Forensic Analysis of the Sony Playstation Portable

The Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a popular portable gaming device with features such as wireless Internet access and image, music and movie playback. As with most systems built around a processor and storage, the PSP can be used for purposes other than it was originally intended – legal as well as illegal. This paper discusses the features of the PSP browser and suggests best practices for extracting digital evidence

Forensic Analysis of a Playstation 3 Console

The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a powerful gaming console that supports Internet-related activities, local file storage and the playing of Blu-ray movies. The PS3 also allows users to partition and install a secondary operating system on the hard drive. This “desktop-like” functionality along with the encryption of the primary hard drive containing the gaming software raises significant issues related to the forensic analysis of PS3 systems. This paper discusses the PS3 architecture and behavior, and provides recommendations for conducting forensic investigations of PS3 systems

Brand reputation and crisis management: Playstation Network case study

Este trabalho irá ser desenvolvido no contexto de uma tese de mestrado e será um estudo de caso acerca da Playstation Network, um serviço de jogos multijogadores online e de entrega de media digital da Sony Computer Entertainment, inc. destinado a ser usado na consola Playstation 3 e também na Playstation Portable. Este trabalho irá focar-se nos Estados Unidos da América, pois este é o país melhor representado na Playstation Network com mais de 30 milhões de utilizadores (Sony, 2010) e é também o país com mais estudos e informação acerca do mercado dos videojogos. A Playstation Network foi lançada no dia 10 de Novembro de 2006, ao mesmo tempo que a Playstation 3 no Japão. Desde então tem tido sucesso e hoje a rede tem aproximadamente 130 servidores, 50 programas de software e 77 milhões de utilizadores registados (Sony, 2011). Este estudo de caso irá centrar-se no encerramento deste serviço por 26 dias, desde o dia 20 de Abril de 2011até ao dia 15 de Maio de 2011, devido a um ataque externo à rede que resultou no comprometimento da informação pessoal dos utilizadores guardada nos servidores. Este ataque teve impacto não só nas marcas Sony e Playstation, especialmente na sua reputação entre os consumidores, mas também na indústria online, já que este ataque expôs os problemas que podem existir na segurança relativamente à informação pessoal. Neste trabalho iremos explicar o problema e o que aconteceu à Playstation Network. Iremos também olhar para as marcas envolvidas e fazer uma revisão de literatura sobre relações públicas, gestão de marcas, reputação de marcas, gestão de crises e privacidade online. Iremos também analisar as ações da Sony em reação a este evento e como poderia ter gerido esta situação de crise melhor.This work will be developed in the context of a marketing master thesis and it will be a Case Study concerning the Playstation Network, an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service provided by Sony Computer Entertainment, inc. for use with Sony’s home console, the Playstation 3 and its handheld, the Playstation Portable. The scope of this work will be in the United States as it is the best represented country on the Playstation Network with more than 30 million users (Sony, 2011) and it is also the country with more studies and information regarding the video games market. Playstation Network was launched in November 10, 2006, along with the Playstation 3 launch in Japan. Since then it has had a great success and today it consists of approximately 130 servers, 50 software programs and 77 million registered accounts (Sony, 2011). This Case Study regards the shutdown of this service for 26 days, from April 20 to May 15 (2011), due to an external attack to the network that resulted in the compromise of the personal information of the users stored on the servers. This attack had an impact not only on the Sony and Playstation brands, particularly in their reputation among consumers, but also on the online business industry, since this attack brought to light the problem of personal information security. In this work, we will explain the problem and what happened to the Playstation Network. We will also look into all the brands involved and do a literature review on public relations, brand management, brand reputation, crisis management and online privacy. We will also analyze what Sony did in reaction to this event and how it could have better managed this crisis situation

Understanding Deleted File Decay on Removable Media using Differential Analysis

Digital content created by picture recording devices is often stored internally on the source device, on either embedded or removable media. Such storage media is typically limited in capacity and meant primarily for interim storage of the most recent image files, and these devices are frequently configured to delete older files as necessary to make room for new files. When investigations involve such devices and media, it is sometimes these older deleted files that would be of interest. It is an established fact that deleted file content may persist in part or in its entirety after deletion, and identifying the nature of file fragments on digital media has been an active research area for years. However, very little research has been conducted to understand how and why deleted file content persists (or decays) on different media and under different circumstances. The research reported here builds upon prior work establishing a methodology for the study of deleted file decay generally, and the application of that methodology to the decay of deleted files on traditional computing systems with spinning magnetic disks. In this current work, we study the decay of deleted image files on a digital camera with removable SD card storage, and we conduct preliminary experiments for direct SD card and USB storage. Our results indicate that deleted file decay is affected by the size of both the deleted and overwriting files, overwrite frequency, sector size, and cluster size. These results have implications for digital forensic investigators seeking to recover and interpret file fragments

