Alistair Kelman

barrister and forensic computing expert at Self employed

Message Posts: 4 Comments: 2

Bio I am a Forensic Computing Expert and Barrister. Today I advise on the security of computer networks, disclosure in litigation and on the problems of fraud in financial systems. My website at www.alikelman.com is the best way to contact me and find out more about me. Career History I was in private practice at the intellectual property Bar for over twenty years before I moved into working directly for various businesses. I have a couple of patent applications in my name.

Blogs

Why HP might have underpaid for Autonomy

31 Jan 2013

In October 2011 amid a blaze of publicity H.P., a company which mainly produces hardware and devices like inkjet and laser printers, announced it had agreed to pay $11.1 bn for Autonomy, a UK company that produced sophisticated software. Dr Mike Lynch the CEO of Autonomy, said the deal had opened a “fascinating new chapter” for his company as part...

A likely change in the law affecting online banking disputes

16 Aug 2010

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Tchenguiz & Ors v Imerman [2010] EWCA Civ 908 (29 July 2010) (The 'Man from Del Monte' divorce case) strongly suggests that injunctions for the preservation of evidence [Mareva (freezing) orders] and the obtaining of evidence [Anton Piller (search) orders] are to be granted by the court when asked for

An open letter to Martin Wolf at the FT

19 Jul 2009

Dear Mr Wolf, In your piece "Adapting to Britain’s mediocre prospects -Published: July 16 2009 20:16" you say "...It must start by making finance safer. The simple and painful truth is that another such financial shock might even bankrupt the British state. No industry can be allowed to impose such costs – comparable, in fiscal ter...

Digital Disclosure in the UK from this autumn

24 Jun 2009

This autumn the world of forensic science and computing imaging is going to impinge upon the reality of anyone who may need to litigate. A new Practice Direction and a new E-Disclosure Questionnaire will mean that lawyers and their clients are going to have to either perform a detailed analysis of the digital evidence issues in every case or del

See all Alistair's blogs

Alistair is Commenting on

Handelsbanken and EDB launch card blocking service

About time! - this is the sort of service which is essential for all UK banks to implement with their ATM cards and Credit cards. Everybody needs this - the judge in Job v Halifax said in court that he had had his credit card cloned and used in Essex to buy pizzas "... and I haven't been to Essex for decades" (see my report on this case on my website.)

25 Jun 2009 Reply Read article

The magstripe is finished

There have been unsubstantiated rumours for some years about a program called Bergamot which allows a criminal to get the PIN from an ATM card - in other words extract it from the cryptographic version stored on the card for use in off-line transactions. It is well known that the PIN is stored in encrypted form on modern ATM cards - check for yourself when you use your card in any terminal, the machine validates your PIN as being OK far too quickly for it to actually be performing this task online. There is a rumour that from 2005 onwards UK banks accidentally created the current problem with Chip and PIN cards by selling their old non-Chip and PIN machines not as scrap but as viable units for use in the banking systems of developing countries such as Sri Lanka. What followed therefore was highly predictable - the cloning of ATM cards (without their Chip) and using them to withdraw money from UK accounts over the international banking system. This was the means whereby the Tamil Tigers funded much of their terrorist organisation. For more on this topic see ATMs - Now and Then

24 Jun 2009 Reply Read article