This report aims to provide an overview of different Linux forensics software. 2 Motivation Nowadays, most of the web, email, database and fileservers are Linux servers. Linux is a UNIX system which implies that it has solid compatibility, stability and security features. Linux is used for the mentioned environments because these services require high security. Further, an increase of attacks on these servers can be observed. Additionally, the methods to prevent intrusions on Linux machines are insufficient. Further, the analysis of incidents on Linux systems are not considered appropriately (Choi, Savoldi, Gubian, Lee, & Lee, 2008). It can also be observed that a lot of investigators do not have experience with Linux forensics (Altheide, 2004). Because of these reasons it is necessary to provide a set of tools that support investigators during their investigations. 3 Linux Forensics Software There is a wide range of Linux forensic software available. There are single tools like file carvers, or there are comprehensive collections of tools. In the following, some of the most popular Linux forensic tools are described. The focus is put on The Sleuth Kit because it is organized according to the different filesystem layers. This provides an interesting insight on how forensics is done on filesystems. 3.1 The Sleuth Kit The Sleuth Kit (TSK) is a collection of filesystem tools which was originally developed by Brian Carrier. TSK is an improved and extended development of The Coroner’s Toolkit (TCT). TCT had severe limitations, so TSK was developed to overcome these shortcomings (Altheide & Carvey, 2011). TSK includes 21 command line utilities. In order to ease the orientation for TSK users the utilities are named in a manner that helps users who are familiar with UNIX and the Linux command line. The name of the tools consists of two parts. There is a prefix that indicates the level of the filesystem at which the tool operates. The suffix provides information on the output that can be expected. Further, there are two layers that do not exactly match the filesystem model (Altheide & Carvey, 2011): j-: Operates against filesystem journals img-: Operates against image files The following table summarizes the meanings of the suffixes. Suffix Description -stat Displays general information about the queried item -ls Lists the contents of the queried layer -cat Extracts the content of the queried layer Table 3‑1: TSK suffixes (Altheide & Carvey, 2011, p. 43) TSK does not include tools that operate on the disk layer. The reason is that TSK is a filesystem forensic analysis framework.
... for real time monitoring purposes, create alerts, and auditing purposes as well as tools to analyze the log information. Such tools help us a great deal in forensic analysis. It is a welcoming change that organizations realize the importance of auditing computer system activities as well.
Jack O’Brien, the head, was convinced that the tools would provide a robust means to communicate the project status to management and to identify critical issues.
It is the computer forensics job to look through all of the computer files, even the deleted ones, to see if there are any incriminating files that would prove them guilty. Even reporting them to the jury is one of the jobs that a computer forensic person might have. Not only does this community work closely with eh police force, they can also work within the FBI or a company that uses computers in their business like Apple. Th...
Forensics investigations that require the analyzation and processing of digital evidence can be influenced both positively and negatively by a number of outside sources. In this paper, we will explore how physical security plays a role in forensics investigations activities. We will start by examining how physical and environmental security might impact the forensics investigation process. Next, we will discuss the role that physical and logical security zones play in supporting effective forensics activities. We will illustrate how centralized and decentralized physical and environmental security affects the forensics professional’s approach toward the investigation. Lastly, we will evaluate some potential areas of risk related to the physical security of our case study organization, Widget Factory, identified in Attachment 1.
Forensic science has paved the way to a new world of technological advancements in solving crime, through DNA analysis, new technology such as M-Vac, improving systems such as CODIS and other investigative methods. As forensic science technology advances, the chance of an individual being able to commit a crime and walk away free without leaving any trace of evidence will lessen. While forensic science has its limitations, it can be the only way to provide an accurate account of what actually occurred at some crime scenes.
Crime scenes are known to have many clues left behind. The obvious would be a the body or bodies, clothing, and sometimes even the murder weapon. While these are great way to solve a case there's another kind of evidence; trace evidence. Trace evidence are small pieces of evidence that are laying around a crime scene. There are many types of trace evidence some of them include metal filings, plastic fragments, gunshot residue, glass fragments, feathers, food stains, building materials, lubricants, fingernail scrapings, pollens and spores, cosmetics, chemicals, paper fibers and sawdust, human and animal hairs, plant and vegetable fibers, blood and other body fluids, asphalt or tar, vegetable fats and oils, dusts and other airborne particles, insulation, textile fibers, soot, soils and mineral grains, and explosive residues. Although these are the most common found elements, they are not the only ones. The Trace Evidence Unit is known to examine the largest variety of evidence types and used the biggest range of analytical methods of any unit. materials are compared with standards or knowns samples to determine whether or not they share any common characteristics. In this paper I will discuss the different kinds of trace evidence and how crime scene investigaros use it to solve cases and convict criminal.
