Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

19-36

Authors: Michael Raymond Bartolacci, Larry J LeBlanc, Ashley Podhradsky

The growth of the Internet has created a corresponding growth in Internet-based crimes and online misbehavior, particularly among younger computer-savvy people who learned the technical skills necessary for such activities throughout their entire lives. We define a new category of cyber crime called a Personal Denial of Service attack (PDOS). A PDOS is a cyber crime in which an individual deliberately prevents the access of an individual or small group to online services such as email or banking. Due to the nature of a PDOS, these acts can be overlooked by law enforcement and organizations that operate Internet infrastructure such as universities. We analyze a PDOS attack in the context of the Routine Activities Theory of criminal justice. We also surveyed university students to ascertain their attitudes towards online account breaches as related to a PDOS attack. Our motivation for this work is twofold: to stress the need for cyber ethics education at the university level, and to illustrate how a previously uncategorized type of cyber crime is easily perpetrated in such an environment.

57-66

Authors: Marcus K. Rogers, Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar

Digital evidence plays a crucial role in child pornography investigations. However, in the following case study, the authors argue that the behavioral analysis or “profiling” of digital evidence can also play a vital role in child pornography investigations. The following case study assessed the Internet Browsing History (Internet Explorer Bookmarks, Mozilla Bookmarks, and Mozilla History) from a suspected child pornography user’s computer. The suspect in this case claimed to be conducting an ad hoc law enforcement investigation. After the URLs were classified (Neutral; Adult Porn; Child Porn; Adult Dating sites; Pictures from Social Networking Profiles; Chat Sessions; Bestiality; Data Cleaning; Gay Porn), the Internet history files were statistically analyzed to determine prevalence and trends in Internet browsing. First, a frequency analysis was used to determine a baseline of online behavior. Results showed 54% (n = 3205) of the URLs were classified as “neutral” and 38.8% (n = 2265) of the URLs were classified as a porn website. Only 10.8% of the URLs were classified as child pornography websites. However when the IE history file was analyzed by visit, or “hit,” count, the Pictures/Profiles (31.5%) category had the highest visit count followed by Neutral (19.3%), Gay Porn (17%), and Child Porn (16.6%). When comparing the frequency of URLs to the Hit Count for each pornography type, it was noted that the accused was accessing gay porn, child porn, chat rooms, and picture profiles (i.e., from Facebook) more often than adult porn and neutral websites. The authors concluded that the suspect in this case was in fact a child pornography user and not an ad hoc investigator, and the findings from the behavioral analysis were admitted as evidence in the sentencing hearing for this case. The authors believe this case study illustrates the ability to conduct a behavioral analysis of digital evidence. More work is required to further validate the behavioral analysis process described, but the ability to infer the predilection for being a consumer of child pornography based on Internet artifacts may prove to be a powerful tool for investigators.

83-85

Authors: Stephen Larson

Sammons, John. (2012). The Basics of Digital Forensics: The Primer for Getting Started in Digital Forensics. Waltham, MA: Syngress, 208 pages, Print Book ISBN: 9781597496612. eBook ISBN : 9781597496629. Print: US $29.95. eBook: US$20.97. Includes exercises, case studies, references, and index. Reviewed by Stephen Larson, PhD. Assistant Professor, Slippery Rock University of PA The Basics of Digital Forensics: The Primer for Getting Started in Digital Forensics is well-named–it really is very basic. And it should be, as the book’s intended audience includes entry-level digital forensics professionals and complimentary fields such as law enforcement, legal, and general information security. Though the copyright is 2012, some of the data is from 2009, and there is mention of estimates for 2010.