for as long as I have known him and has not got one malicious bone in his body. He has had in the last few years quite allot of injustices done against him, especially with people stealing his inventions and Government bodies giving him a hard time because he had taken them to task over corruption issues. Simon is a great believer in restorative justice." "If you wish to discuss Simon Smith with me in any way please don't hesitate to call me on 0468 522 700." ::: Mark Franchi, very senior respected person of authority and colleague."    ★★★★★     "I highly HIGHLY recommend Simon and eVestigator® for any investigative, mediation, or advocacy needs especially to sort out the lawyers and give amazing factual results from investigation to in my case personal service to see the job through, after many had tried and failed." "He will take you through to the other side. You will get results. And PLEASE don't think he will be expensive, cause that is not the case. His work is SO valuable. He will save you money by simply being your voice. I did not realize that lawyers will charge for a simple email. The fact that Simon is not emotionally involved, he only talks fact. Unlike us victims who are still stuck on "why did this happen to me?" "Whatever your problem is, yes you need to go to a lawyer for the official lodgement of litigation complaints but Simon is the one who truly gets the job done with you the right way! I can't stress enough how important he will be to your case simply because his factualness and understanding of the legal language and system and experience in getting results the quickest most cost effective way. Brilliance is an understatement." :::Kind Regards, Emotionally Traumatised Victim of Crime/Trauma/Deceit/Injustice, Attained direction and default judgement > 190k, Jurisdiction: County Court of Victoria, Result: 4 weeks after 3 years of emotional distress and misguidance. 25-10-2015.    ★★★★★     "I have never given a testimonial before but felt the need to say a massive THANK YOU to Simon of eVestigator® and to encourage anyone that may need his services. It's one thing to be a victim to crimes or attacks against us but then there is the different form of attack that comes from the legal team. A financial attack." "Simon is the utmost professional that goes beyond what's on paper. He genuinely cares about your well being and mental status. He sympathises and understands your fears but most importantly he understands the "lawyer language". It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do." "Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed. From assisting me in advice presenting fact, and gaining fact in my paperwork, to getting a court order, it all happened in 1 month." "Simon was onto the lawyers and made sure things were done! He corrected the lawyers Letter of Demand and made sure all the information was there on the 1 letter. Even though I gave the lawyers 300 pages of evidence. That letter basically was the only thing needed to get the court order stamp." "Simon looks after you like a friend and is not only focused on getting you through your mess but he is there to also separate you from the emotional attachment that got you into this mess. My favourite thing he said to me, and this often crosses my mind, 'you focus on you and your future and me and the lawyers will sort out your past'"    ★★★★★     "There was a reason when i was searching that your name came up and i picked you.Ive had many moments of aha!!! over last 4 yrs.You are one of them."::: Very strong lady who wanted to know once and for all the truth after over 10 years of mysery. Truth was delivered enabling her to get on with her life.    ★★★★★     For Legal Counsel: From Senior Court Consultant, "I am writing this letter in support of Simon Smith. I have gotten to know Mr. Smith over the past 10 years, both as a person and as a Computer Programmer. In both capacities, I have been most impressed with Mr. Smith's talents, and I am confident that he will be an exceptional asset to aid any Attorney." "As a Computer Programmer, Mr. Smith stood out, from early in our relationship, as an articulate and perceptive programmer. Simon repeatedly, showed me he was able to provide solutions to my company that we were able to use unaltered for over 10 years, that in the computing world is no small feat. It shows that the solutions he provided were designed by someone who took the "long view" in application design. Intellectually, he is clearly a star." "His talents, however, do not end there. Mr. Smith is also a person of unusual energy, maturity, and skill. He has shown a tenacity in dealings with several International Companies and Governmental Departments, he tackled these responsibilities with spirit and sophistication, interacting in an effective, responsible manner. He is evidently a person with substantial experience functioning in the professional world, and it has been a pleasure working with him." "In short, I recommend Mr. Smith to you strongly and without reservation He will be a wonderful addition to your team. If I can be of any further assistance in your review of his application, please feel free to contact me." :::Sincerely yours, Evan Kelly CEO vPedal    ★★★★★     "A man of integrity expects to be believed and if not he lets time prove him right.":::Successful Voiceover Artist directed to eVestigator®    ★★★★★     
 eVestigator®Cyber Blog™ Cybergeddon® is here - eVestigator® Simon Smith announces the inevitable - 06 August 2016 - eVestigator® - "Today, Saturday 6th August 2016, Simon Smith, eVestigator, a Computer Forensics Expert, Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Private Investigator, Certified Expert Witness and Master Programmer who is all to familiar with the traditional damage of Cyber-Crime, Cyber-Stalking, Cyber-Fraud and Cyber-Litigation made an official public statement today." "Australia is engaged in Cybergeddon®. Australia is not ready and our government and police force and so-called reporting agencies are not equipped to fight this war and protect our money and safety. There is a misconception Australia. Everyday crime, is containing larger and larger elements of Cybercrime and getting ignored due to the lack of skills in whom we trust to protect us. This is unacceptable as Computer Crime has existed in the Crimes Act for over 40 years. AUSTRALIA IS IN DANGER, and I can mention cases showing how and why!" "Simon Smith from eVestigator.com.au and www.cybersecurity.com.au today announced that Australia and the world now must accept that traditional crime is actually almost in every sense carrying an element of Cybercrime and the Government needs to equip themselves with the competence to fight and defend equally. Likewise for small business and large enterprise, Mr. Smith advises he has acted as a Cyber Security Expert for large firms who have had their security breached and literally had "traditional crimes" mislabelled as "cyber-crimes" and declined by insurance companies. He says, apart from the fancy word - It is still a crime - although he has seen negligence in insurance companies not even capable of understanding basic concepts, it is just a simple excuse for a new product. He states they use it to deny claims (when he himself has seen first-hand they have no idea as to the fact it is no different to any other crime), it is a computer crime and has always been a computer crime. The Crimes Act in Australia has always dealt with the misuse of a Computer in the Crimes Act." "Mr. Smith is available to comment on Cybergeddon® on 0410 643 121 and provide expert intelligence to Lawyers, Barristers, Insurance Companies, Statutory Bodies, Government, Private Corporations, Individuals and victims of Cyberstalking, Cyberbullying, Impersonation, IP Skip Tracing requirements even for small clients that are being harassed by Facebook stalkers." "He says, he has literally caughty over 50 Facebook stalkers without needing their IP address and at least 5 have gone criminal, others to Magistrates Court intervention or Family Court orders. Mr. Smith's techniques are not concerned if your IP address is hidden by Facebook - he still has had great success." "What is really disturbing is that the authorities don't recognise the abuse on social media as seriously as they should. Stalking is actually a jailable offence, as well as the offence of impersonation and this reminds me of a case I where I caught 8 'entities in one stalker' Mr. Smith said. "In today's world, reverse IP tracing unknown to the police, and certainly ACORN have not helped any of my customers", Mr. Smith stated. It is also a specialty that other purported vendor specific 'experts' purport to be capable of which is just not the case." "As an ethical hacker you have to think like the hackers to be able to counteract and mitigate before the losses accumulate. eVestigator has recommendations for police passed through his customers and will happily express these opinions from real life experience to reporters of reputable news outlets." "We are in Cybergeddon®. Fasten your seatbelts. Australia and its law enforcement efforts are NOT ready. I deal with it every day. Normal crimes with the strong reliance of social media and introduction of augmented reality make cybercrime equal crime. Are we ready? Computer says (NO)." eVestigator® prepares to launch an Expert Witness Database for all professions - 04 August 2016 - eVestigator® - "After much feedback eVestigator® has recognised that some Expert Witness training providers or databases are either inexperienced or 'made by lawyers'. The 'made by lawyer' databases concern me. As an Assessor under the Australian Qualifications Framework, I have had the opportunity to assess lawyers in Family Dispute Resolution for the Graduate Diploma, a mandatory component by the Commonwealth for appointment as an FDRP under the Act." "During that campaign it is fair to say that the area of concern in assessment was the ability to be impartial. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of an Expert Witness and it is legislated. Lawyer's are fantastic at what they do - but in this particular contrast it was hard to find the evidence (as this Graduate Diploma was based on existing experience) where they had to act Impartial. Many had to fill that gap with several hours of challenge assessments, sadly many failed." "I must admit, as an FDRP and a NAM - and Investigator and an Expert Witness - I struggle with this but you have to know when to take the hat off and when to put the other hat on. The other types of expert witness databases are just University graduates of that University only - so that is limiting. Then unfortunately you have ones that are the experts themselves purporting to be a database, but really they are there for self service." "It is fair to say that the client should be able to choose without bias who their expert is, whether it be for an opinion or for court (or jointly if court appointed) and this choice has to be solely made with an utmost feeling of Impartiality - because ultimately the expectation is the findings are not influenced - and are ultimately for the court.""Urgent Press Release: eVestigator cautions parents on Pokemon Augmented Reality - 26 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "URGENT PRESS RELEASE: eVestigator warns Australia of National Safety Alert with Pokemon Go Augmented Reality: For a full copy of the press release, available to the media to report on with permission, click here. Cyber Crime Expert eVestigator warns of Pokemon Go Augmented Reality Urgent Cyber Security Press Release PRESS RELEASE 26/7/2016 CYBER FORENSIC EXPERT ISSUES NATIONAL SECURITY WARNING "EVESTIGATOR CYBER FORENSICS EXPERT SIMON SMITH SAYS 'POKEMON NO' TO AUGMENTED REALITY. Availability for further interview / discussion TV - Aus-Wide - 24hrs notice, Radio - 8 hrs notice -© Simon Smith 0410 643 121 - forensic@evestigator.com.au. Written consent needed to reuse/quote from this release. Melbourne, July 26, 2016Mr. Simon Smith of www.evestigator.com.au, and www.cybersecurity.com.au, a top Australian Computer Forensics expert, Cyber-crime Investigator, cyber-stalking expert and programmer of 25 years knows all too well the other side of what it looks like in a courtroom when somebody is the victim of cyber-stalking or white collar crime. He is often giving forensic evidence or reports in relation to high-tech computer crimes as an expert witness or private investigator. He has also worked on cases involving child pornography and the police, and is a strong advocate against Cyber-bullying, Cyber-stalking and Cyber-crimes civilly and criminally, and has helped hundreds of people attain justice and resolution in many cases, especially involving children and violence and forensic impersonation. As a Commonwealth Appointed Family Dispute Practitioner, with the very difficult job of dealing with awkward family disputes along with his specialised cyber forensic knowledge and cases as a private investigator, he speaks of cases where he has dealt with kidnapping, abductions, cults, poisoning and more. Never, however did Mr. Smith predict that what he calls "Cybergeddon™" would come so soon. Simon explains the term "augmented reality" in the new Pokemon game as going too far. "Imagine walking in a straight line and a cartoon character appears in front of you. That is simply what it is. A technology that draws a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world (knowing on their phone where they are via the GPS), in this case a character or an object named a Pokemon. It then uses the camera on the back of the phone to paint the background, so it looks like there is a cartoon in your view".He further says, the earth is made up of various known areas comprising longitude and latitudes. These are known to the game and randomized, and the object of the game is to find Pokemon and physically step within a meter or so of it to interact, and likewise, collect other objects in the game". He further explains that "these objects are randomly placed on or around you are on earth without any data verification". Mr. Smith asks you to imagine your child, or teenage son or daughter walking around with head buried in their phone, jumping complete stranger's fences, in and out of their neighborhood, exploring places they shouldn't be - knocking on stranger's doors, asking if they can collect a Pokemon from their backyard.Then he asks you to stop imagining because it is actually happening now. He then asks you to imagine a destination that may be randomly picked in the game for your child to visit. Imagine if one of these stops was say in the case of America, The Windsor Hotel in Phoenix Arizona. Would you be concerned if you knew that in this instance, this was a halfway house for sex offenders? He also asks you to not imagine, and says, Well, that happened too! Mr. Smith deals with reverse cyber stalking cases all the time. Finally, he asks you to imagine that a group of bullies had a special directory which told them where a victim would be going at a certain time. It would allow them to lay a trap, and wait for the prey. Of course Mr. Smith says, let's not imagine - that actually happened too. In fact, only a few days after launch a gamer was robbed at gun point in dangerous unchartered neighborhoods because the attackers knew he'd be chasing Pokemon they used game bonuses to lure there.Mr. Smith, both as an IOS and Android programmer and cyber stalking forensic investigator and court expert witness strongly warns the community and rates this at a risk of 10/10 to any parent. He states that It could be used as a directory for stalkers and pedophiles to find children, and cause danger