Using a Goal-Driven Approach in the Investigation of a Questioned Contract

Part 3: FORENSIC TECHNIQUESInternational audienceThis paper presents a systematic process for describing digital forensic investigations. It focuses on forensic goals and anti-forensic obstacles and their operationalization in terms of human and software actions. The paper also demonstrates how the process can be used to capture the various forensic and anti-forensic aspects of a real-world case involving document forgery

Use of KAOS in operational digital forensic investigations

Abstract. This paper focuses on the operations involved in the digital forensic process using the requirements engineering framework KAOS. The idea is to enforce the claim that a requirements engineering approach to digital forensics produces reusable patterns for future incidents. Our patterns here will be opera-tion-focused, rather than requirement-focused, which is simpler because the op-erations can potentially be exhaustively enumerated and evaluated. Thus, for example, given the complexity of the Ceglia versus Zuckerberg Facebook case involving alleged document forgery, we can show that one of the benefits com-ing out of the modelling exercise was the set of operations needed. This will give an estimate for the future of what kind of capabilities and resources are needed for other complex document-forgery cases involving computers. It may also help to plan investigations and prioritise the use of resources more widely within the case workload of investigators.

Dealing with temporal inconsistency in automated computer forensic profiling

Computer profiling is the automated forensic examination of a computer system in order to provide a human investigator with a characterisation of the activities that have taken place on that system. As part of this process, the logical components of the computer system – components such as users, files and applications - are enumerated and the relationships between them discovered and reported. This information is enriched with traces of historical activity drawn from system logs and from evidence of events found in the computer file system. A potential problem with the use of such information is that some of it may be inconsistent and contradictory thus compromising its value. This work examines the impact of temporal inconsistency in such information and discusses two types of temporal inconsistency that may arise – inconsistency arising out of the normal errant behaviour of a computer system, and inconsistency arising out of deliberate tampering by a suspect – and techniques for dealing with inconsistencies of the latter kind. We examine the impact of deliberate tampering through experiments conducted with prototype computer profiling software. Based on the results of these experiments, we discuss techniques which can be employed in computer profiling to deal with such temporal inconsistencies

iPhone forensics methodology and tools

iPhone mobile devices are rapidly overtaking the new generation of mobile phones market, especially among the young generation. It is also gaining a lot of popularity among security specialists and fancy gadgets for collectors. The device is considered as a “special” mobile phone due to its ability to perform multi-operations if not multitasking. It can therefore be used as a entertainment media device, a camera, a GPS, Internet surfing via Wi-Fi technology, Internet Mobile Edge Services, personal organizer, and finally performing as a cell phone with all the usual services including sms, and so forth. However, the difference between the iPhone and the other conventional phones vendors is its ability to store and process huge volume of data which is supported by decent computing capabilities of the iPhone processor. As part of every technology, such a device can be used for legal and illegal activities. Therefore the potential risks from such “special” technology are not limited to the possibility of containing illegal materials, such as audios and visuals, including explicit materials, images, documents and the possibility of propagating malicious activities rapidly. Such modification can breach or tamper with the telecommunications network authorities and regulations. The goal of this paper is to focus on both the logical and the physical extraction of the iPhone generation one through the extraction of the iPhone flash drive NAND memory chip and also the logical extraction of data onto the second generation of iPhone using various techniques and methods at our disposal

Calm before the storm: the challenges of cloud computing in digital forensics

Cloud computing is a rapidly evolving information technology (IT) phenomenon. Rather than procure, deploy and manage a physical IT infrastructure to host their software applications, organizations are increasingly deploying their infrastructure into remote, virtualized environments, often hosted and managed by third parties. This development has significant implications for digital forensic investigators, equipment vendors, law enforcement, as well as corporate compliance and audit departments (among others). Much of digital forensic practice assumes careful control and management of IT assets (particularly data storage) during the conduct of an investigation. This paper summarises the key aspects of cloud computing and analyses how established digital forensic procedures will be invalidated in this new environment. Several new research challenges addressing this changing context are also identified and discussed

Conceptual evidence collection and analysis methodology for Android devices

Android devices continue to grow in popularity and capability meaning the need for a forensically sound evidence collection methodology for these devices also increases. This chapter proposes a methodology for evidence collection and analysis for Android devices that is, as far as practical, device agnostic. Android devices may contain a significant amount of evidential data that could be essential to a forensic practitioner in their investigations. However, the retrieval of this data requires that the practitioner understand and utilize techniques to analyze information collected from the device. The major contribution of this research is an in-depth evidence collection and analysis methodology for forensic practitioners.Comment: in Cloud Security Ecosystem (Syngress, an Imprint of Elsevier), 201