Temporary Internet Files - Can these be modified?

[JEMMA]

One party in a civil legal case has produced e mails obtained from the temporary internet files of Windows XP as evidence. I suspect that these might have been edited. My question is whether it is technically possible to modify the content of e mails residing as temporary internet files on a computer hard drive?

Phew!

JEMMA

[Curtis Rutland]

Technically: yes; practically: unlikely.

If anything, most people might delete their temporary internet files, but it just seems unlikely that they would actually modify them. But they are just regular files on a computer, so it is definitely possible to modify them.

[DonRayner]

One party in a civil legal case has produced e mails obtained from the temporary internet files of Windows XP as evidence. I suspect that these might have been edited. My question is whether it is technically possible to modify the content of e mails residing as temporary internet files on a computer hard drive?

Phew!

JEMMA

Temporary Internet files (as in via web based email account). Just open them up with word or whatever your favourite html program is and make all the changes you want. You want the create and modified dates to match?... Just change the computers date before making the changes. Your regular email, like from outlook or such. Just save it to the desktop, open it up and make all the changes you want.

Might be able to use them to get a court order to get any records from the mail provider or to have the "alleged" originating computer seized for checking but I would think that's about all they are good for.