Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Legal Issues Regarding Digital Forensic Examiners Third Party Consent To Search, Thomas Lonardo, Doug White, Tricia P. Martland, Alan Rea

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper focuses on Federal law as it relates to consent to search relating to Fourth Amendment privacy in the practice of Digital Forensics. In particular, Digital Examiners should be aware of how decisions in Federal Court may impact their ability to acquire evidence in both civil and criminal settings. Digital Forensics, being a relatively new field, is particularly subject to change as cases and appeals are decided. This paper provides an overview of relevant case law relating to issues in Digital Forensics. More importantly, our research provides Digital Forensic Examiners (DFE), as defined by Lonardo, White, and Rea (2008, …

Adaptation Of Pyflag To Efficient Analysis Of Seized Computer Data Storage, Aleksander Byrski, Wojciech Stryjewski, Bartłomiej Czechowicz

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Based on existing software aimed at investigation support in the analysis of computer data storage seized during investigation (PyFlag), an extension is proposed involving the introduction of dedicated components for data identification and filtering. Hash codes for popular software contained in NIST/NSRL database are considered in order to avoid unwanted files while searching and to classify them into several categories. The extension allows for further analysis, e.g. using artificial intelligence methods. The considerations are illustrated by the overview of the system's design.

Malware Forensics: Discovery Of The Intent Of Deception, Murray Brand, Craig Valli, Andrew Woodward

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Malicious software (malware) has a wide variety of analysis avoidance techniques that it can employ to hinder forensic analysis. Although legitimate software can incorporate the same analysis avoidance techniques to provide a measure of protection against reverse engineering and to protect intellectual property, malware invariably makes much greater use of such techniques to make detailed analysis labour intensive and very time consuming. Analysis avoidance techniques are so heavily used by malware that the detection of the use of analysis avoidance techniques could be a very good indicator of the presence of malicious intent. However, there is a tendency for analysis …

Steganography: Forensic, Security, And Legal Issues, Merrill Warkentin, Ernst Bekkering, Mark B. Schmidt

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Steganography has long been regarded as a tool used for illicit and destructive purposes such as crime and warfare. Currently, digital tools are widely available to ordinary computer users also. Steganography software allows both illicit and legitimate users to hide messages so that they will not be detected in transit. This article provides a brief history of steganography, discusses the current status in the computer age, and relates this to forensic, security, and legal issues. The paper concludes with recommendations for digital forensics investigators, IT staff, individual users, and other stakeholders.

Analysis Of Information Remaining On Hand Held Devices Offered For Sale On The Second Hand, Andy Jones, Craig Valli, Iain Sutherland

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The ownership and use of mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants and other hand held devices is now ubiquitous both for home and business use. The majority of these devices have a high initial cost, a relatively short period before they become obsolescent and a relatively low second hand value. As a result of this, when the devices are replaced, there are indications that they tend to be discarded. As technology has continued to develop, it has led to an increasing diversity in the number and type of devices that are available, and the processing power and the storage capacity of …

A Grounded Theory Approach To Identifying And Measuring Forensic Data Acquisition Tasks, Gregory H. Carlton

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As a relatively new field of study, little empirical research has been conducted pertaining to computer forensics. This lack of empirical research contributes to problems for practitioners and academics alike.

For the community of practitioners, problems arise from the dilemma of applying scientific methods to legal matters based on anecdotal training methods, and the academic community is hampered by a lack of theory in this evolving field. A research study utilizing a multi-method approach to identify and measure tasks practitioners perform during forensic data acquisitions and lay a foundation for academic theory development was conducted in 2006 in conjunction with …