Computer Forensics
Computer Forensics
Computer Forensics
Mr Kolapo Oyeusi
04044790
KOO047@londonmet.ac.uk
May 2009
Faculty of Computing
TABLE OF CONTENT
Definition of Terms
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Abstract
Chapter 1: Introduction
Summary
Chapter 6: Conclusions
Appendices
Literature review
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Definition of terms
Write-Blockers: These are devices that allow acquisition of information on a drive without
creating the possibility of accidentally damaging the drive contents. Hardware write blockers
can be IDE-to-IDE or Firewire/USB-to-IDE.
Good data: These are known file types such as operating system files and common programs
(Microsoft word etc)
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Chapter 1: Introduction
related evidence that can be useful in criminal cases, civil disputes and human
With the growth of the internet and the ever changing digital environment, the need for
The world gradually is becoming a global village due to the presence of the internet and the
personal computer. Businesses and transactions that would have been done in person are now
carried out online. The internet has made targets much more accessible and the risk involved
With more people embracing the internet, the number of people using the internet is expected
to rise to 794 million in 2009 from 657 million that is currently available (Vacca, 2005).
However, the word forensic was derived from usage in the medical field. Forensic Medicine
has been a recognised discipline as far back as the 18th century (Dixon, 2005). The computer
industry has been taking computer forensic serious for some years now due to embarrassing
Computer forensics is one of the largest growing professions of the 21st century. (Vacca,
2005). This is partly due to the growth of the internet which allows organizations and
It is difficult to pinpoint the first computer forensic examination but in 1991, the term
computer forensics was coined in the first training session held by the International
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Computer forensics has also been described as the autopsy of a computer hard disk drive
because specialized software tools and techniques are required to analyze the various levels at
which computer data is stored after the fact. The Military and the intelligence gathering
agency have been involved in computer forensics since the mid-1980 but this field is
relatively new to the private sector. Computer forensic tools and procedures are used to
identify computer security weaknesses and the leakage of sensitive computer data.
(www.forensics-intl.com)
The main goals of computer forensics are the preservation, identification, extraction,
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Chapter 2: Literature review
Several criminal activities are being committed nowadays such as cyber terrorism, internet
just to mention a few. As such, there is need for necessary legislation to help prosecute the
perpetrators of these crimes. This is where the skills of a forensic expert come in to help
If the computer and its contents are examined by anyone other than a trained and experienced
computer forensics specialist, the usefulness and credibility of that evidence will be tainted
(Vacca , 2005). A highly skilled computer forensic analyst is someone who understands the
Network forensic investigators on the other hand uses log files to determine when users
logged on and they also try to determine which URL’s users accessed, how they logged on to
the network and from what location. In special cases, forensic experts use electron
microscopes and other sophisticated equipments to retrieve information from machines that
have been damage or formatted. The use of this method can be very capital intensive which
A survey recently conducted reveals that both public and private agencies face serious threats
from external and internal sources. (Computer Crime and Security Survey, 2003)
There are three things to take into consideration when carrying out computer forensic. A
computer can be the target of the crime, it can be the instrument of the crime or it can serve as
an evidence repository storing valuable information about the crime. Knowing what role the
computer played in the crime can of tremendous help when searching for evidence. This
knowledge can also help reduce the time taken to package your evidence.
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Also, the evidence required can be located on a network, embedded system or on dead
systems. Most forensic examination is carried out on dead systems that have been delivered
for analysis. It is recommended that computers should be powered down to prevent loss of
evidence when making seizure but doing so before collecting volatile evidence can lead to
loss of evidence when dealing with systems with large RAM or those having active network
connections (Casey,2002).
The integrity and security of evidence is a priority when carrying out forensic investigation
and there are stringent guidelines that must be adhered to even when trying to save time.
A computer forensics specialist should not just rely on just one tool to preserve, identify,
extract and validate the computer evidence. Cross validation through the use of multiple tools
and techniques is standard in all forensic sciences. When this procedure is not used, it creates
advantages for defence lawyers who may challenge the accuracy of the software tool used and
thus the integrity of the results. Using multiple validation software tools enables computer
forensic specialists and procedures eliminate any doubt about the accuracy of the evidence.
