Product Description

Neil Barrett takes the reader into the world of the computer criminal and guides us through some of the high profile cases he has worked on - from Gary Glitter's conviction as a paedophile through cases of hacking and fraud to rape and, even, murder.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #574850 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 329 pages

From the Publisher
'An important and valuable read; Barrett takes us into a hitherto unknown world and gives us a new perspective on twenty-first century crime.' Paul Britton, author of The Jigsaw Man

From the Back Cover
'The view swung easily and smoothly, showing that the front door hadn't been forced, showing the scuffing of the carpet, the first flecks of blood at the top of the stairs. It shifted to a child's bedroom, lingering for a moment on stuffed toys before moving on. Then, an unseen hand must have pushed open the master-bedroom door. Her blood had soaked the bed brown-black. Not a pool, but a complete colour dip for the crumpled sheets and bedding on which the woman had been left, face-down. . . .

The police had twenty-four hours in which to interview the suspect and establish a good reason, if one existed, to charge him with the murder. The interviews make fascinating reading, as the officers grow increasingly frustrated at his obstinacy and at the near-perfect quality of his alibi. Then the police realize that there is a source of potentially new and interesting evidence available to them: a computer that has been seized from the suspect's house. . .'

About the Author
Neil Barrett is one of the UK's leading experts on computer crime. An ex-hacker himself, he has been brought in to advise the police on a number of high profile cases, and as a security consultant has helped some of the world's largest companies protect themselves from high-tech attack. In TRACES OF GUILT he takes the reader into the dimly-lit world of the computer criminal and guides us through some of the high profile cases he has worked on - from Gary Glitter's conviction as a paedophile through cases of hacking and fraud to rape and, even, murder. Nearly every week the headlines of national newspapers shout allegations about the latest credit card fraud, internet paedophile, or major corporation whose computers have been hacked. But what people may not realise is that the nature of computer crime is changing. In the same way that all of us use computers increasingly in our business and personal lives, so too are criminals using computers, not just to commit high-tech offences, but to plan, research and co-ordinate a wide variety of crimes. The role computers play in crime, and in particular the detection and prosecution of crime has never been as significant as it is today. In a gripping true-life detective story Neil Barrett guides us into a world where the seemingly innocuous computer screen can provide a window into the mind of even the most hardened criminal. It is a world where hackers pit their wits, man to man, with the police experts. It is the cutting edge of modern crime and a world where the digital detective is the latest and best weapon in the police arsenal.

Customer Reviews

Computer Forensics Exposed
This intriguing book kept me riveted and distracted during a very cold train journey (it was less than 45 degrees), with its tales of evidence turning up in some very surprising places. Barrett's expertise and acid humour as he describes these flashbacks into his experiences were gripping. The book is accessible to those of us who are not as technically competent as the author: anecdotes about criminals, their attempts to evade capture, and real doctoring of the evidence were all easy to follow. I can't begin to recommend this book enough.

I learned so much from reading this book
Neil Barrett has led a fascinating life. This Yorkshire bloke has gone from being a computer hacker to a Professor of Computer Criminology and is now one of the acknowledged leaders in the fight against computer crime in the UK.

Traces of Guilt takes us through some of his activities, most notably as an expert witness to the courts in the fight against computer crime.

He has that rare gift of the good teacher - the ability to make the driest of details comprehensible and interesting. Not that many of the details in this book are dry; we are led on a case-by-case tour of some of the wide variety of crimes he has worked on as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes of the computer crime world.

It's not just hackers that Professor Barrett is after - this book features rape and murder, data theft, paedophile cases and many other types of crime. In every case a computer features among the evidence for the prosecution.

Despite its subject matter, this is a very human book and Professor Barrett takes us on a journey of personal highs and lows as he, quite literally, invents the science - or art - of prosecuting criminals based on the evidence provided by computers. It's an entertaining and inform@tive book, peopled with larger than life characters and detailed accounts of real-life crimes. I enjoyed it immensely.

Very Informative
Neil has written an excellent book about the way computers are used in many varied crimes today. His explanations are clear and some of the crimes described are gruesome! Read about the Gary Glitter case from how the police approached the case.
Great Book!