Pic microcontrollers & criminal forensics

[sclarke]

Recently, an EE student at my university did something very
bad. They built and installed a keystroke logger that they
shouldn't have.

Given a pic microcontroller that is used in the commission
of a crime, is it possible to match the pic to the programmer
that was used to program the pic?

Given the labeling on the DIP packaging, how easy is it to
trace the order? In my experience, when you buy a bunch of
chips, they all come from the same lot and the labeling on
the plastic packaging is usually all the same.

Thank you.

 

[williB]

If the ' student ' didnt leave any fingerprints on the pic then ,i think you, i mean the student , is in the clear.. :lol:
You're ok .. no one could tell it was you from the code inside :wink: lol
as for the batch number i dont know..

 

[Oznog]

Recently, an EE student at my university did something very
bad. They built and installed a keystroke logger that they
shouldn't have.

Given a pic microcontroller that is used in the commission
of a crime, is it possible to match the pic to the programmer
that was used to program the pic?

Given the labeling on the DIP packaging, how easy is it to
trace the order? In my experience, when you buy a bunch of
chips, they all come from the same lot and the labeling on
the plastic packaging is usually all the same.

Thank you.

The programmer leaves no trace that I know of. One might look at the assembly at come to conclusions about what software generated/linked it, but it's rather vague.

The external pkging has little information, however, the ID numbers burned inside the chip are much more specific, though I doubt Microchip carries such specific data on who got which chip.

 

[pkshima]

i guess you will have better chance of catching him/her if you go by the fingerprints.
Else, carry out a brute search on the university computers for the code burnt in the pic. because it would have existed on some computer before being burnt onto the PIC and i think it still exists in that computer. that should give some lead.

Also you might want to check the library register to find out people who have borrowed books related to the software/electronics of the PIC. though more probable is that the person read it all on the internet. and thus must have used google with the pic terms.

At the very least, try searching for the datasheet of the particular PIC on your network.

 

[plot]

How sure are you that it was an EE student? And how many EE students with this ability goto said university? I'm pretty sure it'd be easy to track it taking that information into consideration, kids talk. Plus, as someone mentioned above, the program has to be on someones computer.

 

[Jay.slovak]

Maybe if you waited... Criminal always returns to the crime scene. In this case he would have to "harvest" his crop...