to society in an already understaffed and unqualified area of policing, being organised cyber-crime.Mr. Smith further states that it could even be considered the Yellow Pages of Children and Teens for Sex Predators - it could be easily argued that this is in fact no longer augmented.Mr. Smith strongly advises everyone to be conscious of the line that has just been crossed - and understand that crime is still crime even if it is hidden in what appears to be a 'fun super-artificial method of game play'. It is not a game anymore, Mr. Smith strongly states. It's dangerous, it's real and it is most likely in the hands of your children now.Mr. Smith feels very passionate about the dangers he sees, in his expert opinion, he would strongly recommend parents remove the game after doing further research as he truly believes it crosses the line by masking serious cybercrime. He finishes by stating that, It is ironic that people used to be afraid of the psychological effect of what violent artificial games may have on people, now I'm saying backed by evidence and experience, they should really be worried - because it has now crossed over to reality."This is general advice and not to be taken as legal advice and naturally, not all game players are likely to contribute to this conduct, this is an opinion expressed by me raising concern in this area of augmented reality.eVestigator®, Simon Smith Computer Forensics Cyber Expert CHFI, SANS-ACE Investigator, Private Investigator URGENT PUBLIC MEDIA RELEASE© Simon SmitheVestigator invited by (ISC)2 to IISSCC as a recognised information security professional - 19 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "(ISC)2 is the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. A non-profit organisation which specialises in information security education and certifications. eVestigator was contacted and personally invited to participate in the Global Information Security Workforce Project. It is the largest study of its kind designed to provide analysis of important trends and opportunities within the information security profession. The aims are to provide a clear understanding of pay scales, skills gaps, training requirements, corporate hiring practices, security budgets, career progression and corporate attitude toward information security for the benefit of companies, hiring managers and information security professionals." "It is an important study to keep track of and examine the growing importance, interest and need for information security and how the profession is growing to be a more and more integral and necessary part of every business, no matter what industry it operates in." eVestigator® launches his powerful Penetration Tester Smart App to Kindle Devices as well as Android - 15 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "Just a quick note to let you know that now the App is live on Amazon, and all Amazon device users including but not limited to: Kindle Fire HDX (2013), Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 WAN (2013), Fire HD 8 (2015), Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (2013), Fire HDX 8.9 (2014), Fire Phone, Kindle Fire (2011), Kindle Fire HD (2012), Fire HD 6 (2014), Kindle Fire (2012), Fire (2015), Fire HD 7 (2014), Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012), Kindle Fire HD 8.9 WAN (2012), Fire HD 10 (2015), Fire HDX 8.9 WAN (2014), Kindle Fire HD (2013), Kindle Fire HDX WAN (2013), BlackBerry Leap, BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry Passport, BlackBerry Z3, BlackBerry Z30, BlackBerry P'9982. Now all can benefit from the FREE eVestigator Pen Tester App on their device. To download, simply click here or click here."Is it a virus, spyware or just simply a mistake you may be making when installing software? - 14 July 2016 - eVestigator® - "The newest trend everyone is going crazy for mostly due to scare tactics in the media - there has to be some logic applied to security warnings - the media will just grab a maybe and scare everyone! For example, just last week a man in America caused a highway accident when he parked on the road to catch a Pikachu. Yes, that's right I'm talking about Pokemon Go, the app newly released in Australia that let's you become a "real life" Pokemon catcher and trainer. So while this is not a hacking issue and not as bad as the hype makes it out to be, it is worth looking at as a simple act of stupidity - not a security or cyber lesson. I personally, don't install one piece of software to block viruses or spyware because I never let them get installed in the first place." People are throwing caution to the wind to "catch 'em all'." It is not just physical safety however but personal security. Logging in was reported as granting the app full access to the Google accounts of iPhone users. A Google account is required to log in and start using the app for Android and iPhone users. Now this is a case for checking just what you are agreeing to and an extremely good example of why. The true full account access status may not have actually been full and total access to the users Google account and is now irrelevant as an update released just yesterday now includes a pop up on install allowing the user to choose how much permission to allow. The extent of account information is essentially limited to your email address and name. This is important - it is not a hack, a security issue, it is what YOU are granting the App to do - so it is important to read what it is requesting." Still it is a good lesson to consider just how much trust you put into any apps and the unknown developers that create them without even thinking. Poor programmers just add library after library to do the least amount of coding as possible and bloat your phone with as much unnecessary bloat ware as possible. You must understand and be aware of just what you are agreeing to when you grant apps and programs permissions because most of all you should understand that in this technology-driven world you are the master of your device, and by saying yes, the deed is done. You could be giving information and privacy of all your contacts unless you cut yourself off from the digital world entirely. Whether this security scare was legitimate or not, it highlights a problem and attitude or perhaps desperate ignorance of just how pervasive technology has become but apart from lazy programming it is not all poor technology. The user is the one that says yes. Not just phone apps but software, hardware, browsers, social media and other online accounts that all track your search history, browsing habits, location, purchase history, the videos you watch, the things you download and upload, emails - who, when, what and where and more, you would have noticed secret little tick boxes in their installation packages to install toolbars etc." The problem is to use the technology, program or app, you 'think' you have to accept these things. The only way to truly protect your personal information and privacy is to just say no. Stop installing more bloat ware in virus scanners and device cleanup scanners which only make the problem worse and just say 'NO'. Partially this mentality comes from the industry expecting Apps to be free and speaking from a developers' perspective they see this as a way to make money by totally inundating you with intrusive spyware popups to make a few cents during their App. I'd rather pay 99c and have a clean phone. However, I don't see this getting any better - certainly not the practice of developers using these tactics on mobiles and as a professional desktop developer - I've seen the major shift in the Application installation phase - with sites like download.com. If you don't press custom and look for that check box you're guaranteed to get a toolbar! These things are not going to change as long as people are willing to sacrifice their security and privacy for a few cents or seconds of their time. If people only accessed, bought or download things with little to no permission requirements and boycott the products of companies that track everything it might be a different future. I have had first-hand experience at what you are giving for those few cents. Has anybody watched the Ghostrider movies? In an ironic way it's like selling your soul to the devil. You are selling your privacy and human rights to the Goliath companies for next to nothing - and now you must wonder how every website seems to know what you are interested in buying from a completely different shop you looked at last week or talked about on Facebook or in an email recently. It is getting very bad people, you need a security cleanup from top to bottom or identity fraud that I deal with daily almost will be hourly." All you can do is be smart about what you access, what devices you use and what permission you allow. Any semblance of privacy is long gone but the illusion will forever cover the eyes of the consumer. Take my first hand free advice."eVestigator® launches a powerful Android App his customers can use for Pen Testing - 12 Jul 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it did not take long. One of the biggest cyber-crimes that people forget about is the ex-employee logging into the work systems from home - sabotaging the entire network - or perhaps it's that SEO guy that I caught who caused a debt of $500,000 to my client and remotely setup a chain of incoming servers conveniently hosted at my clients premises unknown to him." "In the Cyber world, the art of finding holes that can be hacked in from the outside in is called 'Penetration Testing'. I don't just do the basics. My App goes all the way. As a Certified Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) - this is almost a reverse attack on you to determine just 1 aspect at first. If one of your 65535 ports are open to the world that should not be on your public IP address." "To put it extremely simply Penetration Testing or a 'pen test' is an attempt to scrutinise the security of an IT infrastructure by intentionally trying to exploit vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may exist in operating systems, routers, services and application flaws, with improper configurations, forwarding or risky end-user behavior." "The App is with the Android App Store ready for publishing and should be out shortly. For now, check out this YouTube video of the App in action - with a mini demo by clicking here, or better still download the App by clicking here."eVestigator® solves case via IP Tracing a twisted 7 in 1 reverse cyber harassment case - 25 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "In an utmost unbelievable series of non-traceable emails, of a harrassive serious nature - to the point of potentially one of the worst cases of impersonation and fraud I have seen to date, eVestigator® has succeeded in catching 7 stalkers in 1." "Although in instinct, it was known in 5 minutes, in evidence it took about 8-10 hours to get the evidence. IP Tracing as you know from Hotmail or Gmail is not possible. eVestigator® has to use other techniques in order to get a positive match on both the stalker, combined with investigative techniques to match it to a suspect." "It was determined that this particular stalker was sending emails to himself in the third person and then forwarding them to his ex, purporting that they were received from the partner of his ex in an attempt to defame the partner of his ex, along with 6 other identities aimed at the workplace of the partner of the ex, false testimonies from both sides and it was a major case." "The results of this case are still pending as the remedies are multi-jurisdictional. It is unknown what the victim will do in this situation. He and his partner both were surprised of the outcome. To me, it seemed to fit like a jigsaw - yet it is something beyond somebody's normal conscious understanding to comprehend. Since catching many cyber-stalkers it surprises me with the blanket of strength the internet places over them. People have to understand - it is still a very serious crime."eVestigator® prepares to go corporate with a new Cyber-Legal direction - 25 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "As eVestigator®'s focus expands more into the Expert Witness, high-tech cyber-harassment, cyber-crime, cyber-stalking, cyber-defamation and cyber-legal arena's - it has considered a Corporation structure to host its main investigation activities, not just its forensic activities." "As the class of work is more in demand for Simon's expert witness and opinion services, the Corporation is also able to provide both the IT and Investigative services combined instead of individually." "Most of Simon's services are in forensic cyber-legal discovery now, but in the event that full scale investigations are needed this is seen as a positive move into the future, as eVestigator through its Corporate structure seeks to expand its range of software, services and e-learning activities as well as its expert witness services to Australia and beyond in the near future."Simon Smith asked to act as single Expert Witness in an IVO Melbourne Magistrates Court case - 20 June 2016 - eVestigator® - "In a complex case of cyber stalking, cyber harassment and cyber bullying, where both parties are in a contentious situation, Simon Smith (eVestigator) has been appointed by the parties to an intriguing legal battle between 3 parties to where there has been a case of stalking and mental harm as defined in the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010 but by whom? I am completely independent in all cases and only report on facts so provided parties cooperate, it will be one of my many interesting cases." "Simon has succeeded in many of these, including recently a reverse stalking case that ended up in finding 7 identities relating back to the one sole entity with no IP address whatsoever. Cyber email skip-tracing is something that is eVestigator's specialty and it is not easy without the ability to perform a summons or have police help when stalking is performed by means of a 'FREE' webmail account in an overseas jurisdiction with hidden IP headers and absolutely no technical or legal means of getting those details from the source." Having succeeded in other cases, this case poses a very different perspective. The reason for his appointment demonstrates a rather large whole in the system. To be fair, Cyber Forensic Investigators are not Lawyers and Lawyers' are not Cyber Forensic Investigators. In some ways this action may be at the wrong time in the proceedings. It is not a question of law, rather, it is a question of investigation." "There could be several outcomes. Both parties could have nothing to do with the conduct. Either party may. My findings are to the court and I have to do whatever I need to do to ensure my findings are independent and in my training of lawyers as mediators - this is not something that lawyers typically like doing!" "However at the end of the day I look for the quickest path to get to the best solution for a result as long as those paths are not distorted or tampered with. I always find alternative methods and it relies on working cooperatively with all the parties, because litigation and wondering is worse than knowing both for the victim and the stalker (whoever that may be). Update: As it turned out - as I was restricted to one chance at gaining evidence, I asked for a very high threshold of evidence under summons as I leave no stone unturned. I was shortly notified that the parties settled by voluntary undertaking."eVestigator® draws the line between a phone and smart phone - 24 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "While Apple hardware may be well-built and likely to last for years, the software is another story as Simon Smith of eVestigator® discussed with Jackson Stiles of New Daily earlier this week. Read the article here. (link on the 'The New Daily' website at the time of placing this blog - dated April 18 2016) 'A phone is a phone but a smart phone is not just a phone,' says Simon Smith. 