Microsoft's secret Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) has leaked online, available for all.
COFEE is a forensics tool, approximately 15MB in size that fits on a USB drive for law enforcement officials to use in PC forensics. According to Microsoft:
With COFEE, law enforcement agencies without on-the-scene computer forensics capabilities can now more easily, reliably, and cost-effectively collect volatile live evidence. An officer with even minimal computer experience can be tutored—in less than 10 minutes—to use a pre-configured COFEE device. This enables the officer to take advantage of the same common digital forensics tools used by experts to gather important volatile evidence, while doing little more than simply inserting a USB device into the computer.
COFEE can be used to locate parts of a computer's hard drive that criminals could use for identity theft, online fraud, child pornography and other such crimes. It is designed to be easy to use and quick for law enforcement officials. The small program contains 150 commands which simplify and speed up the process of data retrieval. According to a Microsoft spokesperson "an officer with even minimal computer experience can be tutored—in less than 10 minutes—to use a pre-configured COFEE device."
COFEE requires Windows XP for configuration however, it does have some Windows Vista support. According to company insiders, Microsoft is developing a new version of COFEE which will be released next year that fully supports Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Image Credit: CNET news.com
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