Thanks to computer technology, hours of research in the library has transitioned into just a few minutes of research browsing the Internet. We truly live in the information age. Personal computers have become an inexpensive and yet powerful tool that can be used in the furtherance of almost any criminal activity. Criminal acts can easily be coordinated worldwide using the Internet and criminal communications can be encrypted and thus secreted from law enforcement officials. Bomb making recipes and other tools of terror can be shared world wide over the Internet.
Perverted minds can mingle and share images of child pornography over the Internet.
Some call the Internet the 'crooks' dream and a law enforcement nightmare. That really isn't the case. Actually, the use of personal computers by the criminal element can create a wealth of valuable evidence that might not otherwise be available to investigators. The use of a computer to create and store information leaves behind 'electronic fingerprints' that can actually make or break a criminal case. Fortunately for law enforcement computer evidence specialists, personal computers were never designed to be secure.