'it is fair to say that the majority of phone users these days are smart phone users' therefore this must be considered when discussing phones in this day and time and this is what came up recently. With every iOS update consistently, and so it would seem intentionally, aspects of previous coding becomes obsolete, different or removed altogether forcing iOS programmers to update their apps or risk incompatibility with new devices and operating systems. Effectively limiting the usability and life of a smart phone. An example of this is the iOS 9 implemented an update which restricted access to insecure websites on older phones. Although this is great for developers like myself who already use an encrypted system internally, such encryption should be part of the operating system and such encryption is welcome. However, with little to no notice to developers such an implementation caused havoc to software and their developers. 'The life expectancy of a phone is three years, in a way. It would probably hold up in a court of law(misquoted as 'life') if something went out of warranty.' you can have a phone, but you're not going to get the most advantage and functionality out of a smart phone as technology grows because the phone is only as good as the hardware and the software they allow you to use. And sometimes you can actually get more out of the phone with the software, but they don't let you." "A phone is a phone and will last as long as the hardware does but the other functionalities of a smart phone decrease and become obsolete over a far shorter period of time."The Government has announced a new Cyber Security Initiative - 24 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Turnbull cyber security policy tipped to 'safeguard legal profession' , an interesting article worth reading. The government recently announced new funding for a cyber-security initiative which sounds very good if it is properly managed and implemented. It aims to establish public-private intelligence sharing centres, bolster the government's enforcement agencies, and create a Cyber Security Growth Centre led by the industry." "15 million of the money pledged is to be set aside for grants for small businesses to have their systems tested and improved by accredited experts, which is something they most likely would be unable to afford as it can take days or even weeks to do a thorough analysis and make recommendations and though an expert's time is not cheap, investing in such a test can save you a whole lot more in the long run." "It is a step in the right direction in boosting the country's defences against online assaults and good news for our businesses that deal locally and overseas. In response to this, the Law Council is working on the development of a cyber-security information initiative for Australian legal practitioners. Knowledge and awareness is lacking in many industries when it comes to cyber security and system vulnerabilities. This imitative will hopefully help raise awareness and wake up Australia about just how easy it is to fall prey to a hacker and lose hundreds, thousands even millions of dollars to scammers."eVestigator featured on the Today show talking electronic pickpocketing - 13 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Around 7:30 am this morning a story ran on Channel 9's Today show about the security of contact-less credit cards. It was a good balanced story however I am not of the opinion that criminals can generate the CVV or a derivative of it via a mathematical algorithm and magnetic strip data. Needless to say, the number and expiry date could book you a nice week at the Hilton Hotel or anywhere MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order) is accepted, as it is not a merchant requirement to request the CVV for contact-less sales." "And of course it featured the eVestigator® himself, Simon Smith!! I was happy to help with the story and taping went well. It was really good to see the finished story and somewhat ironic and funny in a way with the placement of the MasterCard statement! I would have liked to have seen it live but television scheduling can be hectic and the decision to use it was probably last minute, so there was no warning to anyone involved with the story. I am just happy to help shed some light on the possible risks of using this technology. It is an interesting subject and worth looking into further." "The fact that 'Mythbusters' were banned from investigating and/or doing a story related to this technology is disturbing but also understandable to an extent. Methods of stealing and copying credit card information shouldn't be advertised and made publicly available without proper countermeasures as readily available." "However, if the technology is as secure and unhackable as they say, why wouldn't they be confident enough to allow people to publicly test it? It would reassure the public if all attempts are unsuccessful. A copy of the exclusive is available here."The public is crying out to find their cyber-stalkers. We need a better system for the abusers. - 10 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Already we have an abused flawed system where anybody can go in front of a Magistrate without a Defendant and make up anything they want and gain an interim personal safety / stalking or family violence intervention order. What is worse is the courts do not punish liars for abusing the system with either made up evidence or none at all." "People are tending to take basic investigation work into their own hands now. One would expect you need evidence to even get a hearing of who you Defendant is? Not so. There are some people out there that trick the Magistrates', and likewise Magistrates' that hand them out to compulsive liars like lollipops." "This is an interesting article about people who need to ordinarily (apart from the above mentioned loophole) need to know who their stalker actually is. It is nothing special - it is merely a user driven database of phone numbers. It just shows what people will do to know what they need to know, before wasting court time. In any event it is a common trend that more and more people are using social networking and cannot make that exact connection to the Defendant." "I have been very successful in this difficult task and help allow real victims to gain justice."Legal counsel seminar a good day for all. Glad to hear the feedback! - 09 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "I would like to thank Legalwise for their invitation and the opportunity I had last month to talk to in-house counsel about cyber security. I just wish I had had a little more time to go into some activities I had planned to illustrate the dangers I was talking about. Maybe next time!" "Feedback I received was very positive averaging at 4 out of 5, 1 being poor and 5 being excellent, I would say that is a good outcome and I'm glad people found what I had to say interesting and enjoyed my presentation, still I barely scratched the surface of the issues and risks businesses face today from not just without but within. It can be as simple as allowing an employee to use a personal device on the business network. This creates a vulnerable and possible point of entry if the device is compromised or if the employee is less than trustworthy and missuses or abuses the privileges afforded him or her. Being slack in deactivating former employee's accounts and passwords also creates vulnerabilities." "All the comments on my presentation were positive; 'presented well', 'interesting information' and ' it would be great to receive more practical tips' to list a few. The whole day was good for all attendees and the other presenters were interesting and engaging as well with 'high quality presentations', 'presentations were informative' and was 'one of the better seminars' I was a slide or two away from my conclusion when I had to wrap things up but I could have filled a whole day with the amount of information I could share, there are so many dangers and risks, one absent-minded acceptance of a seemingly harmless application can open up your whole network to a competent hacker. Always be mindful of what you are downloaded and accept the risks of what you are agreeing to when you chose to install that app. That is one of the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to cyber security."New Cyber Threats Predicted this year. Is Australia equipped to handle them? - 07 April 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well I hope you have your cyber-plans ready. According to WIRED, these are the most predominant threats we can expect this year. I also would like to add that another major threat is the non-acceptance of cyber-crime being a crime like any other. Too many people shift the liability when at the end of the day, a crime is a crime. In my experience, there is just too much misinformation and lack of consumer awareness out there, partially given by insurance companies, banks and the like. Not even the courts seem to understand the technology that faces the crimes or judgments they have to deliver. I have had firsthand experience in educating a court on what is essentially - yesterday's news. One step closer to Cybergeddon™. That is for another day! For now, let's take a look at the expected cyber threats of 2016 and turn to our international colleagues." "Extortion Hacks - Following the Sony hack in late 2014, we predicted that hacker shakedowns would increase in 2015. By shakedown, we were referring not to standard ransom-ware attacks, whereby malware encrypts or otherwise locks access to a victim's computer until the victim pays a ransom. We meant extortion hacks where attackers threaten to release sensitive company or customer data if the victim doesn't pay up or meet some other demand. With these attacks, even if you have backed up your data and don't care that hackers have locked you out of your system, public release of the data could ruin you and your customers." "There's just one problem with tracking such attacks. If the victim caves and does pay, the public may not know extortion occurred. We do, however, have at least two extortion hacks on record for 2015: the Ashley Madison hack, which took down a CEO and exposed possibly millions of would-be cheaters to public ridicule and worse; and the hack of InvestBank in the United Arab Emirates, which resulted in the exposure of customer account information. Extortion hacks play to the deepest fears of companies and executives-if not handled well, company secrets are exposed, customers file lawsuits, and executives lose their jobs. Expect such attacks to become more prevalent in 2016." "Attacks That Change or Manipulate Data - In testimony this year, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told Congress that cyber operations that change or manipulate digital data in order to compromise its integrity-instead of deleting or releasing stolen data-is our next nightmare. Mike Rogers, head of the NSA and US Cyber Command said the same thing. "At the moment, most [of the serious hacks] have been theft," Rogers said. "But what if someone gets in the system and starts manipulating and changing data, to the point where now as an operator, you no longer believe what you're seeing in your system?" "Data sabotage can be much more difficult to detect than the kind of physical destruction caused by Stuxnet. That's because data alterations can be so slight yet have enormous consequences and implications. Anyone remember the Lotus 1-2-3 bug back in the 90s that would produce accounting miscalculations in spreadsheets under certain conditions? That was an unintentional error. But attackers could get into financial and stock-trading systems to alter data and force stock prices to rise or fall, depending on their aim." "Certain types of data manipulation could even result in deaths. In 1991 a Patriot missile in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War failed to intercept an incoming Scud missile due to a software glitch in the weapon's control computer, allowing the Scud to hit an Army barracks and kill 28 soldiers. Again, this was an unintentional bug. But Chinese spies have invaded numerous US defense contractor networks in the last decade, raising concern among US military officials that they're not just stealing blueprints to copy weapons, but might also alter or insert code to sabotage the integrity of weapons systems and change how they operate." "Chip-and-PIN Innovations - Any time the security community closes one avenue of attack, hackers adapt and find another. When retailers stopped storing customer credit card numbers and transactions in databases, hackers sniffed their networks to grab the unencrypted data live as it was sent to banks for authentication. When retailers encrypted that live data in transit to prevent sniffing, attackers installed malware on point-of-sale readers to grab data as the card got swiped and before the system encrypted the numbers. Now banks and retailers have begun rolling out new chip-and-PIN cards to thwart hackers once again." "The cards contain a chip that authenticates it as a legitimate bank card and also generates a one-time transaction code with each purchase, preventing hackers from embossing stolen data onto fake cloned cards to use for fraudulent purchases in stores. But this won't stop fraud altogether; it will simply shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers. In the UK, where chip-and-PIN cards have been used since 2003, card-present fraud-transactions done in person-has dropped. But fraud for card-not-present transactions-those completed over the phone or online-increased from 30 percent to 69 percent of total card fraud between 2004 and 2014, according to the UK Payments Administration. Neither a PIN nor a signature is required when customers use their cards online, so simply stealing card numbers is sufficient for this kind of fraud. Expect those online fraud numbers to rise in the US as well." "The Rise of the IoT Zombie Botnet - There are many who say that 2015 was the year of the Internet of Things; but it was also the year the Internet of Things got hacked. Connected cars, medical devices, skateboards, and Barbie dolls, were just a few items shown to be vulnerable to hackers this year." "If 2015 was the year of proof-of-concept attacks against IoT devices, 2016 will be the year we see many of these concept attacks move to reality. One trend we've already spotted is the commandeering of IoT devices for botnets. Instead of hackers hijacking your laptop for their zombie army, they will commandeer large networks of IoT devices-like CCTV surveillance cameras, smart TVs, and home automation systems. We've already seen CCTV cameras turned into botnet armies to launch DDoS attacks against banks and other targets. Unlike a desktop computer or laptop, it can be harder to know when your connected toaster has been enlisted in a bot army." More Backdoors - The year ended with a startling revelation from Juniper Networks that firmware on some of its firewalls contained two backdoors installed by sophisticated hackers. The nature of one of the backdoors-which gives an attacker the ability to decrypt protected traffic running through the VPN on Juniper firewalls-suggested a nation-state attacker was the culprit, since only a government intelligence agency would have