Judicial hardware and computer expertise

The subject of judicial hardware and computer expertise are the facts and circumstances established on the basis of a study of the laws governing the operation of the hardware of a computer system — the material carriers of information about a fact or event in a civil, arbitration, or criminal case.

The objects of judicial hardware and computer expertise are: personal computers (desktop, portable): peripheral devices: network hardware (servers, workstations, active equipment, network cables, etc.); integrated systems (organizers); pagers; mobile phones, etc .; embedded systems based on microprocessor controllers (immobilizers, transponders, cruise controllers, etc.); any components of all specified components (hardware blocks, expansion cards, microcircuits, etc.).

To date, the judicial hardware-computer examination solves the following range of tasks:

- determination of the type (type, brand), properties, hardware, as well as its technical and functional characteristics for solving certain functional tasks;

- determination of the actual state and health of the hardware, the presence of physical defects;

- determining the structure of the mechanism and the circumstances of the event according to its results due to the use of the identified hardware, both individually and in combination as part of a computer system;

- establishing a causal relationship between the use of specific hardware capabilities and the results of their use;

- determination of conditions (conditions) of application of hardware, restoration of the chronological sequence of their use, place of operation and functioning.

When appointing judicial hardware and computer expertise in civil cases and arbitration disputes, the expert is usually asked the following questions:

- Does the device presented relate to computer hardware?

- What type (brand, model) does the hardware relate to, what are its technical characteristics and parameters?

- what is the functional purpose of the hardware?

- What is the role and functionality of this hardware in a particular computer system?

- does this hardware belong to the presented computer system?

- Is this hardware used to solve a specific functional problem?

- what is the actual state (normal, faulty) of the presented hardware, are there any deviations from typical (normal) parameters in it, including physical defects?

- what operating modes are installed on this hardware?

- Is the malfunction of this tool due to a violation of certain operating rules?

- What are the reasons for the change in functional (consumer) properties in the initial configuration of the presented hardware?

To date, the most popular are the examination of the establishment of the actual state and health of the hardware.

A striking and frequently encountered example of such an examination is the study of a computer system to find the causes of a malfunction.

So, for example, a certain citizen C addressed the experts, who stopped turning on the computer and started loading it, and who found the trading company that sold it a poor-quality product to be guilty of it. As a result of the research conducted by experts, it was found that the cause of the system’s failure was not the latent defects of the computer components, but the ingress of extraneous electrically conductive liquid on the video card elements, which caused a short circuit.

Or, for example, a certain firm M. filed a lawsuit against the company N. that carried out the illegal alteration and distribution of the game console, the manufacturer of which was the plaintiff. To establish the truth, the court requested a sample of the goods sold by the respondent and a sample of the goods produced by M., as well as documentation, in accordance with which N was distributing M.

As a result of the research it was found that the implementation was carried out legally. However, in the process of comparing the two samples presented, it was found that in the game consoles received from the defendant, there was an additional hardware unit installed in an artisanal way. After a comprehensive study of the block, it was discovered that it is a device that allows overcoming the protection that prevents the use of unlicensed game discs on the game console.

As a result of the court’s analysis of the conclusions made by the expert, all the claims of M. were satisfied.