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Cloud Incident Response and Forensics

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With the number of medical companies either jumping into the cloud by choice in order to gain a competitive edge over their competitors, or being pushed into the cloud, it has become necessary to respond to an incident in their cloud environment. It is essential for these medical companies, both large and small, to have a game plan when they respond to an incident. Defaulting to their service provider in the hope that they will provide an incident response plan is just sheer stupidity. Simply relying on insurance and hope to ensure cloud coverage is also wishful thinking. A structure, a game plan and a first responder are all unequivocally essential.

When companies move their applications, infrastructure and services to the cloud, such a move exposes them to a whole new range of unknown and unassessable vulnerabilities and there is simply just not enough talent to go around to address these security needs. Right now, in the information security talent pool that is capable of handling the cloud, there are only a limited amount of people that can successfully, and fully, address security needs. These companies still need to ensure that they have employees capable of achieving this, much like they would have in their own local business. “Just because there is a new dress, it does not mean that the dance has changed”. In 2022, other companies are going to be pushed into the cloud or fall by the wayside. What this means is that it is vital to move to the cloud in order to stay in business. Laws are now even stricter and require more compliance than ever because of exposure to unknown risks.

The big question is, what can we do about it? The first thing to do is to acquire visibility into these environments. The second thing, is to understand the most critical applications and systems, especially those that need to remain up at all times. This will provide an insight into which items need to be most urgently addressed.

Used with direct permission from author

Hidden Child Investigation 2018

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As many of you know I specialize in locating missing people. That is missing accidentally or missing purposefully. The later always is harder. People who are intentionally covering their tracks make life very interesting for investigators.

The case I speak of began when a flustered woman called me begging for help. The quick story behind this was her husband had been previously married. During that marriage a one night stand occurred. Fast forward around a decade and the man has been divorced and now remarried to my client. A knock at the door reveals this woman from his past and a child he did not know he had. They stepped up and became a big part of the child’s life but as time went on they found the mother to be seriously unstable. The child is now around twelve years old.
Soon the state of New York fully agrees and takes custody away from the mother and gives to the father. Now for this to happen in New York must make you pause as to the severity in the case for the state to make a judgement like this. I won’t go into explaining more as it should just make sense.

The mother then absconds with the daughter to Arizona. Ironically, Arizona make it a little difficult but eventually they fully agree with the New York decision and both states now have given custody to the father.

Then the mother vanishes with the child. The client and father of the child take numerous trips to Arizona, get police help, get county help but the woman just seems to evade any detection.
She maintained a residence, payed for by her parents but could never be found there. The child was not in school and it seemed many dead ends. According to neighbors the woman would sneak in late at night to get mail and whatever else but randomly.

At this point law enforcement was getting taxed and like many things bored of dealing with the case. Hence why I was hired. Well, lets get this straight, I was the third to get hired as the others had produced no results.

After a month in a half of very intensive investigating I was able to happen onto a complete accident of a discovery. I located the woman at a Walmart on a complete other side of the metro area. It had been nearly two months of investigating dead ends, broken rabbit trails, and bad information leads.

Thinking, that the surprises were over I began making calls to the proper people when she left the Walmart. She drove to a gated, guarded, camera’d facility. The facility had no signage and the address didn’t seem to be located on mapping systems. It took me awhile to figure out that this woman had somehow lied her way into a Domestic Violence Shelter.
The client and the father immediately came out from New York and with the help of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Detectives warrants were served and the daughter was returned to the father.
Unfortunately, I will never know what, if anything, happened to the woman for obviously committing fraud to be in a shelter. There were no indications she’d had any form of male or female partner in years. She had filed restraining orders for domestic violence on men across the country while she was in Arizona but they were all thrown out due to how preposterous they were.
The good news is that in the end the daughter is now in a home where she can get help for learning disabilities and ultimately have a much more loving and stable environment.

This case was definitely one of Atwell Investigations highlights of 2018 and I was proud to share!
Thank you for following!

The Ultimate Guide for Finding Birth Parents

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Are you looking for your birth parent or finding the birth parent of your adopted child? Finding birth parents can be a long and daunting task. There are a lot of concerns about privacy, finding them and being sure you have located the right individuals...Atwell Investigations is the place to start.

Are you looking for your birth parent or finding the birth parent of your adopted child? Finding birth parents can be a long and daunting task. There are a lot of concerns about privacy, finding them and being sure you have located the right individuals…

What information would a birth child need to start the investigation?

There is really no easy answer to this.  In a perfect world, you would have a person’s basic information such as full name, date of birth, maybe an old address, and a social security number would be amazing.  That is not the world we live in and I’m guessing that if you had that information you might have stumbled onto the person yourself.

