Ryan Russo, Denver Criminal Forensic Scientist and Business Owner, on Hiring Employees

Ryan Russo is a successful forensic scientist and the President and CEO of a company that provides these services to both corporate and individual clients. In the beginning of his career, when he was just getting started and beginning to develop a positive reputation, Ryan Russo could handle all of this clients on his own, without the help of any other employees. Now, as the firm has brought in more work, he's been asked to hire employees to help him share the load. These are the steps he takes to ensure that the people he hires are right for the positions he needs to fill.

For Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, professional skills are key to any successful hire. Each employee he hires will be asked to represent the company to clients both new and old, and as a result, those employees simply must have excellent professional skills. They must know how to do the scientific portions of their jobs properly, so they'll be sure to handle each job with professionalism and tact. Educational backgrounds and prior work experiences form the cornerstone of the screening process Ryan Russo uses when he searches for employees.

Scientific knowledge is helpful, but employees who can't relate to their clients on a human level aren't likely to retain those clients on future projects. According to Ryan Russo, the interview is vital for employers who want to ensure that the employees they hire have decent people skills. In an interview, verbal tics can come to light that an employee might simply gloss over in an interview conducted via email chat or via email itself.

Hiring employees makes sense, Ryan Russo, Denver scientist says, as it allows small business owners to take on more clients and handle a higher volume of work. By conducting a careful screening process, employers can ensure that the people they hire are fully capable of handling the job. 

Ryan Russo, Denver Criminal Forensic Scientist, on Expert Testimony

In a perfect world, disagreements between two people would be handled with a quick conversation and a firm handshake. In just a few moments, the two parties would come to an agreement and the whole issue would be forgotten. Unfortunately, conflicts between modern people are rarely handled this quickly and efficiently. Instead, lawsuits and court cases are commonly used to handle two parties who don't see eye to eye. Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, is often called in to provide expert testimony in these court cases.

Working as an expert in a court case can be a difficult proposition. As a Denver scientist, Ryan Russo has access to a significant amount of information, and when he's talking with his peers, he can use very technical language to describe what he knows and what he has yet to discover. However, expert witnesses are required to explain their thoughts in terms almost anyone could understand. Using lingo or specific language could just confuse the issue, and make things worse for the client in court.

When Ryan Russo is asked to work as a witness, he's careful to use generic language. He scours the words he uses in his head, to ensure that almost anyone would know what the word means. And he carefully explains any technical words he must use, if there are no generic counterparts. Due to his caution, and his expertise, Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, is in great demand as an expert witness on matters concerning electronic evidence. He's consulted on cases for business clients, who need to recover the losses they've endured due to criminal acts from employees and competitors, and he's consulted on cases for private individuals, including divorcing couples and feuding families. 

Ryan Russo, Denver Scientist, on Professional Hackers

Passwords, user names, identity verification and authorized IP addresses are all designed to keep people from visiting databases, email accounts, bank accounts and other sensitive online storage facilities. As Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, knows all too well, there are many online hackers who can make light of these tools and simply take the information they want. For these hackers, stealing might even seem like a fun way to spend the time.

Hackers often set up shop in other countries, and they may use sophisticated methods in order to hide who they are, and where they live. Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, has seen hackers take over computers through the use of computer viruses. These hackers write a small program, attach it to an email or to a Website, and when that program is clicked, the hacker has control of the computer. The person who owns the computer might not even know that the theft has taken place. With control, the hacker can do terrible things to the computers of other people, and the work might be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for law enforcement officials to trace.

Finding a hacker is much easier than it might seem, Russo says. Many hackers participate in online forums, advertising their work to anyone who visits and promising that prices will stay low and quality will be high. These hackers might also provide their work at a reasonable rate, ensuring that customers will be able to afford the work they need. As a result, hacking has reached epidemic levels all around the world. It seems as though almost no one is safe from the phenomenon.

In his work in digital forensics, Ryan Russo, Denver scientist, can help to spot hackers and keep them from stealing the information they crave. But he encourages his corporate clients to learn more about hacking works, and what they might need to do to keep it from taking place. This is the best way to ensure that it doesn't happen to their companies. 

Ryan Russo, Denver Criminal Forensic Scientist, Explains His Work

As a forensic expert, specializing in computers and other digital devices, Ryan Russo, Denver Criminal Forensic Scientist, spends a significant portion of each and every day trying to retrieve files others believe they have hidden or deleted. It's a common misconception that files disappear when users drag them to the trash and empty the trash. Instead, these files leave behind a sticky trail of copies and evidence, and with the help of that footprint, Ryan Russo can often determine just what the file contained.

When a file is erased, Russo says, “It's essentially removed from the user's sight. It's a bit like taking a document off of a book's table of contents. It's a bit harder to find, but the file is essentially still there. But, the computer might also know that the file shouldn't really be there to begin with. As a result, the computer might choose to steal a little space here and a little space there from the space once used exclusively by that original file. Over time, the original file might only exist in tiny shards and fragments that must be pieced together. This process can take decades to complete, however, and in the interim, the entire file might be totally intact, just waiting to be found once more.”

Sophisticated computer users can buy programs that "sweep" the computer and remove traces of files, Denver criminal forensic scientist Ryan Russo says. But those programs often must be run multiple times in order for the computer to be considered truly clean. Governmental agencies suggest a minimum of seven sweeps, but some people conduct many more, in order to ensure that their deleted files are gone for good. Even then, Russo might be able to find parts and pieces of them, if he's asked to do so.