Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator Module I Computer Forensics in Today’s World

Scenario Steven is the managing director of a respected software company. After finding pornography downloaded on his network server and a number of individual office computers, he decided to hire a computer forensics investigator to build a case for employee dismissal. The Investigator was hired to locate deleted files if any and verify certain non-work related contents of the hard drives in question. The investigator was able to locate spy software, pornography, illegal file-sharing software from the hard drive of the suspicious employee. This led to employee dismissal.

Module objective Introduction to computer forensics History of computer forensics Computer forensics flaws and risks Cyber crime Role of computer forensics Reason for cyber attacks Modes of attacks Cyber war

Reason for cyber attacks Module Flow Introduction History Cyber crime Forensics flaws and risks Role of computer forensics Reason for cyber attacks Cyber war Modes of attacks

Introduction Cyber activity has become an important part of everyday life of the general public Importance of computer forensics: 85% of business and government agencies detected security breaches FBI estimates that the United States loses up to $10 billion a year to cyber crime

History of Forensics Francis Galton (1822-1911) Made the first recorded study of fingerprints Leone Lattes (1887-1954) Discovered blood groupings (A,B,AB, & 0) Calvin Goddard (1891-1955) Allowed Firearms and bullet comparison for solving many pending court cases Albert Osborn (1858-1946) Developed essential features of document examination Hans Gross (1847-1915) Made use of scientific study to head criminal investigations FBI (1932) A Lab was set up to provide forensic services to all field agents and other law authorities throughout the country

Definition of Forensic Science “Application of physical sciences to law in the search for truth in civil, criminal and social behavioral matters to the end that injustice shall not be done to any member of society” (Source: Handbook of Forensic Pathology College of American Pathologists 1990) Aim: determining the evidential value of crime scene and related evidence

Definition of Computer Forensics “A methodical series of techniques and procedures for gathering evidence, from computing equipment and various storage devices and digital media, that can be presented in a court of law in a coherent and meaningful format” - Dr. H.B. Wolfe

What Is Computer Forensics? According to Steve Hailey, Cybersecurity Institute “The preservation, identification, extraction, interpretation, and documentation of computer evidence, to include the rules of evidence, legal processes, integrity of evidence, factual reporting of the information found, and providing expert opinion in a court of law or other legal and/or administrative proceeding as to what was found.”

Need for Computer Forensics “Computer forensics is equivalent of surveying a crime scene or performing an autopsy on a victim”. {Source: James Borek 2001} Presence of a majority of electronic documents nowadays Search and identify data in a computer Digital Evidence is delicate in nature For recovering Deleted, Encrypted or, Corrupted files from a system

Evolution of Computer Forensics 1984 - FBI Computer Analysis and Response Team (CART) emerged 1991 - International Law Enforcement meeting was conducted to discuss computer forensics & the need for standardized approach 1997 - Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) was established to develop standards 2001 - Digital Forensic Research Workshop (DFRWS) was held http://www.dfrws.org/

Computer Forensics Flaws and Risks Computer forensics is in its early or development stages It is different from other forensic sciences as digital evidence is examined There is a little theoretical knowledge based up on which empirical hypothesis testing is done Designations are not entirely professional There is a lack of proper training There is no standardization of tools It is still more of an “Art” than a “Science”

Corporate Espionage Statistics Corporate computer security budgets increased at an average of 48% in 2002 62% of the corporate companies had their systems compromised by virus FBI statistics reveal that more than 100 nations are engaged in corporate espionage against US companies More than 2230 documented incidents of corporate espionage by the year 2003

Modes of Attacks Cyber crime falls into two categories depending on the ways attack take place Following are the two types of attacks Insider Attacks External Attacks

Cyber Crime Cyber crime is defined as “Any illegal act involving a computer, its systems, or its applications” The crime must be intentional and not accidental. Cyber crime is divided into 3 T’s Tools of the crime Target of the crime Tangential to the crime

Examples of Cyber Crime A few examples of cyber crime include: Theft of intellectual property Damage of company service networks Financial fraud Hacker system penetrations Denial of Service Attacks Planting of virus and worms

Reason for Cyber Attacks Motivation for cyber attacks Experimentation and a desire for script kiddies to learn Psychological needs Misguided trust in other individuals Revenge and malicious reasons Desire to embarrass the target Espionage - corporate and governmental

Role of Computer Forensics in Tracking Cyber Criminals Identifying the crime Gathering the evidence Building a chain of custody Analyzing the evidence Presenting the evidence Testifying Prosecution

Rules of Computer Forensics Minimize the option of examining the original evidence Obey rules of evidence Never exceed the knowledge base Document any changes in evidence

Computer Forensics Methodologies The 3 A’s Acquire evidence without modification or corruption Authenticate that the recovered evidence is same as the originally seized data Analyze data without any alterations

Accessing Computer Forensics Resources Resources can be referred by joining various discussion groups such as: Computer Technology Investigators Northwest High Technology Crime Investigation Association Joining a network of computer forensic experts and other professionals News services devoted to computer forensics can also be a powerful resource Other resources: Journals of forensic investigators Actual case studies

Preparing for Computing Investigations Computing investigations fall under two distinct categories: Public Investigation Corporate Investigation

Maintaining professional conduct Professional conduct determines the credibility of a forensic investigator Investigators must display the highest level of ethics and moral integrity Confidentiality is an essential feature which all forensic investigators must display Discuss the case at hand only with person who has the right to know

Understanding Enforcement Agency Investigations Enforcement agency investigations include: Tools used to commit the crime Reason for the crime Type of crime Infringement on someone else’s rights by cyberstalking

Understanding Corporate Investigations Involve private companies who address company policy violations and litigation disputes Company procedures should continue without any interruption from the investigation After the investigation the company should minimize or eliminate similar litigations Industrial espionage is the foremost crime in corporate investigations

Investigation Process Identification Detecting/identifying the event/crime. Preservation Chain of Evidence, Documentation. Collection Data recovery, evidence collection. Examination Tracing, Filtering, Extracting hidden data. Analysis Analyzing evidence Presentation Investigation report, Expert witness Decision Report

Digital evidence extracted Digital Forensics The use of scientifically unexpressed and proven methods towards the Preserving Collecting Confirming Identifying Analyzing Recording Presenting Digital evidence extracted from digital sources

Summary The need for computer forensics has grown to a large extent due to the presence of a majority of digital documents A computer can be used as a tool for investigation or as evidence Minimize the option of examining the original evidence 3A’s of Computer forensics methodologies are – Acquire, Authenticate, and Analyze A computer forensic investigator must be aware of the steps involved in the investigative process