The first thing I do is remind them that at one point this person DID NOT want to be found or known of or you probably wouldn’t be where you are today (or your child).  I usually make the person stop talking on the phone, stop texting, or messaging and start writing everything down.  It’s amazing how much you “might’ already know but you are not thinking about it clearly.  Remember your investigator has not spoken to grandma, read a book insert, found a box of collectibles in an attic…nothing.

So, what do you need?  All of it, no matter how insignificant it might seem to you, it could be a major part of locating the person.  It will take every little piece of information that you can gather.  What I find in the writing process is that the mind starts working.  Inevitably, the client thinks of things a few hours after sending the investigator the information or the next day, even more light bulbs go off…the brain is an amazing thing!  You have to dust off those file cabinets in your mind!

Why is it better to hire a private investigator rather than to do the investigation on your own?

I think exhausting your own resources is always a good method as this always helps trigger things in the mind.  Utilizing sites like GOOGLE and BING or other search engines may help you stumble onto the information or at least maybe some extra leads.

What I want to CAUTION you with is utilizing pay-for-it sites.  I won’t use any by name but please understand that the majority (if not all) of these pay-for-it sites are OLD information.  The best analogy is when you go to the grocery store, buy a can of soup and then take the can of soup home. Does it grow another can?  NO!  It is what you bought and paid for.  So, by using that analogy the data in those sites are bought and paid for just like your soup can.  Nine times out of ten you will be dissatisfied with this information and have wasted money.  The algorithms in database companies utilized by law enforcement, lawyers, and LICENSED private investigators are constantly churning, constantly growing, constantly eating up new data.  It still is not 100% but it’s much better, and very less frustrating, to hire someone with access to this type of database systems.

When adoptive parents are helping their adoptive children find their birth parent, what tips should they look for in hiring a private investigator?

The number one thing you should ask is about your exact type of case.  Nobody can guarantee you 100% they can find someone.  If they do, use caution.  The investigator should be able to tell you the pros and cons of the investigation, give you some insight on some recent cases that were similar, and check their reviews.  Hearing from others that they were satisfied helps a lot.  The day and age of fake reviews are long gone.  Review Streams properly created and reviews on Google, Yelp, Bing, etc. all have fail-safes and parameters for those reviews.

Above all else, you should always go with your gut.  If something feels fishy or not right then move to the next option!  No options in your area?  Don’t fret as there are many investigators like me that will travel to your area.  Paying for that might not be cheap but knowing your case is in the best hands is worth its weight.

What are the laws in regards to a birth parents privacy?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this.   Every place will have its own laws but that being said there is not very much to worry about here.  It isn’t a crime to “locate” someone.  Now whether they will be receptive to your intrusion into their life is a far different question.  This person may face embarrassment or judgment from their current family or the opposite may be true and this could be one of the most joyful, healing moments of their life.  That is the decision that you will have to come too.  Usually, as the investigator gets close to locating the person they might have some insight into how the person might respond.  I have even made initial contact for my client in some cases if they so desired.

Why should a family choose a private investigator over trying to create a viral post on Facebook?

When something goes viral you cannot take it back.  If the person could face embarrassment, judgment, or God forbid something worse for a prior indiscretion this viral post could ruin their lives.

There are some situations where I would approve of viral posts and that is if your health or the health of a child is in imminent danger.  It is possible in some medical situations that only the birth parent could hold the key to saving a life or a debilitating situation.  In these situations, you do what you have to do.  The outcome outweighs the risk for sure.

What kind of records can a private investigator access to help find a birth parent?

Again, this is going to vary from place to place but a good investigator has access to public records, as well as the knowledge to know where to look, who to involve, organizations that can help, etc.

This is a real-life puzzle and many things might have to be brought into play for a positive outcome.  A good investigator must know how to use his/her resources.

Once you have found the birth parent, do you approach the birth parent or do you give the information to the birth child and their adoptive family?

This is 100% on the client.  My motto is this:  The client is the owner of whatever evidence I find.  So basically, what the client decides to do with the case when the investigator is done is all on them.  To be honest the investigator has no play here at all.  Many times, we never know the outcome unless the client tells us.  Our job is to do our best to put the puzzle together and when it’s done hand it over.

Now that does not mean I wouldn’t offer advice because I do.  Often the client and the investigator establish great rapport because this is a very intimate part of the client’s life.  I find that empathy is the key here and being there for the client in this troubling time.

Can private investigators help with finding medical backgrounds of a birth parent’s family history?

Yes and No.  The easy answer is “yes” but there are degrees to this yes answer.  Finding old archives and things can happen but it is extremely hard.  You’d probably have better luck “pre-digital age” with records in dusty boxes or microfiche at a library.  The risk there is that much of these items get destroyed over time by flooding, fires, varmints, etc.  The “no” answer is basically this: in the modern world, our medical records are sealed for our physician’s eyes only.  The only real way is with court subpoenas from attorneys, getting a court to force a medical establishment to procure documents, and/or warrants.  Let me tell you that in the United States this is next to impossible.  I’d imagine in Canada and Europe this would have the same roadblocks.

