Carnivore; a toothless tiger.

[Matthew X]

The FBI has openly admitted that its agents have difficulties collecting 
evidence from computers. FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee 
this summer that the agency lacks the technology skills and understanding 
that would allow agents to conduct complete computer forensics searches.

Did FBI Bungle E-Mail Evidence?
By Michelle Delio


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11:55 a.m. Aug. 30, 2002 PDT
The FBI may have overlooked a crucial e-mail account used by Zacarias 
Moussaoui when agents examined computers known to have been used by the 
suspected terrorist.
Moussaoui, now defending himself against terrorism conspiracy charges 
stemming from his alleged involvment in the Sept. 11 attacks, recently 
requested that prosecutors turn over their records of messages sent and 
received through his Hotmail account.
Moussaoui claims his e-mail could help him establish his alibi. But the FBI 
has no records of the account, and an incredulous U.S. District Judge 
Leonie M. Brinkema now wants to know how the FBI could have searched the 
computers Moussaoui used and not located any traces of the Hotmail account.

In response, prosecutors have submitted a sworn statement from Microsoft 
stating that the company is also unable to locate any records of 
Moussaoui's Hotmail account.
According to Moussaoui, he was registered with Microsoft's free Hotmail 
e-mail service as "xdesertman."
Moussaoui claims he accessed the account from various computers, including 
his own laptop, a computer at a Kinko's copy shop in Minnesota, and another 
computer belonging to the University of Oklahoma.
All of these computers were searched by agents following Moussaoui's arrest 
in August 2001.
The FBI has openly admitted that its agents have difficulties collecting 
evidence from computers. FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee 
this summer that the agency lacks the technology skills and understanding 
that would allow agents to conduct complete computer forensics searches.
Brinkema has also ordered the FBI to file an affidavit stating whether the 
agency requested help from other government sources when examining the 
machines Moussaoui used.
"The affidavit must indicate why investigators were unable to retrieve any 
information from MSN Hotmail and/or any other computers or accounts 
searched," Brinkema wrote in the order. "It must make clear whether any 
efforts were made to obtain forensic expert services of any other 
government agencies such as the CIA or NSA to assist in retrieving the 
information."
But the evidence may not have been on the computers by the time FBI agents 
searched them. When an account is inactive, Hotmail deletes stored messages 
after 30 days, and disables inactive accounts after 90 days.
However, Microsoft has been unable to find records indicating the count 
ever existed, according to a statement submitted to the court by the company.
E-mail sent by Wired News to "xdesertman at hotmail.com" bounced back with an 
unknown recipient error message. But attempts to create a new account using 
xdesertman as a user name were also refused by the service.
Although Moussaoui has a computer in his jail cell for use in preparing his 
defense, he is not allowed to use the Hotmail service.
Brinkema recently ordered that Moussaoui must be allowed to use a computer 
to connect to a restricted-access website which contains records relating 
to his case, but has banned him from accessing other Internet sites from 
his cell.

http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,54857,00.html