Forensic Science and Technology Commons^™

Automated Identification And Reconstruction Of Youtube Video Access, Jonathan Patterson, Christopher Hargreaves

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

YouTube is one of the most popular video-sharing websites on the Internet, allowing users to upload, view and share videos with other users all over the world. YouTube contains many different types of videos, from homemade sketches to instructional and educational tutorials, and therefore attracts a wide variety of users with different interests. The majority of YouTube visits are perfectly innocent, but there may be circumstances where YouTube video access is related to a digital investigation, e.g. viewing instructional videos on how to perform potentially unlawful actions or how to make unlawful articles. When a user accesses a YouTube video …

Book Review: System Forensics, Investigation, And Response, Nate Keith

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

I recently expressed an interest to a respected colleague in finding a way to “give back” to the forensic community. He suggested writing a review for a text he recently received and provide feedback to the community. It is my intent to present an objective analysis of System Forensics, Investigation, and Response.

Identifying Trace Evidence From Target-Specific Data Wiping Application Software, Gregory H. Carlton, Gary C. Kessler

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

One area of particular concern for computer forensics examiners involves situations in which someone utilized software applications to destroy evidence. There are products available in the marketplace that are relatively inexpensive and advertised as being able to destroy targeted portions of data stored within a computer system. This study was undertaken to analyze a subset of these tools in order to identify trace evidence, if any, left behind on disk media after executing these applications. We evaluated five Windows 7 compatible software products whose advertised features include the ability for users to wipe targeted files, folders, or evidence of selected …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Technology Corner: A Regular Expression Training App, Nick V. Flor

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Regular expressions enable digital forensic analysts to find information in files. The best way for an analyst to become proficient in writing regular expressions is to practice. This paper presents the code for an app that allows an analyst to practice writing regular expressions.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Extraction Of Electronic Evidence From Voip: Identification & Analysis Of Digital Speech, David Irwin, Arek Dadej, Jill Slay

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is increasing in popularity as a cost effective and efficient means of making telephone calls via the Internet. However, VoIP may also be an attractive method of communication to criminals as their true identity may be hidden and voice and video communications are encrypted as they are deployed across the Internet. This produces a new set of challenges for forensic analysts compared with traditional wire-tapping of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) infrastructure, which is not applicable to VoIP. Therefore, other methods of recovering electronic evidence from VoIP are required. This research investigates the …

Book Review: Dispute Resolution And E-Discovery, Milton Luoma

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As is apparent from its title, this book tackles two very current and difficult legal issues – electronic discovery and dispute resolution. The authors tie the two legal concepts together in an effort to provide litigants and practitioners a less expensive and less time consuming alternative than is typically the case with traditional litigation and court proceedings. By including electronic discovery in the discussions, the authors recognize the importance and significance of electronic discovery in mediation and arbitration as it is in traditional litigation.

On The Development Of A Digital Forensics Curriculum, Manghui Tu, Dianxiang Xu, Samsuddin Wira, Cristian Balan, Kyle Cronin

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Computer Crime and computer related incidents continue their prevalence and frequency, resulting in losses approaching billions of dollars. To fight against these crimes and frauds, it is urgent to develop digital forensics education programs to train a suitable workforce that can effectively investigate computer crimes and incidents. There is presently no standard to guide the design of digital forensics curriculum for an academic program. In this research, previous work on digital forensics curriculum design and existing education programs are thoroughly investigated. Both digital forensics educators and practitioners were surveyed and results were analyzed to determine the industry and law enforcement …

The Science Of Digital Forensics: Recovery Of Data From Overwritten Areas Of Magnetic Media, Fred Cohen

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The first time I encountered data loss and recovery effects of magnetic memory was as a night and weekend computer operator for the computer science department of Carnegie-Mellon University in the 1973-1974 time frame. Part of my job involved dealing directly with outages and failures associated with magnetic memory components used in what, at the time, were large computer systems. On occasions, portions of magnetic core memory or disk drives would encounter various failure modes and the systems using these devices would have to be reconfigured to operate without the failed components until repair personnel could come in to repair …

Automatic Crash Recovery: Internet Explorer's Black Box, John Moran, Douglas Orr

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

A good portion of today's investigations include, at least in part, an examination of the user's web history. Although it has lost ground over the past several years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer still accounts for a large portion of the web browser market share. Most users are now aware that Internet Explorer will save browsing history, user names, passwords and form history. Consequently some users seek to eliminate these artifacts, leaving behind less evidence for examiners to discover during investigations. However, most users, and probably a good portion of examiners are unaware Automatic Crash Recovery can leave a gold mine of …

Book Review: The Software Ip Detective's Handbook: Measurement, Comparison, And Infringement Detections, Diane Barrett

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Do not the book title fool you into thinking that the book is only for those looking to detect software infringement detection. It is a comprehensive look at software intellectual property. The book covers a wide range of topics and has something to offer for just about everyone from lawyers to programmers.

