The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT   MS forensics
tool leaks onto the web  COFEE spill creates nasty mess
Microsoft's point-and-click "computer forensics for cops" tool
has leaked onto the web.  COFEE (Computer Online Forensic
Evidence Extractor) is designed to allow law enforcement
officers to collect digital evidence from a suspect's PC without
requiring any particular expertise. Using the technology - which
recovers a list of processes running on an active computer at
the scene of an investigation - involves inserting a specially
adapted USB stick into a computer.  Grabbing data from a PC
without interfering with the machine is no substitute for a
detailed examination by experts where something amiss is
discovered, but still attractive to the computer crime
authorities. It allows police to search a computer's internet
history, analyse systems and data stored and even decrypt
passwords, without having to transport the machine to a lab. It
does this in a fraction of the time the process would no