Microsoft Tries to Prevent Your Laptops From Getting Impounded

One of the things we discussed on the last Elite Tech News podcast was the newly acquired ability for border control agents to seize laptops, phones, cameras and other electronic devices that may contain material suitable for incriminating the owners.  The general consensus of the panelists was that this was always an option for folks in law enforcement but it would rarely ever be exercised due to the fact that there really isn't a whole lot anyone can do in searching a computer at the border in order to determine whether or not criminal activity was evidenced on it.

Leave it to Microsoft to rectify that situation for us.  The Seattle Times today has profiled a new technology they've put together that can rapidly extract forensic data from computers used in the commission of a crime.  The technology is called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), and is software built into a USB drive.  While the technology is just now coming to light, it has been in use since last June, having been distributed to 350 different law enforcement agencies.

The device apparently works by quickly sending around 150 commands to the machine in question that either gather data and copy it to the device or quickly analyze it and return the results of the queries.  It includes strong password decryption routines, scans of Internet activity and probes on the data stored on the computer.

Is Microsoft doing this to engage a new market and create a new profit center?  No, apparently this comes from an attack of conscience to the company.

"These are things that we invest substantial resources in, but not from the perspective of selling to make money," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith in an interview with the Seattle Times. "We're doing this to help ensure that the Internet stays safe."

The aim, they say, is to prevent the need for border agents and other law enforcement agencies to seize the computer for ages on end.  During the show, both Steven Hodson and I recounted tales in which computers involving respective clients of ours were seized and never returned.  To be fair, in both cases the length of time the governments had held the computers has been around a decade.  They may intend to return the machine eventually, but we aren't going to hold our breath.

Assuming this technology isn't used the way a lot of law enforcement technology advances are used (to catch folks who may have a pirated copy of Never Gonna Give You Up on their hard drive), I'm comfortable with this technology being in the hands of law enforcement. Presumably the technology works without giving off false positives, this will prevent my valuable technology (and lifeline to my job) from being accidentally impounded by overzealous border control folks who think my vacation beard makes me look a bit too much like an Al Qaeda operative on his way back from a vacation in the Bahamas.

To listen to our discussion on the topic, you can play the show right here with the player below, or you can download the MP3 file directly here.

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