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Could High-Tech Footprints Help Find Daniel Pearl?

Aired January 29, 2002 - 11:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Pearl's kidnappers using e-mail to get their message out. Will a high-tech footprint, though, make it easier to find and rescue their captive?

Let's bring in Sergio Kepelev in Philadelphia. He works for Control Risks Group. The firm teaches clients how to operate in dangerous areas of the world.

Sergio, good morning to you, nice to have you with us.

SERGIO KEPELEV, CONTROL RISKS GROUP: Good morning.

HEMMER: I would anticipate, based on technology, that we're still learning all the ins and outs of the technology site. Are we getting better at it, first of all, in a general sense?

KEPELEV: Absolutely. E-mail tracing is routinely done by law enforcement and those of us in the private sector so the information is there. When you add the international component to it, it becomes more complicated, but some intelligence can be gained from the e-mail headers that are -- were associated with this.

HEMMER: OK, so in short you can trace it. The question is overseas might be a bit more difficult.

Let's show our viewers some of the things that people like you and others look at. And we can put up on the screen right now. You say tracing an e-mail, first exam the header for the originating Internet provider address. Examine the header. What's that, Sergio?

KEPELEV: The header is the link that the e-mail actually bounces from the originating point to the place that it winds up in the receiver's mailbox.

HEMMER: OK.

KEPELEV: So each point is tracked through -- by the Internet.

HEMMER: Got it.

Secondly, trace the I.P. address, Internet service provider, that owns it. I am assuming in this case it was Hotmail, is that right?

KEPELEV: Well actually that's not correct. HEMMER: OK.

KEPELEV: The Internet provider address is the I.P. address of the actual sender, which means where he gets on to the Internet. Hotmail is just a portal for him to use to send e-mail, but Hotmail records the originating I.P. address of how that user got on to the Internet.

HEMMER: OK. OK, I want to try and keep this as shallow as I can only -- not because I don't understand it but I want to make sure that we're following technically. Hotmail, by the way, is heavily used overseas. It's a free Internet and e-mail service.

The final thing here, Sergio, lock up the domain contact information for that I.P. address. Is any of the things we're talking about here more difficult than the others?

KEPELEV: Certainly because the potential Internet provider is going to be in possibly in a foreign country, the information there might not be the same information that you will get in the United States relating to the actual user.

HEMMER: Tell me this, pictures were sent, several of them, at least four that we know of at this point. Does that make it easier or more difficult or is that a wash?

KEPELEV: The pictures will make it easier to identify the computer where the e-mail was sent from but it does not assist in the tracing of the e-mail. It's the header that's the critical part.

HEMMER: Got it. And the individual has to be online at the time, right, which I would assume makes it much more difficult?

KEPELEV: Well, you'll be able to identify potentially the Internet portal where the individual got on to the Internet. If it's some place like a library or Internet cafe, then you'll know that it's a public used computer and then you'll have to conduct surveillance interviews to identify who's actually using that computer.

HEMMER: Final question quickly, Sergio, it is possible -- it is not impossible, in other words, to trace this e-mail?

KEPELEV: With spoofing and other things, it's -- it can be quite complicated but it should not be impossible assuming that the -- there is sufficient information in the header.

HEMMER: OK, thanks for talking. Sergio Kepelev live in Philadelphia. Many thanks, sir, appreciate it.

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