Mark Spencer

Confronting Electronic Evidence Tampering in High-Stakes Cases When All Others Failed

In terrorism-related cases across the globe, electronic evidence often becomes the deciding factor between freedom and a life behind bars. What happens when that evidence has been expertly (and invisibly) tampered with, eluding detection by law enforcement and private-sector experts?

Arsenal Consulting’s President Mark Spencer will pull back the curtain on some of the most disturbing examples of electronic evidence tampering he has confronted throughout many years of work in terrorism-related cases. Spencer will share the human toll of this tampering and some of the (thus far) unpublicized analysis techniques developed to expose it. This keynote will challenge assumptions about the integrity of electronic evidence, reveal hard-earned lessons from cases where all others had failed, and deliver a sobering warning: cyber-enabled evidence tampering is not just possible, it has already shaped high-stakes cases in truly horrific ways.

Mark Spencer is President of Arsenal Consulting, where he leads engagements involving digital forensics for law firms, corporations, and government agencies. Mark is also President of Arsenal Recon, where he guides development of digital forensics tools. He has more than 25 years of law-enforcement and private-sector digital forensics experience. Mark has developed and delivered digital forensics training to students from a vast array of international corporations and governments. He has led the Arsenal team on many high-profile and high-stakes cases, from allegations of intellectual-property theft and evidence spoliation to support of terrorist organizations and military coup plotting. Mark has testified in cases which include United States v. Mehanna and United States v. Tsarnaev.