the resources to intercept large amounts of VPN traffic in order to benefit from the backdoor. Even more startling was news that the backdoor was based on one attributed to the NSA." "There's no evidence yet that the Juniper backdoor was installed by the NSA; it's more likely that an NSA spying partner-possibly the UK or Israel-or a US adversary installed it. But now that companies and researchers know for certain what such a backdoor would look like in their system and how it would operate, expect more backdoors to be uncovered in 2016 as companies closely scrutinize their systems and products. And despite the fact that the Juniper incident shows that backdoors intended for US law enforcement and intelligence agencies can be subverted by others for their own malicious use, don't expect the FBI and NSA to give up on their quest for encryption backdoors in 2016."AFP Subpoena email is a scam - 29 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "The latest version of this email apparently issuing a subpoena I have received, the AFP logo looks like it is a missing picture, this in itself doesn't prove anything as it could just be human error. It is the content and reason for the email that is suspicious." "A little bit of fact checking, as simple as a Google search, will bring you to a link on the AFP website stating they do not send subpoenas by email and not to click any links in an email purporting to do so. If it had been genuine, the link would at least look like it directed to the AFP website but the link to the site to learn more and the link to download the supposed subpoena is exactly the same 'http://a-ip.com/H1fOYVRBS/Art0jP74.php?id=youremail@yourprovider.com.au' I have changed it only to exclude my email address." "The link obviously does not go to the AFP website. a-ip.com is an automated invoicing service. It is doubtful they are actively involved in the scam but their services may be implemented by the scammers in some way. However, all you need to know is that if you receive this email you are not in trouble and you should just delete and forget it."Fake love costs money - $22.7 million lost to dating scams in 2015 - 29 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Having solved many of these myself last year I must say, I'm not surprised. This is the official figure now reported by the ACCC. It is reported that last year, 2,620 Australians reported losing almost $23 million to dating and romance scams to the ACCC. One of my clients' make up $500,000 of that!" "Remember that it is eVestigator's advice that you need to check the source and destination of all correspondence. Love can be 'in the air', but if you have a look at our website there are ten golden rules you should read before making any decisions. This is all of what I call the makings of Cybergeddon™. It is the fake world. Believe in what you can see, feel and touch and if you can't, there is a reason." "My client was dating on a Christian dating site. In this case, the scammer felt that religion was a vulnerability. It worked for them. I have recently had the opportunity to hear from a scammer's mouth the here lack of care and dignity as to the damage and affect this has on others. To them, it is a way of life. There will be more on this shortly. Remember also to check out my blog entry containing bank guarantees. I have something to say about the banks you might want to know."By spying on your partner, did you know you may be committing an offence? - 26 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "It might be time to seriously evaluate your relationship when spying on your significant other becomes a viable option in your mind. You must get professional advice and support and not take matters into your own hands. There are things you can do but many things you can't do without a security licence and things that are plain illegal and unethical." "Last year, a man was arrested in Spain for installing spyware on his girlfriends' phone, which was a gift from him with the monitoring software installed before he even gave her the phone. He was monitoring her messages, accessing her WhatsApp messages and her social media posts as well and could also activate the camera and microphone." "Talk to eVestigator today about your concerns, options and actions you can take."Fake Mobile Apps - A new medium for phishing - 25 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "As an avid developer of successful Android and iPhone Apps myself, its sad to see it come to this, but it's not the technology, it's the criminal. There's now malware out there targeting major Android apps including Google, PayPal, Banking, eBay and Skype among others. It is designed to mimic the login screen of 20 different banking apps from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey as well as the above. It overlays itself over the login screen in order to capture your usernames and passwords and bypasses two factor authentication by intercepting authentication codes sent by SMS, forwarding it to the hackers and hiding it from the user. It gets onto phones by imitating Adobe Flash Player, which many websites require. Avoid this by only downloading apps from trusted sources like Google Play." "If you are worried that your phone may be infected, check the list of device administrators found under the Settings > Security > Device Administrators menu. If infected, 'Flash Player' will be include on the list. Ignore warnings about data loss and remove 'Flash Player' from this list. Now it is possible to uninstall the malware via Settings > Apps/Application manager > Flash Player > Uninstall." "If you cannot access the Device Administration list for whatever reason it means there is malware trying to protect itself and prevent deactivation. Restart the Android device in Safe Mode, which disabled installed apps, preventing the malware from blocking access to the Device Administration list. Check your device manual or support website if you don't know how to access Safe Mode." "Again NEVER download files or apps from unknown sources."Australia Post 'Locky' scam emails - 25 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "The latest Australia Post email scam is very elaborate. Using advance scraping software, they scan social media to glean personal details like your name, address and occupation to make the email seem legitimate. The emails refer to an undeliverable item with a link or download with more details. The attachment or link it asks you to click looks safe to a lot of antivirus software as it is a small file or a Word document. However it actually contains malware called 'Locky', which runs a java script code that locks your computer files, demanding a bit coin ransom worth hundreds of dollars. If you are unsure about the legitimacy of an email Australia Post will never: Ask you to click on an email link to print off a label to redeem your package. Email or call you to ask for personal or financial information including password, credit card details or account information. Send you an email asking you to click on an attachment. Email you to reconfirm your physical mailing address by clicking on a link. Call or email you out of the blue to request payment. The above was taken directly from Australia Post's website. Most businesses that have been victims of these kinds of scams will have such a checklist to advise of email/telephone contact legitimacy."eVestigator® presents at Legalwise CPD in-house Counsel conference on Cyber-Security - 20 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "If only there were more hours in the day. So much I had planned, I was expecting to hopefully find some time at the end to do some demonstrations at let people know where they have been (according to their mobile phone Wi-Fi beacons) as well as giving them a surprise or two when they mysteriously email each other from one side of the room to another" "The core topics were essentially based around how to mitigate a Cyber Attack once it has been established, and how to prevent such attacks from occurring. There was also some general discussion on liability. Interestingly we got to get through the content that needed to be shown and we can save the extra fun stuff for another time." "A question was asked of me, and I had to be honest. I say it how it is. That question was somewhat like, 'What do we do with regards to this new Cyber-Insurance'? I asked, 'Do you want my honest answer?'. The crowd said yes - and I gave it to them! It is merely a new name for existing liabilities that are otherwise easy to label outside of a policy for the benefit of the insurer to remove liability and/or a new idea to make money for the same insurance the customer already held.' Essentially, I see it as a way of 'handballing'." "I state, with all my experience, Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Security threats have always existed. A computer is like a watermelon. Where do you store that watermelon, how do you protect it, who uses it, does anyone take it home, can anyone put their hands over the window and pinch a bit to eat? The answer is yes, and it always will be. Computers don't do anything, people do!" "Employee fraud is employee fraud in any case that I have done and should be treated by the police and the courts accordingly, regardless of how they committed that fraud!"eVestigator® acquires cybersecurity.com.au and discusses Cryptology - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "In celebration of this, Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is planning to use this site in the nearby future to enhance Cryptology Training and Online Safety. Simon has just finished a PD from the popular Cybrary series, entitled "The History of Cyber Security Intelligence S3SS10N - Presented by George Schu." "This short PD offers a background to the history of cryptology; which is the making and breaking of code. In this lesson, the instructor offers a brief background to cryptology dating 4,000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians and then goes onto the discuss the birth of modern cryptology. It describes that, Cyber security can be seen as a descendent of Cryptology. The making and breaking of codes dating back to biblical times and beyond." "It is very useful to understand the history of Cryptology. The knowledge known to eVestigator® and repeated in this PD demonstrate a background to the history of cryptology; which is the making and breaking of code. In this PD, the instructor offers a brief background to cryptology dating 4,000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians and then goes onto discuss the birth of modern cryptology, and best Cyber Security Practices and Solutions." "eVestigator® agrees with the genius Herbert Yardley (who is considered the Father of Modern Cryptology) and he dates back to World War I as he began his efforts after realising the United States did not have a focused cryptologic effort. He stated this would surely effect their ability to fight well in the war and persuaded the Army to set up an effort and as such, was hired by the Army to make this effort permanent and eventually gave way to the 'Black Chamber', which was credited in 1921 with cracking Japanese code, which was critical for the USA with negotiation with Japan at the end of WWI." "Cryptology considered to be used and resulted in tremendous strides in World War II. Cryptology continues to grow and help the world keep an advantage on the forefront stage today and is one of the most important aspects of cyber security." "eVestigator® will be introducing some new initiatives around this area shortly."eVestigator® Invited to Channel 9 to demonstrate a new type of SCAM - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Cyber Forensic Expert Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is soon to appear on Channel 9 exposing a major new style of SCAM for consumer awareness sweeping the country. More shall be revealed after it is aired."eVestigator® finds a peak in domain hijacking and registration SCAMS. - 10 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it is obvious to say that we already knew we cannot trust a domain name. According to Google, a domain name 'User' is the legal entity they are dealing with, not the holder, not the company, nobody. So beware if you have Google Apps for business and one of your staff members changes the authentications settings and or assigns it to a Master Account outside your company. It's theirs! I have now more than 2 major Google related SCAMS and Frauds I am working on, and please take my advice above seriously as imagine what it feels like when you are told, "you have no proof of ownership of that 'account' despite owning the domain!" "As an online expert and due to my own experience, and many of my investigations involving domain hijacking, it's safe to say I know the Worldwide Domain Name system backwards. Personally, I register a LOT of domain names. Another thing to look for is the now manipulated fake domain registration SCAM. You register a domain name (and of course you have probably seen similar SCAMS with Trademark Applications) and then you are bombarded with services emailing you from overseas claiming to 'finish off the registration' or 'properly register it or later renew it'. Again you have never dealt with this company before. Today I received an email entitled, 'Domain Registration Incomplete'. Note the word 'Registration'. Inside that email up comes 3 bright and beautiful trademarked logo's (obviously without permission) of the 3 potentially largest search engine logos in Australia. Google, Yahoo and Bing. The email was did not even go to the effort of informing me of my recently registered domain (note the word 'registered') - and note that is even if it knows I did, or it is a cold SPAM email." "It was NOT picked up from Google SPAM and was sent from 'admin@realyou.pw'. Note: Always check who is sending you an email - no matter what it says, then check the reply-to address. This is what it said. (Now that you've bought your domain, it's time to register it. By registering and listing your website with the major search engines you are allowing your website to be searched by the entire online community. You can verify and submit your website with Google, Bing, Yahoo and 20 other top search engines by clicking the button below.) It is sent with a nice badge showing quality endorsement from 'Copyright © *2016 Official Domain Directory*, All rights reserved. PO BOX 12114 San Francisco, CA 94112." "Now note that it says (Now that you've bought your domain, it's time to register it.) Not buying is registering. They are trying to confuse you into thinking that SEO work on the domain name is registering. Also note, that you are dealing with complete fraudulent SPAM with a reply-to address of 'admin@realyou.pw'. The bottom line, the word SPAM has changed into more the word Impersonation. Always be in control or have someone in control of your IT. I am auditing a company at the moment who has no idea how their $500,000 online business works. My first advice was more of a question. Please, get me the source code!"eVestigator® takes on 600K SCAM. An email address does not identify an entity! - 05 March 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well what a week it has been. It seems that Cybercrime is getting worse and worse every day. Someone behind a computer screen has a virtual concept that their actions and consequences are also virtual. This is not true." "As this is a current investigation I cannot talk much about this case, save for the fact that a Goliath Corporation is involved, seeking to rely on what seems like just an email address. As you