CSCT Global Case Studies
1. College professor and author
We were hired by a distinguished author and college professor who had very private information leaked from her computer and was being harassed by anonymous individuals that had specific and detailed knowledge of what she was doing inside her home. Including clothes that she was trying on in her bedroom.
We conducted a full sweep of the premises and determine that there were no cameras or devices of any kind. We investigated her computer and phone and found no evidence of a breach; however, our client was credible and was able to prove the specific nature of harassment and the details that have only come from getting access to her computer or having visibility inside her home. We were on the property so long that it was now pitch-black outside. One of our investigators was outside and called the rest of our team on the phone. He asked if the professor always did her writing in the chair that she was currently sitting in - she said yes. He then proceeded to tell us exactly what was on her computer screen and what she was doing. He went further to describe exactly what the interior of the bedroom looked like from his current position. Obviously, this peaked our team's curiosity. He was standing in her backyard in a pitch-black blind spot on the opposite side of her pool. Using a cheap handy cam, he was able to zoom in enough to see the contact of her computer and exactly what was taking place inside her bedroom.
Because of the way that her lighting was set up, the opposite side of her pool was pitch black and you could not see if someone was standing there. She had high end privacy blinds that you were supposed to be able to see out of when they were closed but not in, however the installers put them on backwards. We later traced the harassment to one of her neighbors who was walking through her open gate and physically spying on her from the backyard. Some of these cases were higher to get to the bottom of the issue, not justifying bugs or hacking. In this case we were able to determine that it was an old-fashioned peeping Tom taking advantage of the layout and set up of her home in order to be able to gain information to harass our client.
2. Contentious divorce on the waterfront.
Our client was going through a contentious divorce, with significant child support and alimony associated with the outcome. Because of some of the information that her husband and her husband's attorney was able to obtain, it could only be suspected that her home was bugged with audio and/or video devices hidden within it. There was also a possibility that her computers may have been remotely accessed.
While doing the TSCM inspection of the property, one of our techs noticed a man standing on a boat waving at us from the canal behind the house. We told the client one of her friends was trying to get her attention. She then had a shocked look on her face and said that that was her ex-husband. He did not have a boat, but she recognized it and said that he would've borrowed it from a friend. He wasn't wearing boating clothes, as he was dressed in work attire, and it was extremely suspicious that he happened to be behind the house waving at us trying to get our attention at the exact time that we were conducting the sweep. We did not find any devices within the house on that inspection, but we did find two spots to where drywall had recently been plastered and replaced and at one of the spots, the repair putty was still moist and pliable. Her husband, among other businesses, owned a construction company and had fully renovated the house prior to them occupying it. She was gone from the house several hours earlier that day, and we also found several places where there were cut or loose wires which in addition to the patches in the drywall indicated that there were devices that had been quickly removed prior to our arrival.
Upon further investigation, we discovered that the next-door neighbor had been directly reporting information to the ex-husband, as they were close friends. So even without the devices present, the ex-husband had a lot of inside knowledge as to when we were assisting the client. We also did a hacking forensic evaluation on the client's computer and discovered that they had been remotely accessing her device from the network next-door.
3. Miami high-rise
Our client was a well off, single woman in her 60s living alone in a luxury high-rise in Miami. Due to some recent harassment, she suspected that they were hidden video cameras within her condo.
Within a few minutes of being on scene, an extremely well-hidden camera that was installed into an electrical cord was discovered in her TV entertainment system. It had full view of her couch, living room and front door.
Further investigation discovered a second camera hidden in the hallway in front of the master bedroom. They had swapped out the base for her phone charger with an identical replica that had a built-in camera within it. In spite of the building having a security guard to enter the property, secure access to each building and a high security door in front of her condo, they were still able to obtain entry to her condo to be able to plant the two hidden video cameras.
4. Hidden camera turned to revenge porn.
Our client had a brief sexual encounter with a coworker one night after work. Embarrassed and ashamed of the indiscretion, she immediately wanted to make sure that no mixed messages were sent and make it clear that she did not want to continue the relationship in that manner.
At that point, her coworker revealed that he had secretly recorded their encounter and threatened to expose it if she did not continue to a sexual relationship with him. When she refused, he shared it on their work's Facebook page and on numerous websites online
She went to the police, and they offered her no help as they had no ability to tie any of the publications back to him. When she hired our firm, we immediately gathered all of the technical data that was available in order to connect it back to her suspect. Using cyber forensic procedures, and some of our proprietary penetration tools, we were able to not only identify that her suspect was the one responsible for the postings, but we also built the case in a manner that law-enforcement would be able to use the evidence that we gather to be able to prosecute him. We thought the case was closed, but when he got out on bail he began to threaten and attack her again. He was identified and connected to it and this time, held without bail until trial. When released from jail, he went after her again. This time, the police were able to issue a warrant and cease his devices and determine that he was the person responsible for yet another attack against this innocent woman. Upon release from jail again, the police discovered that he and an accomplice had devised an extremely detailed plan and had not only planned but attempted to murder our Client as revenge for having him put in jail. He's finally in jail for attempted murder, among other crimes were has had our firm not gotten involved he would've never been taken off the street in the first place.
5. Phone, email, and social media hacking in divorce case
Our client suspected that the ex-wife had accessed their phone, email, and social media accounts. Our initial forensic evaluation identified a specific IP address that had been accessing the clients' accounts without their consent. Using our firm's proprietary stealth IP tracing technology, we were able to obtain the IP address and device information from the client's ex-wife. When we compared the ex-wife's IP address and device to the one to access the client's accounts, they were a perfect match.
Our firm was not only able to prove that the accounts were hacked, but we were able to identify and prove who was responsible for the breach in a manner that could be used in court.
6. Hacked email / Spoofed calls and multi-six figures stolen
Our client was notified that a series of wire transfers had been sent out totaling more than 1/2 million dollars. Our client has very high cyber security and followed the best practice for wire transfers and payments. There was a security alert for his account and he was contacted by his bank immediately pursuant to their security protocol. Our client googled the name of the person on the phone and viewed his LinkedIn profile to prove he was in fact the appropriate representative with the bank. However, the thief did his homework. He spoofed the banks phone number, gave the name of a person that did work at the bank and was able to get the secure authentication needed to steal the client's funds. Because of the client's proactive nature, he was notified immediately of the wire transfers and able to initiate a kill chain and reverse approximately 90% of the stolen funds. However, a significant amount was still missing and the suspect behind the attacked was still not identified.
Within a few days, our team was able to trace the hacker and thief and identify the person responsible. The suspect we identified was currently pending charges for several million dollars' worth of complex financial scams.
7. GPS found on truck… After the sweep!
Our client contacted us for suspicions he was being tracked by his wife (they were going through divorce proceedings). When we inspected his vehicle, it wasn't 100% clear, but based on our interview with the client, and a review of his phone (to ensure it wasn't being tracked) there was no question that there was a tracker on the vehicle before… it just wasn't there at the time of the inspection.
After further interviewing our client, he had a strong suspicion of the exact type of device that was used. Since the Client was involved in a contentious divorce and the finances were the focus point, there were months and months of financial disclosures from each side. We advised what to look for in the disclosures as the name may not appear to be from a GPS tracking company. The client responded that he found the exact charge we advised he looked for in his wife's financial statements and was able to prove that she was paying for the tracker. We further assisted to help his attorney subpoena the GPS provider and get the proof he needed to show exactly when and for how long she was illegally tracking his vehicle without his consent.