Digital Forensics The Science of Searching Computers For

























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Digital Forensics The Science of Searching Computers For evidence Kit Petrie
Uses of Digital Forensics Criminal Investigations • Copyright infringement • Espionage • Fraud Network Forensics Network assesment Hackers Industrial Espionage
What do Digital Forensics Experts Do? Gather evidence Preserve data integrity (Chain of evidence) Identify critical information Analyze evidence Present evidence
Gather evidence Normal collection vs Selective collection Siezure of physical computer/hard drives Examine/copy RAM from live systems Maintain/copy live state for Encryption Use of a hardware write blocking device Online data (email, ISP logs) Subpoena/request data
Preserve data integrity Authenticity and Integrity. Hardware write blocking device. Hash Encrypt and sign original Evidence Document all activities performed on data Store evidence in a secure environment to prevent tampering and leaking(Ethics? )
Identify critical information Search for information related to alleged crime Identify suspects and tie them to login credentials Maintain privacy of info not related to alleged crime (Ethical Considerations) Encryption, files or full disk.
Analyze evidence Goals Establish facts to prove crime occurred Identify suspects Build a time line of events Techniques Data mining search File classification Clustering text based search
Clustering text based search Text pattern matching == Grep! But how to rank the results? Adaptive User Interest Hierarchy (AUIH) Investigator groups interesting results into categories Machine Learning tries to match similar search results Best matches are highest ranked Feedback from Investigator helps the program improve it's rankings.
Present evidence Prosecution: Explain importance of data to the prosecuting attorney before court. (Provide analogy) Prepare a statement presenting the evidence in a technically accessible manner. Points to prove (specific to each criminal act) Interpret the data (Static vs Dynamic IPs) Show the time line Make recommendations about the digital evidence.
What do Digital Forensics Experts Do? Gather evidence Preserve data integrity (Chain of evidence) Identify critical information Analyze evidence Present evidence
Digital Forensics Tools Commercial Packages Encase Forensics Tool Kit (FTK) Open Source Software Sleuth Kit libraries Autopsy GUI
Digital Forensics Tools Encase Forensic- Guidance Software Industry Standard Software Mobile/Cybersecurity/e. Discovery En. Script scripting language requires programming experience Court approved forensic file format. Extensive training program.
Digital Forensics Tools Forensic Tool Kit (FTK)- Access. Data Memory analysis Custom tablet for mobile phone acquisition Built in decryption and password cracking Email analysis Built for distributed analysis
Digital Forensics Tools The Sleuth Kit -Open Source C Libraries forensics investigation “Autopsy” GUI Hadoop framework for large data sets Online Wiki and training available Libraries can be used in automated Forensics tasks Uses SQLite database
Network Forensics Information gathering Vulnerability assessment Network bottlenecks Network usage profiling Legal evidence Monitoring networks for illegal activity Gathering evidence of illegal file transfer Monitoring communications Intrusion detection Hax 0 rs! Only info remaining if log files are
Information gathering Assess and improve the usage of your network Test your network to find vulnerabilities before someone else does Penetration testing
Legal evidence Monitor communications, chat forums, email, Vo. IP for illegal or suspicious activities Gather evidence of illegal file transfer such as copyright infringement or child pornography Monitoring networks for signs of espionage “Federal networks have been thoroughly penetrated by foreign spies, and current perimeter-based defenses that attempt to curb intrusions are outdated and futile” - director of Information Systems Analysis Center, Sandia National Laboratories
Need for Intrusion Detection Network intrusion can cost lots of money Play. Station Network breach cost Sony $171 m Industrial espionage can cost companies their competitive advantage “Every major company in the United States has already been penetrated by China. ” -Richard Clarke, Counterterrorism Czar
Intrusion detection Honeypots Systems set up as targets for intruders Monitor what an intruder does Attempt to identify the intruder Tampering detection Monitoring the integrity of log files and system files Alert administrator when critical files are changed
Intrusion detection Outbound Packet Inspection Outgoing firewall that inspects all outbound communications Uses a Man in the Middle attack to intercept all encrypted communications Network Mapping Examine and identify all hosts on a network to guard against rogue access Determine which hosts offer what services and why
Network Forensics Tools Wireshark/Snort (Ethical/un. Ethical Uses) “Sniff” all TCP/IP packets on a network Make a record of suspicious/all packets Nmap Map a network Determine what services are available and being used Honeypots/Honeyd Creates virtual hosts on a network Designed to lure intruders and track their activities
Network Forensics Tools Metasploit (Ethics? ) Test known exploits against a network Use existing components to write exploits Sqlmap/sqlninja(Ethics? ) Take over back end databases Aircrack(Ethics? ) Penetration testing for SQL injection attacks WEP and WPA Encryption cracking Tripwire/AIDE Monitor key files and directories for
Network Forensics Information gathering Vulnerability assessment Network bottlenecks Network usage profiling Legal evidence Monitoring networks for illegal activity Gathering evidence of illegal file transfer Monitoring communications Intrusion detection Hax 0 rs! Only info remaining if log files are deleted
End of Presentation Digital Forensics: A growing field for computer scientists in Law Enforcement. Questions: 1)Criminal forensics? 2)Network forensics? 3)Forensic tools?
References Halboob, W. ; Abulaish, M. ; Alghathbar, K. S. ; , "Quaternary privacy-levels preservation in computer forensics investigation process, " Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST), 2011 International Conference for , vol. , no. , pp. 777 -782, 11 -14 Dec. 2011 URL: http: //0 ieeexplore. ieee. org. opac. library. csupomona. edu/stamp. jsp? tp=&arnu mber=6148437&isnumber=6148349 CPP! Dan Manson; Anna Carlin; Steve Ramos; Alain Gyger; Matthew Kaufman; Jeremy Treichelt; , "Is the Open Way a Better Way? Digital Forensics Using Open Source Tools, " System Sciences, 2007. HICSS 2007. 40 th Annual Hawaii International Conference on , vol. , no. , pp. 266 b, Jan. 2007 doi: 10. 1109/HICSS. 2007. 301 URL: http: //0 ieeexplore. ieee. org. opac. library. csupomona. edu/stamp. jsp? tp=&arnu mber=4076922&isnumber=4076362