(www.forensics-intl.com)
When searching for graphical images on a computer system, it is important not to look for
files with the GIF or JPEG extensions only since the suspect might have saved it with another
extension like DOC. Therefore it is important to search every sector of the physical disk for
Encryption makes it difficult for the examiner to analyse evidence that have been found,
collected, documented and preserved. Stenography on the other hand involves the act of
hiding information.
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An individual using specialist data hiding tools like the Marutukku can protect its self from all
Computers have been featuring in litigations for over 31 years. In 1977, there were 20 U.K
cases in which the word computer appeared and which was sufficiently important to be noted
in the lexis database. In the United state, there were 291 federal cases and 246 state cases in
which it appeared (Vacca, 2005). A lot of people sometimes think of a computer forensic
expert as someone who helps in recovering lost digital data from a computer but their work
Countries all over the world are creating new laws and amending old ones since the surge in
computer related crimes. It is important to have the necessary legal backing to bring the
perpetrators of these crimes to justice or else the work carried out by a computer forensic
specialist will be in vain. Likewise, businesses are adjusting their policies to help protect
themselves against disgruntled employees willing to reveal sensitive client records and trade
secrets.
Employing the services of a computer forensic specialist can be tricky sometimes. Having
someone with the expertise and experience is not just enough nowadays. The individual must
also be able to testify and stand up to scrutiny and pressure of cross examination in the law
court.
In the early 1980’s, computer forensic tools were simple and mainly generated by government
agencies such as the U.S internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) in Ottawa. Most of the tools written then were in C language and assembly
language and were not that popular. Moving into the mid 1980’s, a software known as Xtree
Gold was introduced which was able to recognise file types as well as retrieve lost or deleted
files. Shortly after the release of Xtree, Norton released the DiskEdit and this became the best
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tool for finding deleted files at that time because the DiskEdit was compatible with most PC’s
then.
Moving into the 1990’s, specialist tools for computer forensics became available. This led to
the training on software for computer forensic investigation by the International association of
Computer Investigative Specialist (IACIS). ASR Data created commercial GUI forensic
software called Expert Witness. The Expert Witness could recover deleted files and fragments
of deleted files. One of the ASR partner left to develop Encase which is the most popular
forensic tool.
DATA RECOVERY
Data recovery is the process in which highly trained forensic experts evaluate and extract data
from damaged media and return it in an intact format (Vacca, 2005). Lost data might be as a
result of computer systems crashing, accidental deletion, computer viruses corrupting files,
disgruntled employee destroying files just to mention a few. There is a high chance of
recovering all the data if recovery is attempted shortly after the files must have been removed.
Most Linux systems use the ext2 file system which reveals the presence of slack space. A tool
called bmap can jam data in the slack space, take out data and also wipe the slack space clean
if needed. Data can be hidden in slack space to store secrets, plant evidence and maybe hide
EVIDENCE COLLECTION
1) Future prevention.
2) Responsibility.
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The job of a computer forensic specialist goes far beyond just data recovery. Evidence
collection must be done in a methodological manner by professionals trained for this purpose.
Real Evidence: is any evidence that speaks for itself without relying on anything else. For
Testimonial Evidence: This is any evidence supplied by a witness. This evidence is dependent
on the reliability of the witness. As long as the witness is reliable, the testimonial evidence
can be as powerful the real evidence. It should be noted that hear say is inadmissible in the
court.
The 5 rules of electronic evidence collection are also related to the 5 properties that evidence
3) Complete: Evidence must be able to prove that the offender is liable for the offence
despite other people present at the same time of attack. Evidence that will implicate as
4) Reliable: The methods used in the collection of evidence and the analysis procedure
5) Believable: The evidence presented must be understandable and believable to the jury.