know it is very easy to compromise an identity and I will be presenting at the Legalwise CPD seminar exactly on this concept." "Solving major cases of fact is what I do best, especially in the new war, the war of Cybercrime. There are not too many people who understand the potential of a hacker and what can be done. Needless to say I shall keep you up to date as to what the law considers a binding contract, as if it is relying on a representation via email, then the liability of due diligence on one or both of the parties must be resolved. Who's responsibility is it to ensure they are not compromised, and if so, is the civil repercussion a duty of negligence in not detecting by the other side? These are hot topics at the moment. As a Cyber Technologist, I plan to present case studies on both sides."eVestigator® invited to speak at Legalwise CPD Counsel Conference - 23 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "On Friday, 18 March 2016, at the Intercontinental in Melbourne, Simon Smith will be teaming up with Melissa Kirby from Sharpe and Abel for the Legalwise CPD. He will be appearing as a Forensic Cyber Expert Witness and presenting useful advice and anonymised case studies designed especially for in-house Counsel when dealing with Cyber-attacks." "He is proud to be invited to speak at the 9th Annual In-House Counsel Conference seminar, focusing on the very challenging and new specialised area of Cybercrime Loss Mitigation. It looks like it is going to be a great event. In-house counsel can be asked for all kinds of advice-some legal, some business and some off the record personal questions from co-workers. This blending of roles and responsibilities creates a very challenging legal and ethical landscape for which there is a depth of clear guidance." "The seminar addresses several issues facing in-house counsel today, and my topics discuss case studies of 'When Your Organisation Faces a Cyber Attack' and 'How to mitigate a typical cyber-attack of Denial of Service (DDoS), or potential theft of trade secrets and IP after the event?" "It also addresses the very important issue of 'What steps should be taken to establish quantum of damage to the organisation?' and 'How to best implement lock down and typical methods used to locate the offender.'" "I have the pleasure of presenting with Melissa Kirby, Founder of Sharpe who specialises in working with engineering and technical professionals, supporting clients and keeping their businesses safe through difficult times during the Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis and all the times between. Ms. Kirby is the Legal Director of Sharpe & Abel and I will be discussing real life scenarios that as a Forensic Cyber Expert Witness/ Private Investigator - eVestigator to provide valuable intelligence in this area." "I look forward to seeing all attendees there and am grateful to be part of a well-structured, and well organised event."For the second time eVestigator succeeds on second opinion - 19 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "In no way does this blog entry take away from the good work that my colleagues do as I believe that everybody has unique skills in various areas and deserve equal recognition for those skills. In choosing a forensic investigator it is often difficult to determine whether you will get the outcome you want, the outcome you don't want or any outcome at all. I have completed two cases recently where I was able to successfully satisfy the customer by achieving a result that another respected high profile Forensic Investigator could not achieve at almost half the cost. My main philosophy in investigations is to deal with facts only. Especially in cyber-crime, it is safe to say I've had extensive experience in IT and security, most acclaimed via actual practical work as I just happened to have grown up at the right time when the little baby we call the "consumer internet" was born. The point of this entry is to state that knowledge and skill is relevant not to someone's age or potential doctoral degree in an ever-changing industry, but to the actual hands-on physical experience (in my case 20 years) of software engineering at a master level and teaching others to do similar. If you are looking for a true forensic cyber expert who actually has won cases, has the knowledge of not only the entire programming language of the internet but the backbone of the very beginnings, which is lacking in every university degree today, then look no further than eVestigator. Sometimes innovation and thinking outside the square can provide an outcome that nobody else can provide. To understand the depth of knowledge that eVestigator brings into an investigation, it is wise to look at the broad range of qualifications on this website combined with the broad range of actual outcomes. The reason why I have a 100% success rate to date, is because I am adaptable to change my methodology, writing my own code and not relying on a piece of software to conduct my investigation. eVestigator in fact writes the software most often if necessary because no two cases are the same. So it pays to get a second opinion and eVestigator does have a 100% success rate because he will only complete a job with the understanding and co-operation of the client that the strategies that can start off and change is led by him and not interfered with. It is only when a strategy is interfered with that eVestigator chooses to not participate in an investigation. It is otherwise his nature to complete in full, from scratch every task he starts to obtain a factual result for the client. Opinion is secondary."eVestigator®'s Gains WASC Accredited IT University USA (CHFI) Accreditation - 13 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "CHFI stands for 'Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator' and was awarded on the 10th February 2016 by IT University based in California. The University is WASC Accredited. WASC accreditation also places ITU among the recognised list of institutions on the U.S. Department of Education's database of recognized institutions of higher learning and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's Listing of Accredited and Candidate Institutions (CHEA)." "ITU is also recognized as an approved institution by California's Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)." The Subjects covered with depth included Computer Forensics, Forensics Investigation Process, Searching and Seizing, Digital Evidence, First Responder Procedures, Forensics Lab, Hard Disks and File Systems, Windows Forensics, Data Acquisition and Duplication, Recovering Deleted Files and Partition, Using Access Data FTK, Using EnCase, Steganography, Password Crackers, Log Correlation, Network Forensics, Wireless Attacks, Web Attacks, Email Crimes, Mobile Investigation, Investigative Reports, Expert Witness and more."eVestigator® provides forensic evidence in 4 of Australia's largest SCAMS! - 09 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well there was such thing as justice, or was there? I have cooperated with ACORN and given them intelligence that lead to some of the most major discoveries of direct hit IP addresses behind some of Australia's largest SCAMS. One being a major dating SCAM, now claimed over $510,000 and being misled by banks to place the onus away from the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, and the other being the fake Microsoft 'tech support' SCAM which is well known - where somebody purporting to be Microsoft calls an unsuspecting user and is told their computer is infected." "They then get them to download a Trojan Horse that purports to be merely remote control software, and in fact is, with a little bit more. They then use it to lock the person's computer at a very high OS level demanding payment to fix the problem. This was reported to my client, and then by me to ACORN. ACORN accused me of not reporting the data I found, when this is how they treat their customers. I inform my clients that they are a reporting network, but still via the AFP and Interpol they could make an arrest with my data, but not so." "Here is a letter given with permission from the original client that 'got their backs up' just because I was doing my job. I have anonymised the letter for the client and have full permission from him to publish it. I make no comment as to its contents or otherwise. The customer and I have the right to freedom of expression and speech. Here is his most recent letter. I can unfortunately do no more for him, as mentioned on my website I contacted ACORN with consumer concerns and it was not well received, in fact, it resulted in what will most likely be contested legal action for alleged false statements and misleading statements and ethical standards complaints to the police. It is actually my belief that the banks are answerable to this and are shifting liability setting people up for failure when their own website is supposed to protect them and even guarantees this under various circumstances. It is important to note, that a bank is neither legally able to Investigate nor purport to be an authority making a decision without Police intervention. The letter he permits goes as follows" ... "Dear Sir / Madam On XXth Nov last year, the Bank External Investigations contacted me to advise that I had been scammed after an online romance. I will not go into details as the details are irrelevant. I was told they (XXXX Bank) could not do anything more and to submit a report on the ACORN website, which I did the following day. Subsequently, I have submitted a further 23 reports as it is the only means of actually reporting any suspects, including phone numbers in Australia and Malaysia, bank account details in Australia and even beneficiary addresses overseas. I have submitted a substantial amount of evidence to enable Authorities in Australia and Malaysia to act on seeking the perpetrators and in fact all the possible money mules or persons colluding with the perpetrators. I have had to play money launderer as a last resort to try to bribe the XXXX Bank to take some action to involve the AFP which to some degree may have worked. As a last resort, as my own finances are completely negligible now, I informed XXXX Bank External Investigations that a deposit of $XX,000 in my account from an unknown sender would remain frozen until it was investigated by the AFP. I received a call from the XXXX CID . According to XXXXXXX, the call was in in relation to my last ACORN report. To my knowledge XXXX CID may not have received the report as a result of the ACORN report, and may have been a result of XXXX Bank's report to Vic Police. I used $XXX of the unknown deposit to hire a very efficient and ethical Forensic Investigator to trace the IP addresses of the two perpetrators successfully and without any doubt, and his report was submitted on the ACORN. To date and after three months without any communication from the AFP, other than an email from the XXX Police stating that the case was in the the hands of the AFP on 4th Dec 2015, I have had no communication. My concern is that: The ACORN really doesn't care The ACORN is too slow to respond, given real time information And as a result- the evidence is no longer useful. To cap off there are another 5 victims of this scam known by the XXXX Bank in Australia who have full knowledge and all the details and in some way they can be considered accountable in the loss of possibly $1.5M. The prime suspects can be located in South Africa and Nigeria. Found by eVestigator®. I request a reference to report this to the AFP Ombudsman. Regards eVestigator® Customer"What happens when a victim self-sabotages their own case? - 04 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "If you were to visit a Doctor, and engage a Specialist, you would do so because of their experience. Sometimes I have seen the victim without realising it, introduce self-harm into their own case." "They say you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. This is very true. Sometimes in cases, the victim actually is so entangled in the emotional trauma that they play 'investigator' and lose sight of the massive amounts of obviousness small pieces of advice from an external expert point of view can make. It ends up turning into a sheer path for self-destruction. My policy is, that I will not work with anybody who does not take my suggestions - because the hard work in setting up all the layers for an outcome is interfered with if it is not isolated to 1 person who can and will make a change for the better." "I think a priority list is vital for clients so that an Investigator can understand the exact facts which are required first, prior to seeing the 'Goliath' of information. Things are actually pretty simple and easy if you take a systematic approach. I have had great success with every single client and in speaking to others in the industry - it is a common trend that you need to set a plan and stick to it." "Results and facts come from research. I am a factual investigator; I don't give 'opinions'. I leave no door open. The key to a good outcome in an investigation is communication and understanding of overall value and accomplishments one wishes to achieve, and as with all others in the industry - it is clean sailing from there." "I am happy to say my strategy is succeeding and by having some common rules in place it is possible to avoid situations that displease customers. You only have to look at my testimonials. All of these people followed my advice and received an 'outcome' after research without interference. When I send an invoice I don't see money, I see outcomes and injustices, and think of ways from the information I've given to correct such injustices." "It is also important to help your client not become misinformed, as sometimes they get the wrong advice, even when you know the outcome. Sometimes, however this is out of your control. It is fantastic to see positive results and I continue to see them. I just wish to advise any potential customers to allow yourself help, and help will come to you." "I often go out of my way and use other contacts and expertise that compliment services. This has and can end up saving customers hundreds of thousands of dollars. eVestigator® is like the lollipop (man). I help direct, and strategy is so important in this area. When you are at the investigative stage, after initial research, you start to see extreme value for money." "Being a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Marriage Celebrant and author of books on Grief and Trauma I can see the signs of 'self-sabotage'. Depending on the case, it is good to choose an investigator that has a cross range of abilities in all areas, still performing a sole service, but at least there is awareness." "I say it how it is, and don't tell somebody what it is that they want to hear, I speak the truth and I speak based on experience and fact gained from cases I have been involved in and resolved. The level of communication is required on both sides to come to a fruitful outcome. Here are just some of the comments I have received in the course of helping people." "It takes 2 to tango they say! These clients are gold and I want to applaud them on their trust and belief to get them successful results. I ultimately take your instruction, but be prepared for honesty. If I recommend something I am happy to explain why - and how later it can save you. All these sample customers I applaud for showing strength in their traumatic times, yet maintaining themselves from the potential to 'self-sabotage'." "Full cooperation and confidence that everybody is on the same team is a must to produce successful outcomes. Three cheers for these successful happy customer examples!" Thank you customers! -------------------- * "Intellectually, he is clearly a star."