The information age opened a domain of high speed communication to companies and individuals throughout the world.

Unfortunately, computers and the Internet have tended to conceal hackers, swindlers and other fraudsters in a cloak of anonymous zeroes and ones. But in recent years, a handful of companies specializing in computer "forensic services" have been making a dent in computer crime by accessing data once thought irretrievable.

Since 2002, Vogon International LLC has operated a sophisticated data recovery lab in Norman. The lab, which serves clients throughout the U.S., Canada and South America, uses proprietary software to recover data from computer hard drives and backup tapes.
The lab's recovery techniques rescue computer information that can be used as legal evidence to expose those behind the full spectrum of electronic criminal activity.

"Our typical client is someone with outdated tape technology who wants to migrate to new software [for data storage]," said Billy Hindman, Vogon general manager. "But we also handle computer forensics, with investigators on staff who go after computer data someone tries to destroy or change. A lot of law firms use us for their work.

"We develop our own forensic software tools," Hindman said. "In many instances we sell the software to large corporations, cities and government agencies."
In recent years computer crime has taken on a series of fanciful names, but whatever the terms, the crimes remain the same. Among some of the most common computer threats:

Intellectual property. The theft of intellectual property such as customer databases, financial records, product designs or source code can enrich criminals and spell disaster for victim companies and individuals.

Illicit activity. Employees inviting pornography, pedophile material or other inappropriate Internet activity cheat companies of productivity and can damage reputations. Vogon methods can determine employee guilt or innocence of such activity.

• Hacking. These days, hacking is less likely to involve inventing ingenious programs to fool computer systems than snooping for passwords or attempting to gain access through social contacts.

• Virus. A piece of programming code that replicates itself by infecting other programs. Viruses can erase data, shut down the operating system and even bring down entire networks.

• Worm. A code that does not affect other programs, but strains computer systems and slows down or stops other tasks.

• Trojan Horse. A malicious computer program inside apparently innocuous programming or data can take control of a system to inflict whatever damage it was designed to do.

• Logic Bomb. A code designed to execute or "explode" at a certain time or if a computer user fails to respond to a certain event.

• Phishing. Phishing attacks operate through unsolicited e-mails with a link to a Web address that obtains personal information such as account numbers and personal validation details. The information is commonly used to electronically siphon funds from bank accounts.

• Scams. Usually get rich quick schemes involving chain letters, pleas from foreign citizens offering millions for laundering money, bogus charity appeals and auction sites offering goods for sale that do not exist or belong to someone else.

Operating behind locked doors, the Vogon lab has the means to detect such activity and trace it to its source. With passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Vogon has worked with corporations to ensure proper disclosure of operations information, while preventing the theft of intellectual property.

The company also offers system protection such as anti-virus software and proactive education programs to develop procedures that prevent damaging access to computer systems.

Vogon International is one of several such companies recently acquired by the Marsh -- McLennan Companies. Vogon was founded in 1985 in England by Gordon and Sandy Stevenson. (The company's name is derived from a horrible creature found in the best-selling book, "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.")

The Stevensons established their U.S. headquarters in Norman through the efforts of a friend, Bob Emerson, who is retired and continues to live here. Emerson's wife, Patsy, still works for the company as a customer service representative. The Norman lab, with its high-tech retrieval hardware and software, is manned by only about a dozen employees.

Hindman, who has managed the Norman office for two years, has 20 years' experience in electronic technology, sales, marketing and management. He was a financial manager for two years before a friend told him Vogon needed a manager.

"We can retrieve anything stored digitally," Hindman said. The loss of personal data such as treasured photographs or files can be just as traumatic to an individual as it is for a big organization losing a customer database, he said. "Anybody can be our client."

The company developed a service to cover common forms of media typical to home users, such as single hard drives, CDs, DVDs and memory cards.

"A couple of years ago, after two children locked themselves in a car trunk and died, their parents wanted access to their photos," Hindman said.

"One of their friends told them about us. We were able to help."

For more information, please contact Randall Turk at (405) 366-3547 or email at rturk@normantranscript.com

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