Cryptography in Criminal Investigations

Considerable misapprehension has been present as to the importance of cryptography in criminal investigations.Most investigators are of the belief that cryptograms are seldom encountered in ordinary criminal investigations and that to become proficient in the solution 6f cipher writings one must have a special aptitude for the work and spend years in training on the subject.They conclude, therefore, that it would be inadvisable to devote a considerable length of time to a study of cryptography.Experience has taught us that these beliefs are ill-founded.It is true that cipher experts such as Major Herbert Yardley, Colonel George Fayban and Colonel'Parker Hitt, have devoted many years in the study of complicated military ciphers and codes, and that to become expert in the class represented by these gentlemen would require what Major Yardley chooses to call "cipher brains."However, any person of ordinary intelligence and endowed with a stubborn perseverance can, by careful analysis, solve the simple type of cipher commonly encountered in criminal investigations."The investigating officer who would decipher secret writings must have his heart in his work, perseverance, never-failing interest, an observation that allows nothing to

Computer security · Cryptography · Computer Science · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Digital and Cyber Forensics