* "Brilliance is an understatement."* "It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do."* "Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed."* "Simon is also a genius computer programmer, who has helped find cyber stalkers, assisted ASIC find and prosecute unlicensed practitioners" *"Hello Simon, I just wanted to let you know how encouraged I felt after speaking to you" "Simon's findings from forensically examining both an iPhone and an iPad gave me almost too much information than I was prepared for"* "He knows the workings of the internet, that's a fact."* "Thx Simon. Through all this as much as I have learnt about how nasty and shady people are, I have met a lot of good honest ones! You are at the top of the list."* "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA XXXXX account, and complained about the lack of action."* "Thanks for all your help, greatly appreciated."* "Simon is the utmost professional that goes beyond what's on paper" * ""He genuinely cares about your well-being and mental status"* "It took a long time for me to turn for help but turning to Simon was the best thing I could do"* "I am very impressed with your work. Submitted another report to ACORN re the CBA account, and complained about the lack of action."* "Simon stood by me and saw the process through. He was not just a Forensic Investigator."* "Simon was directly requested to volunteer some advice and put forward a willing participant on Channel 7's Today Tonight program"* "I recommend Simon fully for any investigation as his programming and forensic investigation skills are outstanding"* "Simon not only solved my case but from Today Tonight's expert request, he enabled me to explain some views on Cyber-Bullying"* "I have gotten to know Mr. Smith over the past 10 years, both as a person and as a Computer Programmer. As a Computer Programmer, Mr. Smith stood out, from early in our relationship, as an articulate and perceptive programmer. He has shown a tenacity in dealings with several International Companies and Governmental Departments"* "Simon saved me 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with the lawyers and he got me the results I needed"* "Simon was onto the lawyers and made sure things were done!"* "I highly HIGHLY recommend Simon and eVestigator® especially to sort out the lawyers and give amazing factual results."* "He was smart enough to get the actual evidence from the cloud and the iPad at the end of the day didn't even make much difference! He is superb."* "I am a great judge of character and you, especially you, have given me strength to go on. Thankyou so so much, you are a gem.The Banks and the Increase in Cyber Crime in Australia - 03 February 2016 - eVestigator® - "It is evident in cases that I'm currently performing that cybercrime has increased dramatically over the last three years. There are now smarter ways for criminals masking their identity that contributes to the typical attribute of misinformation that is used to target vulnerable people. I have noticed an increase in dating cybercrime especially in the Christian sector as there is a higher level of trust among Christian dating site users and it appears that one may come to the conclusion that a particular religion seems to be an innocent victim. I say that this is not so. It is a guess that potentially in the past has worked but anybody is a victim in these strategic cybercrimes that I am witnessing. Mostly what I'm seeing is a co-operative team of individuals that work both nationally and overseas. Nationally they are able to open up Australian bank accounts and overseas they are able to concoct stories as to the transition from the Australian bank account to a Malaysian, Nigerian or South African bank account. There is however one major flaw in this whole system. I question the banks and I put them on notice that they themselves are negligent in the way they handle or attempt to handle what they consider to be cybercrime." "The lay customer is the victim and the bank is the commercial entity that is ultimately performing the transaction. Take this analogy; imagine you are buying a fridge from your local retailer. If you experience problems with the fridge within seven days of your purchase and your retailer tells you to call the manufacturer then your retailer would technically be (and this is not legal advice) in breach of the Australian Consumer Law being the Competitions and Consumer Act 2010. Ultimately the responsibility lies with who you pay or who commits the conduct. The banks have guarantees that are considered to be consumer guarantees and they protect customers against fraud. However, I find it ironic that the banks themselves will not communicate with police or to higher authorities to report such fraud, I wonder why this is the case. I believe that the banks would ultimately be reporting themselves because the result of the banks reporting that they have given money to a criminal would ultimately give responsibility back to the bank and their consumer guarantees when it comes to online safety and digital fraud." "There are three massive cases at the moment I am dealing with where I am going to be recommending legal action against the banks in addition to cyber forensic data that identifies the criminals internationally that was obtained through propriety cyber forensic methods as it is obvious that the IP address of such criminals isn't forthcoming. My understanding is that the banks have an obligation that, again without indicating any kind of legal advice, could possible put them into a position called 'Unconscionable Conduct'. I suggest anybody who has any issues with digital fraud to contact a forensic investigator like myself if they get nowhere with the bank or the police." "There is another angle to this that everybody is missing. Ultimately at the end of the day, the banks may very well be contributing to the fraud by rewarding those who are actually engaging in fraud. Without getting into specific conduct of a particular case that I am currently working on, I would like to state that this is most likely the case and I will be making reports to the Australian Federal Police of this nature. I strongly advise every person to read their guarantees that the bank give them and the Terms & Conditions that they rely on when they conduct internet banking and/or permit others to conduct internet banking on their behalf and the way that the conduct is intentionally hand-passed to multiple liability and discovery sources like ACORN, the banks fraud team, the local police, INTERPOL and the Australian Federal Police." "As a forensic investigator, I can tell you now that the banks have a lot to answer to and any person who is experiencing such problems should contact me immediately."$200,000 dating scam BUSTED by SCAM expert Simon Smith! - 21 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "I had the pleasure today of using special forensic techniques to attain the exact IP address and location details of a massive dating scam that involves potentially hundreds of people in a pyramid style dating arrangement. I have requested my client report the details which nobody has (specific IP/Device/UA String) to ACORN, and really hope for the benefit of all victims ACORN will use the AFP to make Federal arrests." "This involved Australian bank accounts and a series of people both in Australia, in Singapore and wait for it, Nigeria. I must say that this is not the only case that involves this kind of money. I am just about to release a press release in this matter as I have grave concerns that the banks are involved. At least in this one case I have evidence that suggests that the bank are not cooperating with their Fraud guarantees. This is a major issue for Australian consumers and must be reported to the public." "There is more than one SCAM like this I'm working on. People forget the part the bank plays in this and the level of protection and security they are entitled to. I will be advising in my report to my client that he provides ACORN with specific information that in this case implicates the bank, at least allegedly by way of conduct and advise that the ACCC must be involved. So far I have solved over $750,000 worth of SCAM's." "The proof is evident, the scammers are exposed and I shall update you if the police update my client. For once we hope the countries can work together. The details (all except my incriminating findings) have been reported to ACORN. My findings are the "Golden Bullet" that will enable an exact location and arrest. I not only found out the true IP of the SCAMMER's, but the method and scheme they use. Innocent people are setup as part of the scheme in a massive money laundering exercise. Sadly the banks take the so called unproven "victims" word for it, however I shall be reporting to the AFP this conduct as the banks are neither investigators nor are they the police. They have however frozen money in my victim's account due to unproven information and they will have to answer to the ACCC and the Banking Ombudsman as well as the AFP, because not only did they witness the victim being used in the SCAM, they are rewarding an alleged "victim" by freezing his account." "Nevertheless you cannot get a better result than the source, and that is what shall be passed on to ACORN. I will also be making my own recommendations to the AFP on this matter."Ending a Relationship? Make sure you know what you are entitled to! - 18 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Story of the week is more some useful advice. As a Commonwealth Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (and trainer thereof) and Forensic Investigator that deals with extensive Personal Safety Intervention orders, I see a lot of 'hiding' of assets." "One such example is, that if in the event you are going through a divorce (ironic that I'm also a Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant) but life is very unpredictable to say the least, you need to know your rights. Usually you see the typical behaviour that is similar to that of what I call a "pre-stalker". You see some niceness, then some dictatorship and a bit of control and maybe more niceness and what looks to be open attempts to 'help' the other party." "I have done many cases like this where help=hide information. If it happens, and if it must happen, then remember that nothing is black and white in the Family Court but don't be bluffed by what people 'say' the judge is likely to do and get scared off during mediation. At least do your research. $1 spent on my forensic services could not only get results but save $5 spent on lawyers writing unnecessary discovery letters." "One such case presented and I am happy to say that due to my services she is at least $200-300k better off than what she was 'told' she was getting. Much of what I do is facilitate the 'Project'. I don't see an investigation as one simple fact. I see it as a project. A project that I can coordinate all parties, save you money and get you results. The only time this is affected is when you are presented with a brick wall, then we need to knock it down!" "The moral of this story is when it comes to divorce and money, trust nobody, get facts, then get lawyers for the important parts. Don't waste all money contesting wills, or assets in churning letters up and down. You may be missing a $200k term deposit sitting in one parties name that is half yours!"Computers vs Humans, Processes -> Models -> Outcomes. Biometrics and voice example - 08 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Many people can recognise a person straight away by their face and also sometimes by their voice. But how do computers recreate or examine a face or voice for what a human brain would assume is equivalent." "Firstly as a master programmer and lecturer for over 25 years, a developer of innovations, I will be the first to admit that the 'computer' is not at all the only tool in my toolkit for forensic IT services, however it is a necessary tool though as it forms part of a process which leads to a method and produces an outcome, with the addition of many other sub-components, all of which rely on each other. Imagine a computer is just a giant calculator that can do nothing until you press the buttons. Well that is true. However, can you press the buttons 240,000,000 times a second? I draw similarity to today's programmers who make 'websites' and work as I used to as Senior Analyst Programmer with popular tools. People think that a template or software is the be all and end all and nothing else matters. They invent many words and accreditations for nothing more than a heavyweight unreliable set of locked down (or even worse not locked down your way) code. When I first started programming I literally had to draw every pixel on the screen. If I wanted to do something intelligent I would have to do it low level. Nothing has changed for forensics, but for programmers it has." "What is it that has changed? Programmers have got lazy and trained to use pre-built templates. The issue with this is you lose all the control in between (and you inherit their bugs). I have written many API/SDK/plug-ins as a programmer FOR programmers because nowadays there is not one method to use some magic software the way you want you to use it 'exactly' for. So, you lose creative control, increase security risks not knowing all the code and/or everybody knowing the open source code and risk your entire business or assets on someone's "playground". You can see my certificates and credentials below and yes they are a token but how do you do cyber forensics if you're a template trained expert or trainer?" "My answer is you simply can't. Imagine a painting hand painted half way; you can't touch the first half. The point I am making is that a good expert does not have to mention software packages (and all the jobs on job sites are direct evidence of people wanting to employ puppets of these products) they should be able to do ANYTHING AT ALL. Notice in that statement there was no mention of a computer?" "Recently I was asked to both forensically analyse a voice and reconstruct a face. The first thing that came into my mind was OF COURSE, THAT'S EASY AND I'VE DONE THIS MANY TIMES. The first thing that would come into perhaps another mind is hmmm I'll try to go to Google and look for free software that does that. So because I understand the raw mechanics of any sound file I don't need fancy named software. I just write my own! Take that logic and look at the human face, facial reconstruction and recognition, or any biometrics for that. At the very basic level an expert should remove the computer from the question and ask themselves how I as a human could do this (understanding that the computer has an incomprehensible advantage over a human in consistency and is necessarily sometimes an absolute must to form a method as a process, with its speed and other advantages). Without getting into artificial intelligence concepts which I actually call Official Intelligence, I am happy to report a successful outcome." "If someone says can this be done and a human can do it, the invention and intelligence lies in what you can do with that computer that makes a difference to the outcome to form that piece of the puzzle, not what the computer is going to do for you. There are plenty of parts to a method and system even in everyday life, but they should be treated as one element to complete what would be necessary to complete the next element, and so on. Such a process creates