ABSTRACT

Criminals have long employed manual cryptographic techniques to communicate with confederates or clandestinely maintain records of criminal enterprises. The Cryptanalyst Forensic Examiners of the FBI Laboratory’s Cryptanalysis & Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) decipher encrypted records and communications from street and prison gangs, organized criminals, drug traffickers, foreign and domestic terrorists, and violent criminals. Despite the prevalence of encoded and enciphered documents in criminal cases throughout the nation, the CRRU is the only laboratory unit in the country that has professionally trained law enforcement cryptanalysts. The presentation would introduce attendees to common manual cryptographic methods used by criminals, and provide an overview of the unique examination services offered by the CRRU to federal, state and local law enforcement. The entertaining and informative presentation would also include interesting studies of nationally known cases where cryptanalysis has played a major role including: • The enciphered messages written by the infamous Zodiac serial killer from the 1960s and 70s (featured in the recent move “Zodiac”), including the message that remains unsolved to this day. • The coded admission of Joseph Smith, the man convicted of the video taped abduction and murder of 12 year old Carlie Brucia in Sarasota Florida in 2004 • The 1997 Aryan Brotherhood murder hit order that was encrypted using a cipher invented over 400 years ago by Sir Francis Bacon and resulted in multiple coordinated homicides and assaults across the nation. Biography: Daniel Olson is the Unit Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory Division's Cryptanalysis & Racketeering Records Unit in Quantico, Virginia. From 1988 to 1997 Dan served as an intelligence analyst and cryptanalyst in the United States Army and was assigned to an electronic warfare company in Saudi Arabia and Iraq during operation Desert Shield/Storm 1990-91. From 1993 to 1997 he provided intelligence support to the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 1997 Dan transferred to the FBI as a cryptanalyst. Since that time he has been involved in the analysis of criminal codes and ciphers involving domestic and international terrorists, violent criminals, drug traffickers, street and prison gangs, and organized crime. He has testified as an expert in cryptology in both federal and state court and has authored several articles on the subject. Dan holds a B.A. in Criminology from Saint Leo College in Florida and a Masters in Forensic Science from George Washington University in Washington D.C. Refreshments served in OLS 224 (student lounge on second floor) at 4:30 p.m. Other Recent and Upcoming Colloquia