Digital Stratigraphy: Contextual Analysis of File System Traces in Forensic Science

This work introduces novel methods for conducting forensic analysis of file allocation traces, collectively called digital stratigraphy. These in-depth forensic analysis methods can provide insight into the origin, composition, distribution, and time frame of strata within storage media. Using case examples and empirical studies, this paper illuminates the successes, challenges, and limitations of digital stratigraphy. This study also shows how understanding file allocation methods can provide insight into concealment activities and how real-world computer usage can complicate digital stratigraphy. Furthermore, this work explains how forensic analysts have misinterpreted traces of normal file system behavior as indications of concealment activities. This work raises awareness of the value of taking the overall context into account when analyzing file system traces. This work calls for further research in this area and for forensic tools to provide necessary information for such contextual analysis, such as highlighting mass deletion, mass copying, and potential backdating

The Investigative Factors in Whodunit Homicides: Italian Case

Gli studi sulla risolvibilità dei casi di omicidio si sono tradizionalmente focalizzati sull'esame dei fattori relativi alle caratteristiche delle vittime o degli autori oppure sulle circostanze che caratterizzano l’evento omicidiario. Vi è infatti una certa carenza di ricerche finalizzate ad accertare la potenziale influenza dei fattori legati al processo investigativo sul positivo esito delle indagini. Ciò è dovuto principalmente alle difficoltà legate all'ottenimento dei dati necessari, che non possono essere recuperati nelle banche dati di polizia su cui tali studi si basano abitualmente, ma possono essere ottenuti solo attraverso la cooperazione degli investigatori stessi. Attraverso la distribuzione di un sondaggio a quasi un centinaio di investigatori appartenenti all’Arma dei Carabinieri, questa ricerca ha identificato una serie di fattori investigativi alcuni dei quali sono risultati positivamente correlati con la soluzione dei casi di omicidio trattati. Più specificamente, i risultati emersi dall'analisi statistica descrittiva e inferenziale hanno corroborato le ipotesi di partenza, secondo cui l'implementazione di alcune buone pratiche associate ad un’efficace gestione delle risorse umane, alla scrupolosa esecuzione delle attività condotte sulla scena del crimine, nonché ad alcune specifiche strategie e tecniche investigative possono aumentare significativamente la soluzione dei casi. Il presente studio contribuisce al dibattito accademico in primo luogo introducendo un approccio olistico attraverso il quale valutare l'effetto dei fattori investigativi sulla risoluzione di quei casi di omicidio che richiedono un certo livello di sforzo investigativo da parte delle forze di polizia e, in secondo luogo, proponendo alcune innovative prospettive attraverso le quali superare i limiti della letteratura esistente.Research on homicide clearance has traditionally focussed on examining factors pertaining to the characteristics of the victims or perpetrators or the circumstances surrounding the murder. There has been a relative dearth of research addressing the potential influence of investigative factors on the positive outcomes of murder investigations. This was primarily due to the difficulties involved in obtaining the requisite data, which cannot be found in the police databases that such studies routinely rely on, but rather can only be obtained via the cooperation of detectives themselves. Through administering a survey to almost one-hundred Italian Carabinieri homicide detectives, this research identified a number of investigative factors that have been observed in previous studies, of which some were found to be positively correlated with clearance. More specifically, the findings emerging out of the descriptive and inferential statistical analysis conducted for the purposes of this research corroborated the study’s hypotheses, which posited that the implementation of certain best practices associated with human resource management, crime scene activities, investigative strategies and techniques can positively impact upon homicide clearance. The present study contributes to academic debates on homicide clearance, firstly, by introducing a holistic approach through which to evaluate the effect of investigative factors on solving those murder cases which require a certain level of investigative effort on the behalf of the police, and secondly, by presenting avenues through which to overcome the limitations in extant literature

Research in the Archival Multiverse

Over the past 15 years, the field of archival studies around the world has experienced unprecedented growth within the academy and within the profession, and archival studies graduate education programs today have among the highest enrolments in any information field. During the same period, there has also been unparalleled expansion and innovation in the diversity of methods and theories being applied in archival scholarship. Global in scope, Research in the Archival Multiverse compiles critical and reflective essays across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies; it aims to provide current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship and research

Practical application of distributed ledger technology in support of digital evidence integrity verification processes

After its birth in cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger (blockchain) technology rapidly grew in popularity in other technology domains. Alternative applications of this technology range from digitizing the bank guarantees process for commercial property leases (Anz and IBM, 2017) to tracking the provenance of high-value physical goods (Everledger Ltd., 2017). As a whole, distributed ledger technology has acted as a catalyst to the rise of many innovative alternative solutions to existing problems, mostly associated with trust and integrity. In this research, a niche application of this technology is proposed for use in digital forensics by providing a mechanism for the transparent and irrefutable verification of digital evidence, ensuring its integrity as established blockchains serve as an ideal mechanism to store and validate arbitrary data against. Evaluation and identification of candidate technologies in this domain is based on a set of requirements derived from previous work in this field (Weilbach, 2014). OpenTimestamps (Todd, 2016b) is chosen as the foundation of further work for its robust architecture, transparent nature and multi-platform support. A robust evaluation and discussion of OpenTimestamps is performed to reinforce why it can be trusted as an implementation and protocol. An implementation of OpenTimestamps is designed for the popular open source forensic tool, Autopsy, and an Autopsy module is subsequently developed and released to the public. OpenTimestamps is tested at scale and found to have insignificant error rates for the verification of timestamps. Through practical implementation and extensive testing, it is shown that OpenTimestamps has the potential to significantly advance the practice of digital evidence integrity verification. A conclusion is reached by discussing some of the limitations of OpenTimestamps in terms of accuracy and error rates. It is shown that although OpenTimestamps has very specific timing claims in the attestation, with a near zero error rate, the actual attestation is truly accurate to within a day. This is followed by proposing potential avenues for future work