a method, which creates an outcome. It is no indifferent to any other necessary piece of the project, for example investigative ability or data extraction. Computer Forensics and implementation is necessary to do things that are still logical but out of absolute reach of the normal way of thinking, it is strategy. It is the strategy that forms the process which creates the method which produces the outcome - it really is that simple but not many people understand this (not even some Government departments). The use of a computer in forensic investigation is a necessary component as a whole and does nothing not as the sole attribute. It is also the same for the reverse. Without a computer, computer forensics (in the nature of this article) would not form the process that creates the method. Computers are necessary for their speed and collective use to deliver a logical outcome. If you take one piece of the puzzle out that is the heart of the puzzle in any process then there is no process. So in reverse if someone claims to be an expert in XYZ named software, what they are really saying is 'I am an expert in using somebody else's restrictive set of rules'." "The moral of this blog it to give an expert's point of view to distinguish fact from fiction in how a process that uses a computer is required but not the magic tool or sole tool people thinks it is. We tell computers what to do. They do it faster and either make a workable process or make an impossible process! To understand the backbone and the place of the computer in any process, it is necessity to value the hardware contribution and not the software, and that contribution may be utmost necessary to create a real process or strategy. In my eyes that is what defines innovation." If a pineapple was able to give mechanical benefit of the raw unparalleled computer (just being one necessary component to the entire system) then you would use the pineapple, and it would be mandatory! In Forensic Investigations as we are doing facial reconstructions and voice analysis, to attain a match you need speed but you are still relying on what you first opened your eyes to as a baby. It is the mechanics of the human mind in picking the tools necessary to create the method and process that attains a result in both innovation and investigations, and this requires strategy."I caught the stalker stalking the stalk-ee yet I uncovered the stalk-ee as the stalker - 05 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "Well it did not take long for the stalkers to come out. Well this was an interesting case that I'd like to share with you. Imagine finding a stalker that is the victim to stalking and being presented with the person being charged for stalking, and turning the tables?" "Well it happened. I managed to completely reverse justice in this instance. Firstly, stalking is a crime and should be reported to the police but cyber-stalking is something new to this country. This is something I am an expert in as I grew up through the birth of all versions of the consumer internet and saw where things went wrong as a programmer from the age of 11." "So, I was approached by a guy who was accused of stalking and had a LOT to lose. Despite stalking usually being treated civilly, it is dangerous, because if you get an AVO, IVO or PSIO against you it has criminal repercussions. I should know - I've got someone put to jail on a suspended sentence on this very subject. But what I did for this client was not only cost effective but well worth it. I performed some IT forensic work on his computer and found that the very person that attained a 'ex-parte' application for an intervention order was monitoring him before, during and after they sought that order." "I'll say that again. The actual 'victim' was monitoring every email of the alleged 'stalker' whom she had forced out of the house by perjuring herself in the Magistrates court and not telling the full story. It was in fact her that was stalking him. After some simple evidence on paper (as I always report only fact) - and a mention, things reversed quite rapidly for the Applicant. So let us just say at the mention things reversed pretty quickly. It was a small but ironic success." "It just goes to show, you can't hide behind a masked IP address from eVestigator®" Happy New Year Everybody - and on comes identity fraud! - 01 January 2016 - eVestigator® - "First of all Happy New Year, and we do hope that you take this year to look at your cyber security techniques and learn ways to prepare for what I call CW3, Cyber War 3. Essentially, it is already happening in front of our eyes." "This year started off with a client being the victim of Identity fraud, which branched out into credit card fraud, and very rapidly became an international fraud syndicate." "Simon Smith (eVestigator®) is currently working on this case and cannot reveal anything until data is confirmed but it is safe to say that due to the rapid discovery of information, the pieces of the puzzle are all fitting together nicely, waiting to be finalised and validated, then reported to the AFP or ACORN."eVestigator® solves the Fake Microsoft Support Scam (gives ACORN IP info) - 26 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well, this particular customer only lost $1500, but as an ex-ACORN unhappy client, he was very happy to see that I was able to identify a unique IP Address and Date/Time of the attacker. This was reported to both the ACORN and the client." "Now, with our support hopefully an arrest can be made. We were able to find all the Australian details that our client tells us ACORN dismissed, but went one step further and via strategic Digital Forensic Programming, captured the scammer red handed - with all his/her IP details, including browser, language, origin - essentially enough information to put them away for a long long time." "If you want your Cyber-Crime or forensic crime solved in any jurisdiction, there is only one person that can get you there. Give Simon Smith a call on 0410 643 121, and at such a minimal cost, this client is now happy that their scammer is caught. Naturally we are working on some large scale cases - but this SCAM revealed an "Indian" operation that we probably never will know the outcome of - and of course, as ACORN told the customer they could not do anything about it the first time, now hopefully with the help of eVestigator® they can. That's another success story to end the year with!"eVestigator wishes everybody out there who is a victim of Cybercrime hope - 25 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "I wish to let you all know that no matter how hard or how big your matter is, it is recommended to take these couple of days and get some clarity and know that I will help you with your issues when you need. I am not planning a major break but there are some times I will not be available. If you are the victim of cyber-crimes or cyber related activities, know that you can still attempt to contact with me during this period."eVestigator refunds customer a portion of invoice for doing too good a job! - 21 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well, we have a new win - and a victory for the client in 2 ways! For the first time in history within less than 24 hours I had achieved an outcome for my client from what seemed a massive cyber-stalking case involving an unknown stalker - with 3 Facebook profiles." "Ironically, my first set of intelligence hit the nail on the head. Within a bit more than half the time quoted, I had actually identified the stalker of multiple forms of media - attained for my client a full 1 year intervention order default judgment and the stalking stopped." "So in this case it took me less time and I returned the outstanding funds to my client! This is why people trust me because I do the right thing. Even though giving money back is essentially unheard off (say if it was another profession for a fixed price job) - with me, it's fair and it makes the client happy."Sample dating scam - that just came my way - 19 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "It's almost a daily exercise for me deleting thousands of SPAM (as I don't trust SPAM filters) and of course amongst all this SPAM is the human check of reality which I can detect in about half a second." "Here is today's dating scam that happened to make its way to my inbox. As I always say, how do they know me, where are the purportedly writing from and where am I purportedly responding to and do I even know this person and if so, why would a non-identifiable random email just pop into my door. So welcome to Svetlana." "Hi,Im Svetlana. Are you for real?! Im interested in knowing you better but Im not sure what are you looking for? Send me your reply directly and I will send my pic." "Now this came from k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru - va at qatarairwaysvirtual.net. I don't recall having anything to do with this surprisingly. Most importantly (and not that it matters to me) but we have a reply address of "k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru" k.svetlana@unotransoffice.ru.""It's important to realise that Russian girls called Svetlana don't just randomly email you when you have not visited to a chat site, and even if you did it would be a giveaway because they don't even know your name!"WARNING: New Scam Email purporting to be National Australia Bank - 19 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Dear customer, "In our precautions against internet fraud, our bank comes up with a new policy to prevent costumers from being victims of illegal transactions." "There are 2 steps required in this procedure, in order to avoid problems with your account." "What should i do ? The email is as follows : 1. Download the attached file and open it on your internet browser. 2. Confirm that you are the owner and follow the instructions carefully! Thank you for the cooperation and once again thank you for choosing our bank. © National Australia Bank Limited. Use of the information contained on this page is governed by Australian law and is subject to the disclaimers which can be read on the disclaimer page. View the NAB Privacy Policy." "Naturally this is obvious - always look at the reply to address and the sent from address. Further check to see if it was actually sent to YOU and whether or not it even mentions you. Of course you should report this to the police/ACORN." "Another obviousness is the spelling and grammar mistakes in the bank email. We all make mistakes, but you would think that a multi-million dollar institution would have a spell checking system!"Phishing scams are all over the place, look out for the latest one - 16 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "A new email purporting to be from PayPal is lazy and one of the easier to spot scams. The subject line is 'Limited Account Please Update'. The logo looks to be the right colours otherwise it looks completely different, it starts with 'Hello Dear Customer', there are grammar errors and the sent address is paypal@support.cu.ma." "If you are still not sure and they did actually guess or have your full email address correct, not just the domain, from a new browser window login to your PayPal account. If your account really has been limited there will be a very prominent message on your account to tell you so. Some scams can be hard to spot, with great attention to detail. This isn't one of them."Sony Corporation wishes to inform you that your Identity/Location has been endorsed as the winner of $1million - 12 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well today I'm feeling lucky. I woke up to this:" "Please send Ur Name address age Tel for More Info. Your Sincerely, Mrs. Barbara Deemer [Your Sony Key Code: SYUK0303#]" "I WON! It's amazing. Firstly let us take a look at the email domain it comes from: Sony iPrize (claims@yale.edu) seems interesting, but I want to know how it got to me. It is sent to: winner (claims@yale.edu), with a reply to address of: claims@yale.edu" "Well, so a) they didn't know who I was, b) they are not Sony and 3) what has Yale got to do with Sony? In this instance I deem it obviously as fake and unless someone at Yale is fraudulent, then I would count this as SPAM." "The moral of this story is 'phishing' is the art of purporting to be someone or some entity you are not. This could probably be just someone trying to bring down Yale's servers in a DDOS attack. Either way the first thing to look for is 'Why me, and is it really me they are sending to or is it generic?' The second thing to look at is at 'what domain does it actually come from and is it the domain of the real company?' Then you need to look at any reply-to addresses, as people might use a legitimate spoofed sending name and address and beautiful graphics to fool you, but if they want your details, unless they are Sony, the reply to address will tell you really where you are sending your personal information to." "Typically, a scammer would make a domain or add a sub-domain to an existing domain like winner@mysony.com or winner@sony.myblog.com." "Finally as Judge Judy says, if it doesn't make sense, it's not true! She's very right"Grief and Trauma and how an Investigator needs to understand - 08 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "I am the former CEO of Australia's largest marriage celebrancy Academy. I authored and taught thousands of students via my own written course materials in grief and trauma, conducting funerals and the like. I also draw upon my Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution, Nationally Accredited Mediator status and Bail Justice Training Course as well as relationship education experience as a marriage celebrant and counseling qualifications." "This week has started off with some pretty serious cases m An Investigator by all means should not claim to be an expert in this area but at minimum I believe must have some training to enable them to determine whether a case is needing to be paused pending more important health reasons. At least having a toolkit of referral information and some training to determine whether or not you can rely on instruction from your client is mandatory." "I have often had to suspend the case asking my client to consider first attaining outside help. I sometimes must rely on such expert medical opinion to ensure I am doing the best job for my client. Investigators have to have empathy and know where they stand and clarify instructions carefully as for both parties it is not conducive to the case, if the client is unwell. I have direct experience in handling such cases and especially knowing how to detect and refer."A simple fast victory stopping 1 year of trauma - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "When somebody knows your every move you have to wonder how? Most importantly it is best to get onto it straight away and not put up with threats or extortion as it is a crime and potentially the longer you leave it, the higher probability of data loss and more emotional trauma." "I succeeded today in an extortion case where people may think they are safe behind a mail.com email, a fake Facebook account or a prepaid mobile, but think again! Whilst sometimes there are technical restraints, a good investigator has to use logic and simply strangely enough common sense. An arrest will be made and justice will be served in this case for only 2 hours cost to the client of my time and I get to enjoy the weekend too."An investigator does more than just the job at task - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "In a current case I am working on I noticed on the side a discrepancy in the billing and conduct of previous