A Review of Methods and Techniques used to perform investigation cases of Source Code Forensics

Digital Forensics is that special branch of forensic science that deals with electronic evidence. Evidence that is electronic in nature could be in several states. When the evidence in contention is a source code with its origin and authorship in question, such evidence comes under the sub-branch of Source Code or Software Forensics. This field has been found to be up and coming as frequent cases pertaining to IPR are being reported in India off late. This paper is a review of this discipline and talks about various tools and techniques that may be employed to process a case in this sub-branch. It discusses the various practical problems that are faced by an investigator in conducting such investigations along with the various shortcomings of the existent techniques. A few relevant and recent case studies along with their various considerations have also been discussed in this work.

The Role of Quantum Computing in Software Forensics and Digital Evidence

Quantum computing has immense computational advantages. It escorts today's world of computing towards qubits universe of computing by the logical superposition technique. Various new technologies will come to reality with replacement of existing problem-solving methodology. The development of quantum computing imposes significant impact on cyber security and digital forensics technologies. Cybercrimes may be dramatically increased and malicious code will get ability to harm speedily. The quantum computing in software forensics methodology needs to develop in order to counter the challenges such as traceability of malicious code automation, sources of malicious code generation, intellectual property right theft issues, source code validation, plagiarism, breach of copyright issues, and an acquisition of digital evidence with quality and quantity with the wings of quantum forensics. This chapter aims to concentrate on the key issues of quantum computing approach in the field of software forensics with ontological aspects.

Logical acquisition and analysis of data from android mobile devices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach that helps in acquisition of live data as well as data stored in the internal/external memory of android mobile device considering that the data on the device are not much altered during the extraction process. Also, the emphasis is laid on testing the validity of existing forensic tools against the data obtained manually and by using this approach. Smartphones have spurred the mobile computing technology, and Android is widely used as an Operating System in these devices. These days, users store most of their personal information like emails, images, contacts etc., on Phones/Tablets as their data would be readily accessible and thus convenient for them. Design/methodology/approach – Android Operating System is built on the Linux Kernel and scripts to extract data from Android Mobile Device with the use of Android Debugging Bridge have been written. The approach is more focused on the logical acquisition of data from devices rather than acquisition using physical methods. Findings – Live data of the Facebook application running on the device can be extracted. Also, the password of the LuksManager application (used to create an encrypted volume on the device), which is stored in the internal memory, is also extracted and identified. Research limitations/implications – The study has been conducted in an academic environment, thereby limiting external validity. Another limitation is the limited edition of some of the software forensics tools that are used. The full access to these software tools are restricted by Law enforcement and Investigation policies. The research provides a different approach which could aid in criminal investigation activities on mobile devices. Practical implications – The devices which have the latest versions of Android not only store messages and mails, but a lot of information about GPS, as well as information about popular applications like Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. This could practically help a lot in criminal investigation. Originality/value – This study is important because very few works have been done on recent versions (Jellybean and Kitkat) of Android. The proposed approach could extract large amounts of information as compared to earlier approaches with the newer versions of Android having larger memory and new features.

The Context and Background

This chapter introduces the nature, evolution, and development of cyber (digital) crimes in the context of the modern digital revolution with particular stress on software piracy and copyright infringement. Firstly, it overviews the various forensic implications of cyber criminality in its various forms and goes on to talk about the detection, preservation, and forensic utilisation of digital evidence, as well as its relationship to global cyber legislation. Next, it concentrates on exploring the fields of digital and software forensics and then software piracy as a cyber crime. The chapter then discusses the forensics of the infringement of software copyright, especially in terms of its legal and judicial complexity. Finally, it concludes by explaining how all the various complex issues bear on the crucial role of the cyber forensic consultant experts in the collection, interpretation and presentation of the digital evidence in a manner that is both judicially efficient and convincing.