To have believable evidence, there are certain guidelines you must adhere to such as:
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• Account for any changes and keep detailed logs of your actions
• Be prepared to testify
• Work fast
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TYPES OF COMPUTER FORENSIC TOOLS
Computer forensic tools can be classified into two major categories namely:
Hardware forensic tool varies and may range from simple, single purpose components to
complete systems and servers. An example of the single-purpose component is the ACARD
AEC-7720WP Ultra Wide SCSI-to-IDE Bridge. This device helps to write-block an IDE
Examples of complete systems forensic tool include the Digital Intelligence F.R.E.D. systems,
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Fig: Digital Intelligence F.R.E.D. systems
Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device (F.R.E.D) systems are designed for stationary
laboratory. It can acquire data directly from a whole range of hard drives and storage devices
including DLT-V4 tapes and save the forensic image retrieved onto a DVD, CD or hard drive.
The DIBS® Advanced Forensic Workstation is a very versatile piece of forensic equipment
that is easy to use. It can copy and analyse hard drives using windows XP operating systems.
The unit runs on Pentium 4 3GHz processor with a motherboard of 1GB RAM. DIBS® is
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Fig: Portable Forensic Lab (PFL)
The Hand-held, computer forensic Talon is an advanced forensic capture system designed
specifically for the use of law enforcement, Military, corporate security, investigators and
auditors. Talon can make images and verifies data up to 4GB/min which makes it industry’s
most powerful and versatile data capturing system. This device captures IDE/UDMA/SATA
Software forensic tool can be classified into command-line applications and GUI applications.
Some of these tools are designed to perform only one Task. A good example of this is the
SafeBack software which is a command-line disk acquisition tool from New Technologies Inc
(NTI). Other forensic software tool can carry out several tasks and these are usually GUI tools
capable of performing most of the computer forensic acquisition and analysis functions. Some
good examples of such GUI tool are the Technology Pathways ProDiscover, Guidance
Software EnCase and AccessData FTK. Many GUI acquisition tools can read all structures in
an image file as though it was the original drive. (Bill et al, 2008)
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Comparing Forensic Tool Functions
To be able to determine what kind of tool might be required to achieve the set objectives, it is
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TOOLS AND TECNOLOGY DEPLOYED IN COMPUTER FORENSICS
Technology surrounding computer forensics can be classified into three based on the area
where it is deployed.
This technology focuses on evaluating and in-depth examination of data related to both Trans
CFX-2000 came to be as a result of the partnership between the U.S Department of Defence
(DoD) and the National Institute of Justice via the auspices of the National Law Enforcement
and Correction Technology Centre (NLECTC). Most computer forensic examinations are
usually carried out after the crime/event has been committed. But with CFX-2000, it is
possible to accurately determine the intent, motive, target, sophistication, identity and location
of Cyber criminals by deploying an integrated analysis frame work. Forensic tools involved
in CFX-2000 consisted of commercial off the shelf software and directorate-sponsored R&D
prototype.
AnaDisk
Anadisk turns your PC into a sophisticated diskette analysis tool. The software was originally
created to meet the needs of the U. S. Treasury Department in 1991. It is primarily used to
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identify data storage anomalies on floppy diskettes. AnaDisk can be used to analyze floppy
diskettes when doing work which involves abnormal floppy diskettes or data storage issues
tied to floppy diskettes. However standard duplication of floppy diskettes is more easily
USES:
This program mathematically creates a unique signature for the contents of one, multiple or
all files on a given storage device. Such signatures can be used to identify whether or not the
The program is also used to document that computer evidence has not been altered or
USES:
It is used to benchmark operating system files on a new computer system before distribution
to computer users.
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It is used in computer investigations to prove that the evidence remains unchanged after
forensic processing.
SAFEBACK 3.0
SafeBack is used to create mirror-image (bit-stream) backup files of hard disks or to make a
mirror-image copy of an entire hard disk drive or partition. The process is analogous to
photography and the creation of a photo negative. Once the photo negative has been made
several exact reproductions can be made of the original. SafeBack is an industry standard self-
authenticating computer forensics tool that is used to create evidence grade backups of hard
drives
USES:
Used to create evidence grade backups of hard disk drives on Intel based computer
systems.