dealings in the case. Completely voluntarily I offered my client to look at the legitimacy of those charges and do a little bit of forensically informed conciliation. Bang. 13,000k given back to my client they never would have had. I give my all to every customer so when looking at an investigator you need to look at the proactive capacity and passion they have for their work. They were over the moon and never would have known about this." "Having built some of Australia's largest educational institutions valued at over $26m as well as being an expert auditor I had no trouble in just 3 discussions and 4 emails attaining in a separate capacity $13,000 worth of credit for my client of which I sought no benefit rom. I just like people not getting taken to the cleaners! $13,000 was welcomed, believe me." "In a similar unrelated case I anticipate just through my mediation and conciliation add on skills, I may have spotted an opportunity for my client to recover up to $40,000 for unlawful charges. In no way am I a debt collector and in no way do I want to be one :), I am just making this statement to show my intuition and problem solving skills out of court. I am not a lawyer and do not ever claim to be one, but I am certainly equipped to understand what is right and what is wrong, both ethically and in common sense human behavior." "There are lots of good lawyers out there and I rely on them sometimes to present my expert evidence. The point of this blog is with me, you don't just get a phone call or suspicion without supporting evidence, you get fact (and fact only - good or bad) and action if there is action to be taken on any angle. That is why people choose me. Please feel free at any time to view my Vocational and Higher Education level Qualifications above."eVestigator succeeds again. Finds a criminal stalker forensically in 4 minutes - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Yes you heard correctly. Never before has it been this easy. Investigations are not just about expert computer forensic knowledge. They are about strategy. People often ask how much to find this person? How long is a piece of string that has cuts and twists and tangles all the way through? Strategy and direction and the complementary knowledge of having grief and trauma qualifications and teaching this discipline, a counseling diploma, combined with being a Nationally Recognised Mediator as well as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Marriage Celebrant and having a qualification from Victoria University in the 2011 Bail Justice Training course lets me have some level of directional intuition. Hence, 4 minutes :) The customer is very happy and that is the main thing! "Just a quick note to keep your eyes open wide on the media as eVestigator has busted potentially Australia' Biggest Scam - 05 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well I must not say too much until it is charged but I uncovered one of Australia's if not Australia's biggest scams and forensically identified the offender. Keep an eye on the media."ACORN - I must say I'm shocked - 02 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "May I direct you to the section of the website dedicated to what I have achieved and discovered from some disgruntled ACORN customers of which many cases I have solved. Please read the article which will be updated regularly near the top of this site. "Timing of police serving intervention orders - 01 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well you have a victory, you do the hard work and attain an intervention order on behalf of your client and over 24 hours later the cyber stalker strikes again. In this instance with the excellent assistance from the police it is not served yet but may be in a day or two. It is fair to give everyone an opportunity to be served but it is a hit and miss on the timing opportunity. A breach and arrest would have been made but there is always next time!"What happens when a client doesn't take your advice? - 01 December 2015 - eVestigator® - "This is often a sticking point for most Investigators/Mediators. You may have seen the text book scenario unfolding so many times and yet if somebody believes they cannot do something they cannot do something." "Similarly if someone believes they can do something they can do anything! I wish to report another success story today. A dangerous stalking/harassment case turned nasty where I saw the alleged 'victim' almost having conversations with himself setting up a plan for an intervention order" "I predicted this action in the words spoken and am very proud to say that this person who was alleging they were the victim and constantly harassing my clients, building a story ready to get an ex-parte 'lollipop' injunction. I therefore instructed my clients 2 sets of important advice. One - go to the police but 'in a certain way to a certain officer' and Two - go ask for a statement to be made again 'in a certain way in a certain manner' and Three - ask for the police to take out a Personal Safety Intervention Order as this man is likely to breach it as it was getting so obsessive and dangerous to the point of physical danger to my clients lives - and guess what - they got it!" "A good investigator doesn't sit there and watch people they know 'human nature', 'process' and 'procedure' and naturally, areas of failure and potential human barricades. This advice worked perfectly and now they can concentrate on living safely after years of harassment, bullying, false accusations and stalking. That was a good result." "Those that don't listen to advice or believe in an outcome will get that outcome, there has to be a point where trust is earned and respected, and then justice can prevail!"The line between Defamation, Stalking and Imagination - 30 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "Well another successful week has passed. I have solved 4 cases this week. People often don't realise the crimes they may be committing. This week we have seen people lie and caught out by me in court, false imaginative creations of stories of which they may have lied to a Magistrate but don't realise my evidence won't only overturn their allegations, but potentially get them in jail!" "No matter how it is framed, if you lie you may leave a digital fingerprint that gives you much more than you ever bargained for. Let's just say that if you think you are anonymous behind six Facebook accounts, think again. Upcoming will be a rather large blog entry relating to how the Internet and social media will destroy our privacy and show what I already see now as the new war so many are untrained to understand. The Cyber War!"eVestigator® annihilates an intervention order action with a forensic defense - Who really is the stalker? - 28 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "This is a story that I'd like to share with you, anonymously of course. It is a well-known fact that people can lie in court and in Victoria (the Acts change but represent similar systems in other states) the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act allows a person to enter the stand ex-parte and allege an incident and occurrence, and likely achieve an interim intervention order potentially destroying someone's life for the next 2 months before they get a contested hearing." "This is an area that I forensically specialise in and would like to share the story of how useful a Forensic Factual Investigator can be in these instances. Understanding that there is a serious risk of an order being placed on a person (if it was not a correct series of events), the bigger risk is the breach. I have done over 50 cases but none like this. A breach could potentially give someone jail time and a fine depending on the complexity of the breach and the police's willingness to follow through with it. Remember, all this can be initiated civilly with a lie." "One such case occurred where my client was alleged to have been stalking a person and keeping him under surveillance. After only 2 hours of forensic investigation of her iPhone, social media links and internet behaviour, I found concrete black and white evidence that his exact iPhone was logging her under surveillance before during and after the interim intervention order was granted!" "Even further I found it had been going on far before and way after. The evidence I committed was compelling. It happened to coincide with what people don't realise could be a digital fingerprint. I suppose, if a person who accuses they are being stalked, and goes on the stand under oath, and then my client comes up with the name of his iPhone literally stating say "James's iPhone" has logged in every day to her account before during and after he placed an intervention order, then that is somewhat strong. More so, it was found coincidental to be happening after the order was granted with the release date of the iPhone, and forensically the phone was proven to have had its password physically changed and tampered with during these events, and synced to his iPhone." "Not only for my client did this mean that they are actually the ones being stalked, a crime of surveillance has been committed, and the use of her mobile phone was intentionally tampered with to set the new password as my client could always login via the phone but not the computer. The tracking and forensic data further proves that my client was potentially the subject of GPS surveillance. So it looks like someone is up for charges. My client for just a couple of hours has probably saved thousands of dollars in unrecoverable legal fees in a no cost jurisdiction and has evidence to charge him with perjury, stalking, and using an electronic device to track a person." "So I'm guessing that the gentleman that attained the intervention order without truth is going to regret ever getting on that stand. eVestigator® gets results."Best Outcomes Advice - 02 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "Although it can be hard to know where to start, to take full advantage of any investigation time it is important to be clear in your brief to us so we can focus our attention in the area you need. Carefully consider the worth of new information compared to what you know and take a 'needle in a haystack approach'. These messages relate to successful iPhone, iPad and Android investigations, and believe me when I say if you think you have deleted something, think again! Sometimes not even the device is needed to attain intelligence. We have succeeded in this area and have many happy customers attaining answers that are crucial to them. Some criminal, some civil, however all equally promoting the same message."The 'Cloud' (a friend or foe) - 09 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "The lesson for this week is to be careful what you put on your iPhone or Android device. Regularly backing up your devices is prudent, but pay particular attention to where you are backing anything up to and also how they protect the transmission and redundancy of the data." "A lot of people find value in open source 'solutions' and 'plugins' like Word press and all these magical instant websites and themes (I call it a lazy man's programming- sorry but I'm just being honest). Not that there is anything wrong with a template but that is not logic. From what I've seen in relation to hacking, you want to say thank you for the visual and goodbye to the 'supposed' programming. Real programming (in my opinion) is to control and write my own code, I'm sure you can appreciate if someone knows the exact code behind your entire website, they clearly can read backwards and reverse engineer such 'common' open source. This could cause criminal or civil repercussions or identity theft." "eVestigator® can forensically search and locate any remnants and security holes of corporate networks to properly and securely backup (or perform an emergency forensic data restoration) efficiently with both redundancy and security, keeping in mind (in the case of individuals) privacy. Imagine a non-programmer running your entire income stream of which you have no access to the code behind it. Then one day, all your income stops and an error pops up. What would that do to your business?" "We have extensive experience in larger cases and have had quite a few wins. One such client won an uncontested hearing and is now gratefully seeing the end of a tormenting period of time and benefiting from the complimentary and combined skillset of eVestigator®, plus the $200k default judgment we helped control and coordinate with handpicked lawyers might have put a smile on her dial!"Android Devices - "Apparently the FBI has fined you - 11 November 2015 - eVestigator® - "The latest amazement of the week was the famous modal screen bypassing all your Tablet or Phone with a message stating that you have been caught by the FBI watching porn and must pay a fine. 3 minutes and it has gone, but people these days create scams and viruses in a new way. Think of the psychology behind it. Everyone probably has an eBay account. An email purporting to be eBay can be made up by someone in about 5 minutes, leading to a $1 domain called ebay123.com for example. "Amazingly it looks exactly like eBay - because it's merely a capture of the screen. The lesson here is in one of my golden rules (check the reply email address) - although even that with a virus affecting your local DNS could spoof that. However the point of the message is about the psychology. Who doesn't have an eBay account? The lesson here is to look at the start and the end (not what you think is the middle). Did you make such a transaction or debt, and who are you communicating with. eBay is the trick. It diverts your attention away from the real method of the SCAM which is so obvious, but by then you've already seen the colour logo's, clicked the links and sharing your identity with someone in a foreign country." eVestigator® gets IP Address to solve cold Acorn and High Tech Police Cases in Record Time, attaining a Suspended Jail Sentence as against the Defendant. "In 2 separate cases, eVestigator was approached as a last resort by some very unhappy victims. One had been waiting 5 years, the other 1 year. It is good to see the government is doing a great job in 'determining' there is a problem - with this new 'war' - the 'Cyber War'. It is fair to say it is also ever-changing and new technologies and ways of security breaches and exposure to identity via social media is expanding at an enormous rate. The cases are naturally very complex and can lead to both criminal and civil liability. However, there was a case that sat with the Victorian High Tech Police Unit for over 5 years (one of eVestigator's cases many years ago) which was solved in just 2 weeks from Cyber Investigation, leading to a possible sentence to jail or suspended sentence." "How? Facebook, intelligence, common sense and other mechanisms. Further, he has also just solved a case that was delivered to Acorn gathering dust for over 1 year, in 1 day. Further, he has personally seen factual wrongdoings from IBAC. This is just Victoria!" "The message is, that clearly there needs to be more emphasis or resources on education at a young age because people simply don't know where to go, and in both instances, the delay was potentially more damaging than the conduct found in the investigation. It still is no doubt a good thing for Parliament to have mechanisms in place but are they working? Also the crime itself is half the story. The trauma and grief that follows the victim from being held waiting can lead (and has lead) to people having to get themselves onto mental health plans merely due to the injustice and time delay."