Forensic analysis of epic privacy browser on windows operating systems

The 16th European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Digital Security (ECCWS 2017), Dublin, Ireland, 29-30 June 2017Internet security can be compromised not only through the threat of malware, fraud, system intrusion or damage, but also via the tracking of internet activity. Criminals are using numerous methods to access data in the highly lucrative cybercrime business. Organized crime, as well as individual users, are benefiting from the protection of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and private browsers, such as Tor, Epic Privacy, to carry out illegal activity such as money laundering, drug dealing, the trade of child pornography, etc. News articles advising on internet privacy assisted in educating the public and a new era of private browsing arose. Although these measures were designed to protect legitimate browsing privacy, they also provided a means to conceal illegal activity. One such tool released for private browsing was Epic Privacy Browser. It is currently used in approximately 180 countries worldwide. Epic Privacy Browser is promoted as a chromium powered browser, specifically engineered to protect users' privacy. It operates solely in "private browser" mode and, after the close of the browsing session, it automatically deletes all browsing data. The developers of Epic Privacy Browser claim that all traces of user activity will be cleared upon close of the application. However, there is no forensic acquisition and analysis of Epic Privacy Browser in literature. In this paper, we contribute towards the goal of assisting forensic examiners with the location and type of evidence available through live and post-mortem state analysis of the Epic Privacy Browser on Windows 7 and Windows 10. This analysis identifies how the browser functions during use and where data can be recovered once the browser is closed, the necessary tools that will assist in the forensics discovery, and effective presentation of the recovered material

Forensic investigation of small-scale digital devices: a futuristic view

Small-scale digital devices like smartphones, smart toys, drones, gaming consoles, tablets, and other personal data assistants have now become ingrained constituents in our daily lives. These devices store massive amounts of data related to individual traits of users, their routine operations, medical histories, and financial information. At the same time, with continuously evolving technology, the diversity in operating systems, client storage localities, remote/cloud storages and backups, and encryption practices renders the forensic analysis task multi-faceted. This makes forensic investigators having to deal with an array of novel challenges. This study reviews the forensic frameworks and procedures used in investigating small-scale digital devices. While highlighting the challenges faced by digital forensics, we explore how cutting-edge technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science may play a role in remedying concerns. The review aims to accumulate state-of-the-art and identify a futuristic approach for investigating SSDDs

RISQUE ASSOCIE A L'UTILISATION DE LA LOI DE BENFORD POUR DETECTER DES VENTES FRAUDULEUSES DE BIENS INNOVANTS A LA MODE

En principe, une non-adéquation à la loi de Benford serait synonyme de fraudes. Le présent papier montre qu'il n'est pas toujours possible de détecter des fraudes sur les volumes de ventes à l'aide de cette loi. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons les ventes de consoles, en volume, au Japon (depuis 1989), aux États-Unis, en France, en Allemagne et au Royaume-Uni (depuis 2000). Après une brève revue de littérature et une présentation de notre méthode, nous testons l'adéquation à la loi de Benford de nos 56 séries de ventes en volume via des statistiques du chi-deux, puis à une analyse des biais et de leur significativité. Malgré l'absence de fraude, il en ressort une non-adéquation à la loi de Benford de nos séries de vente de biens à la mode. Ainsi, pour des ventes de consoles, il est possible que l'utilisation de la loi de Benford ne soit pas efficace pour repérer d'éventuelles fraudes sur les volumes vendus.Loi de Benford, ventes de biens à la mode, détection de fraudes, audit, système dynamique non-linéaire

The Emerging Role of New Media in Global Crisis Communications

Social media channels operate in real-time and on a global scale. Yet many organizations remain unskilled and/or unprepared in digital communication usage, which exposes the organization and its brand to grave and long-term consequences. Through an in-depth literature review, this thesis explores theoretical research on both organizational crisis management and the practice of international public relations. It also reviews several organizational crisis cases where social media played a critical role in either inciting or escalating a crisis issue, positioning the crisis prominently on a national or global level. Next by engaging in case study research of two internationally recognized brands, this thesis examined how these organizations applied prescribed crisis response strategies, utilized social media as a crisis communication tool, and managed the crisis issue on a global scale. Findings indicate a variance in overall crisis management, and incongruence between public relations theory and practice. The thesis concludes with best practices for implementing a global crisis communication strategy using social media, and discusses global implications for the public relations field

Forensic Collection of Electronic Evidence from Infrastructure-As-a-Service Cloud Computing

As cloud computing becomes ubiquitous, the criminal targeting and criminal use of cloud computing is inevitable and imminent. Similarly, the need for civil forensic analyses of cloud computing has become more prevalent. Forensic investigation of cloud computing matters first requires an understanding of the technology and issues associated with the collection of electronically stored information (“ESI”) in the cloud. The misuse of the broad term “cloud computing” has caused some confusion and misinformation among legal and technology scholars, leading to a muddied and incomplete analysis of cloud-based discovery issues. Cases and academic analyses have dealt primarily with popular online services such as Gmail and Facebook, but they omit discussions of commercial cloud computing providers’ fundamental infrastructure offerings