The New Forensics: Investigating Corporate Fraud and the Theft of Intellectual Property. By Joe Anastasi; published by John Wiley and Sons, 877/762-2974 (phone), www.wiley.com [1](Web); 288 pages; $29.95.

Security literature is filled with titles on procedures, processes, and details of performing forensic investigations. Despite its title, this book is not another one. Equal parts autobiography, mystery, biography, and action thriller, the book is an overview of the cases and characters with which the author, a forensic investigator at Deloitte and Touche, has been involved.

In chapter after chapter, the reader receives a high-level view of the tools and technologies used in forensic investigations, then learns the inner workings of specific corporate frauds. These cases range from garden-variety frauds to cybercrime.

One fascinating chapter explores the disposition of a bank account dormant since the Holocaust and how forensic investigators cracked the case 60 years after the fact. It describes how a large group of investigators went to Switzerland to determine the beneficiaries of dormant World War II-era Swiss bank accounts. The chapter details methodology used to retrieve documents and to discover what was hidden and who was entitled to it.

Geared for management-level readers without much technical background, the book spares the reader byte-by-byte details on forensic evidence gathering and handling. Story after story gives readers a very accessible account of how investigators detected fraud, misuse, and a wide range of other corporate criminality. With its real-life drama, the book is both an enjoyable and instructive read.

Reviewer: Ben Rothke, CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), is a New York City-based senior security consultant with ThruPoint, Inc. He is a member of ASIS International.

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