For several years I developed and utilized various technologies and methods to track criminals leading to at least two dozen convictions. In the process of recovering stolen devices, larger crimes would be uncovered including drugs, theft rings, stolen cars, even a violent car jacking. Much of the evidence in these cases would be collected by stolen devices themselves, such as network information, photos captured from laptops and cell phones, but often times there was additional data that would need to be gathered for a conviction. In this presentation I will walk through actual real cases and discuss in depth the technologies used and additional processes I went through utilizing open source data and other methods to target criminals. I will also discuss how these same tools and methods can be used against the innocent and steps users and developers can take to better protect privacy.
Ken Westin is a security analyst and “creative technologist” with 15 years experience building and breaking things through the use/misuse of technology. His technology exploits and endeavors have been featured in Forbes, Good Morning America, Dateline, the New York Times and others. He has worked with law enforcement and journalists utilizing various technologies to unveil organized crime rings, recover stolen cars, even a car jacking amongst other crimes.