Used to exactly restore archived SafeBack images to another computer hard disk drive of
Used as an evidence preservation tool in law enforcement and civil litigation matters.
GETGIF
GetGIF software is a computer forensics software tool which was designed to automatically
extract exact copies of GIF graphics file images from ambient data sources
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GetGiF can be of assistance in investigations involving the distribution of child pornography
and in identity theft cases involving the use of GIF graphics files.
USES:
It is used to find evidence in corporate, civil and criminal investigations which involve GIF
computer graphics files, e.g., investigations which potentially involve child pornography
Also used with other computer forensic software to quickly reconstruct and view previously
It is used to quickly identify and view GIF image files stored anywhere on a computer hard
disk drive when used with NTI's SafeBack evidence grade backup software.
pornography and identity theft when GIF graphics files are involved.
Used "after-the-fact" to determine what files may have been viewed over or downloaded from
Graphics Image File Extractor is a computer forensics software tool which was designed to
automatically extract exact copies of graphics file images from ambient data sources
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Graphics File Extractor software can be used to quickly sample the Windows Swap/Page File
and help the computer forensics investigator in making a quick determination about possible
USES
It is used to find evidence in corporate, civil and criminal investigations which involve
computer graphics files, e.g., investigations which potentially involve child pornography
Used with other computer forensic software to quickly reconstruct and view previously
deleted BMP, GIF and JPEG graphics files stored on computer storage media.
Used to quickly identify and view BMP, GIF and JPEG image files stored anywhere on a
computer hard disk drive when used with NTI's SafeBack evidence grade backup software
Used very effectively in the recovery of deleted graphics files from computer hard disk drives
GETSLACK
This software is used to capture all of the file slack contained on a logical hard disk drive or
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Software is an ideal computer forensics tool for use in investigations, internal audits and in
Network logons and passwords are found in file slack. It is also possible for passwords used
USES:
Quickly calculates the amount of storage space which is allocated to file slack on a logical
DOS/Windows partition.
Captures all file slack on a logical DOS/Windows drive and converts it into one or more files
automatically.
Validates the results of computer security scrubbers used to eliminate sensitive or classified
intl.com/getslack.html)
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Tasks Performed by Computer Forensic Tools
Computer forensic tools are required to be able to perform and meet certain criteria which can be
grouped into 5 Major Categories namely:
Acquisition
Extraction
Reconstruction
Reporting
Acquisition: It involves making copies of the original drive. Acquisition is referred to as the
first task in computer forensics investigation. Tools such as EnCase and AccessData FTK are
used to acquire data images. It is also possible to acquire image of data using hardware
devices such as Talon from Logicube. This hardware device possesses in-built software for
data acquisition. There are two types of data copying methods used in software acquisition
and they are: physical copying of entire drive and logical copying of disk partition. Logical
acquisition is more preferable because data acquired can be read and analysed easily.
Validation and Discrimination: Validation is the process of ensuring and maintaining the
integrity of the data acquired. The process of validating data is what result in the
discrimination of data. The main purpose of data discrimination is to separate good data from
suspicious data. All computer forensic tools have a way of ensuring that the integrity of the
data is still intact by comparing the original data with the image data. This is possible with the
help of processes like Hashing, Filtering and Analysing file header. Searching and comparing
Extraction: This is the recovery task in a computing investigation (Bill et al, 2008).
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Decompressing, carving, Decrypting and Bookmarking. Extraction of data involves great
suspect’s drive and to show what happened during the crime or an incident (Bill et al, 2008).
Duplicating a suspect’s hard drive enables other investigators to carry out their own
acquisition, test and analysis of the evidence. The most reliable way to recreating an image of
a suspect’s hard drive is to obtain the same make and model drive as the suspect’s drive.
partition copy, Image-to-partition copy. Examples of tools that can perform image-to-disk and
image-to-partition copies are: SafeBack, SnapBack, EnCase, FTK Imager, ProDiscover. All
these tools are proprietary and as such image created can only be re assemble by the exact
Reporting: The report phase is the final phase of the forensic disk analysis and examination.