“Preemptive Suppression” – Judges Claim The Right To Find Digital Evidence Inadmissible Before It Is Even Discovered, Bob Simpson

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Vermont state prosecutors have asked the Vermont Supreme Court to end a state trial judge’s practice of attaching conditions to computer warrants. The Vermont judge’s conditions are drawn from five conditions established in the 2009 decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc. case (CDT II). This is the first time the validity of the “CDT conditions” will be decided by a state court of final jurisdiction in the United States

Establishing Lower Developmental Thresholds For A Common Blowfly: For Use In Estimating Elapsed Time Since Death Using Entomologyical Methods, Gail S. Anderson, Jodie-A. Warren

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Forensic entomology is a science used to estimate a post-mortem interval (PMI). Larvae develop at predictable rates and the time interval for this development can be used to estimate the PMI. Environmental temperatures are not constant and fluctuate with the photoperiod. In early and late insect seasons, temperatures can drop to below threshold temperatures where development essentially ceases. Threshold temperatures differ for different species and should be determined by raising insects at the extremely low temperatures. The lower threshold temperature for Protophormia terraenovae for egg hatch is 10.3°C ; for first instar larvae to molt to second instar larvae it …

Field Testing Of Collection Cards For Cannabis Sativa Samples With A Single Hexanucleotide Dna Marker, Lindsey Allgeier, John Hemenway, Nicholas Shirley, Tommy Lanier, Heather Miller Coyle

Forensic Science Publications

Abstract:  The validity and feasibility of using DNA collection cards in the field for preservation and analysis of Cannabis sativa genotypes were investigated using a highly specific hexanucleotide marker. Collection cards were submitted to the National Marijuana Initiative, which selectively trained and managed the collection of specific types of samples from a variety of participating agencies. Samples collected at seizure sites included fresh marijuana leaf samples, dried “dispensary” samples, U.S. border seizures, and hashish. Using a standardized PCR kit with custom-labeled oligonucleotide primers specific to marijuana, collection cards produced eight genotypes and 13 different alleles, extremely low baselines, and no …

Ios Mobile Device Forensics: Initial Analysis, Rita M. Barrios, Michael R. Lehrfeld

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The ability to recover forensic artifacts from mobile devices is proving to be an ever-increasing challenge for investigators. Coupling this with the ubiquity of mobile devices and the increasing complexity and processing power they contain results in a reliance on them by suspects. In investigating Apple’s iOS devices -- namely the iPhone and iPad -- an investigator’s challenges are increased due to the closed nature of the platforms. What is left is an extremely powerful and complex mobile tool that is inexpensive, small, and can be used in suspect activities. Little is known about the internal data structures of the …

Forensic Analysis Of Smartphones: The Android Data Extractor Lite (Adel), Felix Freiling, Michael Spreitzenbarth, Sven Schmitt

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Due to the ubiquitous use of smartphones, these devices become an increasingly important source of digital evidence in forensic investigations. Thus, the recovery of digital traces from smartphones often plays an essential role for the examination and clarification of the facts in a case. Although some tools already exist regarding the examination of smartphone data, there is still a strong demand to develop further methods and tools for forensic extraction and analysis of data that is stored on smartphones. In this paper we describe specifications of smartphones running Android. We further introduce a newly developed tool – called ADEL – …

Survey On Cloud Forensics And Critical Criteria For Cloud Forensic Capability: A Preliminary Analysis, Keyun Ruan, Ibrahim Baggili, Joe Carthy, Tahar Kechadi

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In this paper we present the current results and analysis of the survey “Cloud forensics and critical criteria for cloud forensic capability” carried out towards digital forensic experts and practitioners. This survey was created in order to gain a better understanding on some of the key questions of the new field - cloud forensics - before further research and development. We aim to understand concepts such as its definition, the most challenging issues, most valuable research directions, and the critical criteria for cloud forensic capability.

Keywords: Cloud Forensics, Cloud Computing, Digital Forensics, Survey, Cloud Forensic Capability

Kindle Forensics: Acquisition & Analysis, Peter Hannay

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Amazon Kindle eBook reader supports a wide range of capabilities beyond reading books. This functionality includes an inbuilt cellular data connection known as Whispernet. The Kindle provides web browsing, an application framework, eBook delivery and other services over this connection. The historic data left by user interaction with this device may be of forensic interest. Analysis of the Amazon Kindle device has resulted in a method to reliably extract and interpret data from these devices in a forensically complete manner.

Keywords: forensics, digital forensics, kindle, mobile, embedded, ebook, ereader

Aacsb‐Accredited Schools’ Adoption Of Information Security Curriculum, Linda Lau, Cheryl Davis

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The need to professionally and successfully conduct computer forensic investigations of incidents has never been greater. This has launched an increasing demand for a skilled computer security workforce (Locasto, et al., 2011). This paper examines the extent to which AACSB-accredited universities located in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. are working towards providing courses that will meet this demand. The authors conduct an online research of the information security courses and programs offered by the 27 AACSB-accredited business schools in the selected area.

The preliminary investigation revealed that eight of the 27 participating universities did not offer any courses in cybersecurity, …