Your best bet is always the respectful, relationship developing route.  No reason to go and make enemies or get people back on their heels.  Talk softly, learn a little about the other person.  Try not to just jump them for information.  More than likely this is just as tough for them as it is you.

 

What if a birth parent does not want to be found?

This is a true option that needs to be worked out heavily in your mind.  The circumstances as to which you were let go of or your child was let go of probably is not the greatest story, nor a proud moment for the person, and more than likely something they try and forget on a daily basis.

Show the person respect.  Be prepared for this answer as it truly needs to be thought out prior to making contact.  As mentioned above there might be some emergency or medical condition that trumps the slow and steady route but please, seriously, get your mind wrapped around this possibility.

Here is what I tell my clients:  It is always better to have a bird in the hand than not to have a bird at all.  In other words, having the evidence you need and not using it is much different than not having the evidence and wishing you had it.  This holds true for many investigations but I truly believe having the keys in your pocket is a much better mental place to be in than always anguishing and wondering.

In Conclusion

Like many investigations, this is a very intimate time for all involved.  Choose your investigator wisely.  Be mentally prepared for all options on the table.  Take your time.  Except in the rare case of an emergency medical issue, more than likely a good amount of time has passed already.  Allow the necessary time for a good investigation to develop and to allow your own mind to be able to wrap around the unknown.  You have probably always wondered about this other person.  It may not be what you think or it just might be better!

Jax Atwell

AtwellInvestigations.com

JourneywithJax.com

Facebook.com/jaxmenezatwell

Twitter:  @jaxmenezatwell

Things to consider when hiring a private investigator?

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private investigator arizona

There are many defining moments in life. When we stand at the base of a mountain staring up at the incredible tasks of life ahead. The seemingly endless weight of the world being added to your shoulder. There are sometimes when soliciting independent help is just the what you need.

Maybe a friend has suggested it, your lawyer has pushed it or it caught your attention in a film or show…but the use of a private investigator is usually something you probably never thought you would need to consider. While you consider and ponder this here are a few things to consider. This by no means is a complete list but just a few items to get your wheels spinning.

A private investigator can be your advocate. Those who have hired a good private investigator routinely say that the investigator has become a friend or strong contact for years after their need for one. The reason for this is a good investigator isn’t just there to get paid, they are there because they truly love what they do. A good investigator might shock you with incredible empathy and understanding for your situation. Let’s face it, if you choose a trusted investigator you will be allowing them into an intimate part of your life and soul that most never will experience from you. This is why it is important to “go with your gut” and fully trust your investigator.

A private investigator can be your senses when you cannot. Let me clarify this with the reality in many situations that you might need an advocate on your side, like a private investigator, there is a reason why you can’t directly “investigate” the issue or circumstance. An investigator can be your eyes, ears, etc. If you develop a good trusting relationship with your investigator their observations during your case will give you great relief even if it is something you don’t want to hear. Sometimes bad news is a lot more palatable if it is coming from the right direction or person.

A private investigator can be there with you from beginning to the end. Unlike relying on law enforcement, which is becoming increasingly frustrating for people. Hiring a private investigator allows you to have a routine connection to your case or issue. That connection can be much more satisfying in the end knowing that no matter what the outcome is you were along for the process with someone and not just an incident number on a police department computer.

When considering the use of and hiring a private investigator you have options. Unlike filing a police report when you get assigned an officer that you may or may not like or having to hire a certain attorney because of limited finances or other reasons with an investigator you get to choose. Shop for your investigator. Obviously, things like costs come into play but with something as intimate as what you’re embarking, on please consider the investigator’s history, reviews, integrity, optimism, truthfulness, empathy, knowledge, and are they the right fit for you. Realize that you will be working with this person in one way or another so hopefully your personalities click and your thought process is on the same wavelength.

I often get asked what is a huge indicator when initially speaking to investigative companies that a person should be paying attention to. My answer is very simple. Listen to the answers the investigator gives you. If it a sales pitch and they seem to be upselling your problem or are they being upfront telling you the pros and cons of your investigation. A good investigator will always start with what I call “the path of least resistance” when starting an investigation. If an investigator is trying to sell you on some big package of investigative hours and surveillance items how can they possibly know what your case entails until they get their feet wet? A good investigator will always want to try the early and easy items first to get a better handle on what they are dealing with and get up to speed on how to properly advise you.

The decision you make on hiring an investigator can make or break the outcome of your situation. Choose wisely!

If you’re thinking of hiring a private investigator in the Arizona area, contact me today via Atwell Investigations (623) 229-8005 or email at atwell.investigations@gmail.com!