Hypothetical computer hacking question

To my knowledge such an intrusion is traceable. However, once someone has access to a computer remote or otherwise, the browser history might appear to show a local search.

Back to traceability, it's my understanding, under normal circusmtances, the history of this intrusion is traceable through computer security application (either OS or 3rd party).

Do you think that such a thing has happened to you?

Oh no! I didn't happen to me.

Mr. B and I were speculating on this over breakfast today because of an article in our paper.

We started talking about something like the Casey Anthony case -- would it ever be possible for someone to remotely plant internet searches on someone's computer to make it look like they were looking for information about a particular topic, even though they weren't.

Depends on how you searched, I guess. Google keep a log of everything you have searched for, and surfed to from a Google search, but it's not on your computer, it's on theirs. If you have a Google account, you can access a setting that appears to "disable" it, but in fact Google still gather this information. If you made the searches from a shared computer, e.g. in a school or library, as well as at home, and you forgot to sign out, then other people's searches could get mixed with yours.

Also your browser keeps a history on your computer of sites you have visited and what you typed into text boxes on those sites, and I believe it is possible for hackers running malicious websites to steal that history.

As for altering it, I am not so sure.

Internet search history is just a bunch of files, so if the machine has been compromised it would be fairly easy to edit the files to falsify the search history.

In the case of a legal case such as this, the police through a forensic computer examination, could detect the intrusion and it would be traceable. They might not be able to prove who did it.

It's entirely possible to clean up in such a way that it is not detectable.

Oh, OK.

Wow!

So if you wanted to frame someone for a crime you could plant some Google searches and some page hits on their computer, then clean up your tracks so that it would look like they made the searches?

What if you wanted it to look like someone was trying to frame you for something? You sneak into your own computer and leave a small trail that leads to someone else so they take the fall for the crime?

I just keep noticing that computers are searched in a wide variety of crimes now -- things that don't really have anything to do with computers. It all makes me wonder how easy it might be to set someone up.

I work with forensics people in some parts of my work. They claim that everything involving computer/internet interaction can be traced because of the number of points of contact. The computer can be cleaned, but the trail remains (something like 15 - 200 points of contact in an email from one office to another).

That's true for something like an E-mail, where every server that forwards the message writes to the message header.

It's also much easier to perform forensics on corporate systems, since most corporate environments will keep activity logs.

On a home system, with just a wireless router that doesn't keep any logs, it's much more difficult to trace what happens.

If search history were modified (including the file creation and modification dates), and the remote access program were deleted (and random data written over the file location), it would be difficult to show that any manipulation took place.

that's why they get paid the big $$$, to make the difficult more possible

I wonder if the police would bother to check this stuff.

Maybe they'd just say "S/He has child porn on their computer" without ever thinking to look to see if it was somehow planted there.

That is probably how they would react, while being clueless to the possibilities of further research.

I think so too.

Considering the fact that they've raided people's houses for downloading child porn, only to discover it was someone piggybacking off of their WiFi, I would have to agree.