Most of the time people cannot comprehend why people that work in the forensic department are sometimes overwrought with anxiety when they have a serial killer case brought into their lab. These forensic scientists have these feelings due to knowing that this could potentially help advance technology. Over the years, serial killers have unpremeditatedly helped further advance the criminal investigation process by unintentionally leaving things behind for a forensics team to analyze. When the team finally solves these cases, it continually propels things such as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) analysis, finger print techniques, and not to mention the investigation process itself.
A crime scene investigator is the individual who arrives at a crime scene and not only searches and preserves evidence located on the crime scene, but also sends off evidence that may assist in determining the identity of victims and murders to the appropriate personnel. This individual implements several of methods in order to gather the appropriate evidence. Some of the ways that they gather the evidence is by lifting fingerprints, gathering blood, gathering saliva, gathering any hand written documents, taking photos of tattoos, gathering teeth, gathering hair and so much more. These individuals truly play a huge role in the discovery of the individual’s identity. Although crime scene investigators carry an important role in gathering data it is also important to look at what methods are used and how they can lead to the discovery of a deceased individual’s
In fact, according to several studies, more than half of all network attacks are committed internally. To determine the best ways to protect against attacks, we should understand the many types of attacks that can be instigated and the damage that these attacks can cause to data. The most common types of attacks include Denial of Service (DoS), password, and root access attacks.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Collecting evidence from a crime scene is a crucial aspect of solving crimes. Before evidence can be seized, there must first be a court order approving the search of the crime scene and the seizure of the evidence found at the scene. Standard protocol for officers is for them to always use latex gloves, avoid plastic bags, double wrap small objects, package each object separately, and to collect as much evidence as possible. It is better to have too much evidence than to not have enough. There are countless amounts of evidence that can be found at a crime scene.
Forensic science has now been recognized as an important part of the law enforcement team to help solve crimes and cold cases. The advances in technology are being used each day and we must continue to strive to develop better advances in this field. The recent discovery of using DNA in criminal cases has helped not only positively identify the suspect, but it has helped exonerate hundreds of innocent individuals. “With new advances in police technology and computer science, crime scene investigation and forensic science will only become more precise as we head into the future.” (Roufa, 2017) Forensic science and evidence helps law enforcement officials solve crimes through the collection, preservation and analysis of evidence. By having a mobile crime laboratory, the scene gets processed quicker and more efficiently. Forensic science will only grow in the future to be a benefit for the criminal justice
The use of computers in homes, schools, offices, and other places has increased in the past few years due to technological developments. As computers have become important components of modern communication, their increased use has also led to the emergence of computer crimes. Computer crimes basically involve the use of a computer system to carry out an illegal activity. In attempts to lessen the frequency and impact of computer crimes, law enforcement agencies use computer forensic to investigate these offenses. Actually, computer crimes are governed by specific laws and dealt with through conducting a computer forensic investigation (Easttom & Taylor, 2011, p.337). Notably, a computer forensic investigation is usually carried out through the use of computer forensic tools, which help in collection of evidence based on the specific offense.
The data a computer forensics acquisition tool collects is stored as an image file in one of three formats. Two formats are open source and the third is proprietary. Each vendor has unique features, so several different proprietary formats are available. Depending on the ...
probable explanation for the crime event in which they are investigating. For experts they use the
For this reason, it is important that cases be assigned for follow up investigations. Because follow up investigations can sometimes be lengthy and tedious, not every officer is a good follow up investigator. However, a good follow up investigator can often find additional information pertaining to the case/crime, connect it to other known intelligence, and find key information and evidence related to the case/crime. Large criminal investigations can go on for years. It is important for follow up investigations to continue even if it seems all investigative leads have been followed. Possible witnesses to crimes, who were afraid to come forward initially, may later feel more comfortable speaking to investigators. Technology is ever changing, and physical evidence collected may one day become valuable in solving a crime. It is important for Investigators to not only use their current senses and resources to do their job efficiently and safely, but to continually train and learn new techniques valuable to their