Collaboration Model for Law Enforcement XWays Investigator investigator

Collaboration Model for Law Enforcement X-Ways Investigator (investigator version of X-Ways Forensics)

(competitors) cost Overview of User Interfaces X-Ways Forensics normal price X-Ways Investigator half the price additional administrative precautions and further simplifications possible for investigators specialized in areas other than IT, e. g. accounting, building laws, money laundering, corruption, child pornography, . . . functional range/ complexity for computer specialists

X-Ways Investigator: Important Features § ability to create cases, assign evidence objects (media, images with any supported file system); optionally solely open containers, and also optionally only containers classified as secure (i. e. virus-free) § differently specialized investigators may examine the same containers simultaneously, in their own cases, or writeprotected in the case of another investigator § logical search, search in index § listing files from all evidence objects simultaneously, dynamic filters, sorting files, marking/selecting files § viewing files, printing documents § adding files to report tables, entering comments about files, evaluating files in one’s area of expertise; report creation

Collaboration Model Preparatory work performed with X-Ways Forensics, like § imaging media, verify image integrity, assemble RAID systems, search deleted partitions, . . . X-Ways Forensics § run thorough search for deleted files, file signature check, include contents of archives and pictures embedded in documents, specially deal with encrypted files, . . . § roughly filter out irrelevant data, like known ignorable files based on hash, exact duplicate files, with case-specific filters, . . . § rought select potentially relevant files based on search hits (resulting e. g. from keywords provided by specialized investigators), based on file type filters or special hash sets of incriminating files, . . . § roughly copy out relevant text from large binary files such as free space, swap files, etc. if found to be relevant because of search hits § create a search index with adequate settings

Evidence File Container Preparatory work with X-Ways Forensics results in a with all potentially relevant files container An evidence file container retains the following for each file: § file contents, file size § filename in Unicode § complete original path (optionally including evidence object name) § deletion state (existent, deleted, renamed, moved, . . . ) § all original timestamps as available (creation, contents change, metadata change, last access, deletion) § DOS/Windows attributes, Unix/Linux permissions/filemode § compression and encryption state § if applicable, classification as alternative data stream, resource, slack § if applicable, classification as ficitious file (for “free space”, embedded pictures, thumbnails, partition gaps etc. ) Arbitrary free-text comments for each individual file can also be passed on, e. g. the real name of a file owner, preliminary findings, . . .

Collaboration Model prosecutor X-Ways Forensics report “containers-only X-Ways version” Investigator cleared of viruses container protected internal network for investigators specialized in areas other than IT, e. g. accounting, building laws, money laundering, corruption, child pornography, . . for computer specialists

Installation Options § Each investigator has an individual installation and configuration. Somewhat more administrative effort. Required e. g. for child pornography investigators who need to review CDs and DVDs without preparatory work by others. § Several investigators share an installation on a server, optionally with an individual configuration. The network traffic is high when searching or hashing data. § Several investigators share an installation on a terminal server, optionally with an individual configuration. The network traffic is reduced to screen data. Administrators are in charge of the installations, user accounts, and the assignment of access rights to case data and container files. Computer specialists provide the investigators with containers and search indexes.

Customizable User Interface The user interface of X-Ways Investigator can be partially tailored to individual needs, i. e. further simplified, or reduced for security reasons. § Prevent media from being opened directly § Prevent conventional images from being opened directy § Prevent containers from being opened that are not classified as secure § Disable functions to create containers § Prevent non-picture files from being copied to the hard disk as part off the case report § Disable functions work with the hash database § Disable advanced options § Prevent more complex commands from being invoked