Research in the Archival Multiverse

Over the past 15 years, the field of archival studies around the world has experienced unprecedented growth within the academy and within the profession, and archival studies graduate education programs today have among the highest enrolments in any information field. During the same period, there has also been unparalleled expansion and innovation in the diversity of methods and theories being applied in archival scholarship. Global in scope, Research in the Archival Multiverse compiles critical and reflective essays across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies; it aims to provide current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship and research

The Trilogy of Science: Filling the Knowledge Management Gap with Knowledge Science and Theory

The international knowledge management field has different ways of investigating, developing, believing, and studying knowledge management. Knowledge management (KM) is distinguished deductively by know-how, and its intangible nature establishes different approaches to KM concepts, practices, and developments. Exploratory research and theoretical principles have formed functional intelligences from 1896 to 2013, leading to a knowledge management knowledge science (KMKS) concept that derived a grounded theory of knowledge activity (KAT). This study addressed the impact of knowledge production problems on KM practice. The purpose of this qualitative meta-analysis study was to fit KM practice within the framework of knowledge science (KS) study. Themed questions and research variables focused on field mechanisms, operative functions, principle theory, and relationships of KMKS. The action research used by American practitioners has not established a formal structure for KS. The meta-data-analysis examined 385 transdisciplinary peer-reviewed articles using social science, service science, and systems science databases, with a selection of interdisciplinary studies that had a practice-research-theory framework. Key attributes utilizing Boolean limiters, words, phrases and publication dates, along with triangulation, language analysis and coding through analytic software identified commonalities of the data under study. Findings reflect that KM has not become a theoretically saturated field. KS as the forensic science of KM creates a paradigm shift, causes social change that averts rapid shifts in management direction and uncertainty, and connects KM philosophy and science of knowledge. These findings have social change implications by informing the work of managers and academics to generate a methodical applied science

Annual Report of the University, 1979-1980, Volumes 1-5

Athletics at the University of New Mexico sunk to the lowest of depths in 1979-80, but the turbulent year will also be remembered as the renaissance a rebirth\u27 for the department. Scandal of national magnitude struck the trumpeted Lobo basketball program from all angles. First the NCAA handed down several accusations, followed shortly by an FBI investigation into the altering of player transcripts. Head Coach Norm Ellenberger was terminated and his assistant Manny Goldstein resigned under pressure. Ellenberger is scheduled to go before federal court June 16 on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate racketeering. UNM attorney Peter Johnstone has compiled an 800-page response to the 92 violations handed down by the NCAA infractions committee and UNM officials are scheduled to meet with the committee in Chicago in July.\u2

The Future(s) of Web Archive Research Across Ireland.

The central aim of this thesis is to investigate the current state of web archive research in Ireland in line with international developments. Integrating desk research, survey studies, and case studies, and using a combination of research methods, qualitative and quantitative, drawn from disciplines across the humanities and information sciences, this thesis focuses on bridging the gaps between the creation of web archives and the use of archived web materials for current and future research in an Irish context. The thesis describes web archive research to be representative of the web archiving life cycle model (Bragg & Hanna, 2013) which is inclusive of appraisal, selection, capture, storage, quality assurance, preservation and maintenance, replay/playback, access, use, and reuse. Through a synthesis of relevant literature, the thesis examines the causes for the loss of digital heritage and how this relates to Ireland and explores the challenges for participation in web archive research from creation to end use. A survey study is used to explore the challenges for the creation and use of web archives, and the overlaps, and intersections of such challenges across communities of practice within web archive research. A qualitative survey is used to provide an overview of the availability and accessibility of web archives based in Ireland, and their usefulness as resources for conducting research on Irish topics. It further discusses the influence of copyright and legal deposit legislation, or lack thereof, on their abilities to preserve digital heritage for future generations. An online survey is used to investigate awareness of, and engagement/non-engagement with, web archives as resources for research in Irish academic institutions. Overall, the findings show that due to advances in internet, web, and software technologies, there is a need for the continual evaluation of skills, tools, and methods associated with the full web archiving lifecycle. As technologies keep evolving, so too will the challenges. The findings also highlight the need for creators and users/researchers to keep moving forward as collaborators to guide the next generation of web archive research. At the same time, there is also the need for the continual evaluation of legal deposit legislation in line with the fragility of born digital heritage and the technological advances in publishing and communication technologies

Identity Politics and the New Genetics

Racial and ethnic categories have appeared in recent scientific work in novel ways and in relation to a variety of disciplines: medicine, forensics, population genetics and also developments in popular genealogy. Once again, biology is foregrounded in the discussion of human identity. Of particular importance is the preoccupation with origins and personal discovery and the increasing use of racial and ethnic categories in social policy. This new genetic knowledge, expressed in technology and practice, has the potential to disrupt how race and ethnicity are debated, managed and lived. The contributors include medical researchers, anthropologists, historians of science and sociologists of race relations; together, they explore the new and challenging landscape where biology becomes the stuff of identity