Evidence can come in many forms and, increasingly, it’s coming from the electronic devices criminals use every day.

In Minnetonka, Det. Mark Eischens is currently assigned to the electronic crimes work group with the United States Secret Service. In his role, he serves as a digital forensic examiner, helping officers from Minnetonka and surrounding communities gather evidence from electronics, such as computers, phones and cars.

“Technology of all kinds are increasingly being used in crimes. Almost everybody carries a small pocket sized computer (cell phone) with them constantly,” Eischens said.

Last year, the number of devices Eischens examined increased by 61 percent over 2022, and he’s already surpassed that number in 2024. Examples of evidence found on devices include images and videos of a crime, search history, location data putting someone at a scene and text and direct messages. 

Eischens is an instrumental part of Minnetonka’s investigations team. Having our own internal examiner allows for a much faster turnaround. Without the position, the department would have to wait several months to get evidence back from the Minnesota BCA.

“Another benefit to this partnership is the free training, equipment and federal funds,” said Eischens, who has been in the role four years. “I’ve attended 18 weeks of trainings and brought back tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools and software. All of these trainings provide more options for us to collect data that otherwise would have been unavailable."

So how does Eischens collect evidence? It often starts with passwords.

"People are creatures of habit and creating and remembering different passwords for every different account is impossible. One of the first things I do when examining computers or cellphones is to look at the passwords. Even if I don’t know the password for that device, there have been multiple instances where I have been able to guess it based on the user’s other passwords or usernames.

"Ironically, I guessed someone’s password by looking at previous passwords while I was putting this together.

"The five top passwords worldwide are:

In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, check out these resources for how to make a safer password: cisa.gov/secure-our-world/use-strong-passwords