The log report can be included in the final report detailing the step by step process undergone
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SCENARIO
A company evaluates the performance and productivity of his staff and noticed that it falls
way below the standard. It discovers that valuable time being lost by his employees
downloading and surfing the internet during office hours and as such he implements strict
After few weeks, his IT manager reviews a detection tool report used by the company. This
report suggests that an employee of the company is still accessing restricted sites and
downloading objectionable content (graphic) during office hours using his official
workstation PC.
The IT manager decided to follow procedure by contacting the chief information officer
(CIO) of the company who is the person officially nominated to deal with computer related
violations and crimes within the company. He decides to invoke the incident response team
The company aims to determine which employee is responsible, examining data recovered
from the employee hard disk, build evidence against such employee which might eventually
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AIM AND OBJECTIVES
Academic Objectives
3) To analyse the data gathered to determine where the materials came from, how often it
5) To produce a report detailing every activity and action carried out on the offending
machine.
Personal objectives
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RISKS
There are several risks that I foresee might hinder the progress of my project and they include:
CONTINGENCIES
LIMITATIONS
Time: Being able to divide my time between my project and other module as well as my paid
employment.
Cost of Tools/Software: Computer Forensic software can be very expensive so i have decided
Availability of credible resources: There are limited materials regarding computer forensics in
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A Brief Description of the hard drive recovered/Given
The hard drive retrieved is the Maxtor’s D740X-6L 20GB AT hard disk. This hard disk is part
of the family of high performance 1-inch high hard drive. This hard drive uses a non-
removable 3 ½-inch hard disks available with ATA interface. The Maxtor D740X-6L 20GB
AT hard disk possess an embedded hard disk drive controllers and uses ATA commands to
General characteristics
Interface: EIDE/UltraATA/133
Capacity: 20GB
Performance
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Activity Specification
Track-to-Track 0.8ms
Internal Characteristics
Number of Heads: 1
Number of Disks: 1
Electrical
Environmental
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Power Dissipation
Idle 6.5Watts
Standby 1.0Watt
Sleep 1.0Watt
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Fig2: A diagram showing the drive power and interface connector of the hard drive.
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The Maxtor’s D740X-6L 20GB AT hard disk has three jumper location which is used to
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GANTT CHART
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WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
COMPUTER FORENSICS
Examining a recovered
hard disk for lost data.
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INDICATIVE FINAL YEAR PROJECT
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Introduction
Literature review
Case study/Scenario
Production of Report
Conclusion
Recommendation
Bibliography
Appendix
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REFERENCE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Edgar Hanover Building, 935 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20535-0001,
2003.
John R. Vacca (2005) Computer Forensics: Computer Crime Scene Investigation 2nd
Casey Eoghan (2002) Handbook of Computer Crime Investigation: Forensic Tool and
Casey Eoghan (2004) Digital Evidence and Computer Crime: Forensic Science,
Computers and the Internet. 2nd Ed. Academic Press. California (USA)
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WEBSITES
http://www.comouterforensicworld.com/
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/7j376/intro.htm
http://www.forensic-computers.com/index.php
http://www.digitalintelligence.com/products/forensic_duplicator/
http://www.logicube.com/products/hd_duplication/talon.asp#
(http://www.forensics-intl.com/getslack.html)
(http://www.forensics-intl.com/iextract.html)
(http://www.forensics-intl.com/getgif.html)
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V8G-4BJWYVJ-
1&_user=983321&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000044920&
_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=983321&md5=defaa524a1b6df68ad9b4e2612b78310)
(http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1070000/1060428/p143-francia.pdf?
key1=1060428&key2=2510398221&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=14665516&CFTOKE
N=83314542)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V8G-4BJWYVJ-
1&_user=983321&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000044920&
_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=983321&md5=defaa524a1b6df68ad9b4e2612b78310
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