Petraeus and Broadwell used common e-mail trick

Petraeus and Broadwell used common e-mail trick: " . . . Covering up your online tracks can be time-consuming — even for high-powered men who manage secret operations, said Janet Sternberg, a communication and media studies professor at Fordham University. "Being anonymous would take so much trouble, you wouldn't have time to do the behavior you were trying to hide," said Sternberg, who argues that almost all forms of electronic communication leave traces. "What's surprising is how much there is to discover. Look at his (Petraeus') cellphone and text messages. If he left this evidence around there is probably more evidence to discover." With cloud services, long e-mail chains, and more storage capabilities, e-mail inboxes and drop boxes can contain thousands of pages of e-mails that users may think are gone but may simply be stored out of sight but within reach of searching authorities, experts said. "Every circumstance is going to be a little different," Henry said. "It may have been relatively easy or difficult for FBI investigators. It depends on how hard someone tried to hide their transactions. And they can try really hard and then make a mistake." The FBI would deploy its resources to uncover the sender of an anonymous e-mail depending on the credibility of the suspicious e-mail, the severity of the threat and the target, said Henry, who worked at the FBI for 24 years and is now president of CrowdStrike Services, a cybersecurity firm. . . "


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