Multimedia Forensics Guidebook: Image, Audio, Video

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the “Multimedia Forensics Guidebook” issue of eForensics Magazine. This month we have for you a compendium of articles revolving around all things media-related: from image, through audio, to video. We will touch on the subject from different perspectives, both theory and practice, looking into tools and procedures alike. We hope you will like it! We have gathered some new articles, while some have been taken out from our archives - we noticed the topic has been scattered around different issues and we really wanted to bring it all together. Articles from previous issues are marked for your convenience.

But that’s not all! In this issue you will also find a handy Linux memory forensics field guide to help you get your image profiles right every single time, a paper on how copyright law deals with code, and an interview with Kristi Horton, touching on the state of cybersecurity today and transitions you make when you move through your cybersecurity career, among other things.

We hand over this issue to you with confidence that you’ll find it both interesting and useful. As always, we would like to thank you all for your continued support, and express our gratitude to our betatesters, proofreaders, and reviewers, for their invaluable help in creating the magazine.

Enjoy your reading,

Marta Strzelec
and the eForensics Magazine Team

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Table of contents

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I take it at least one step further

Interview with Kristi Horton from Horton Innovations

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Linux Memory Forensics: A field guide

by Paulo H. Pereira - PhD

In this field guide we are talking about Linux memory acquisition in a physical machine and not in virtual machines.

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Similarities Between Computer Programs Codes and Copyright Infringement

by Washington Almeida

This article is the result of an extensive research work carried out at the specialization course in Law and Information Technology of the Polytechnic School of USP, classified by the WUR, the World University Ranking, among the best university in the world. This research work was conducted under the guidance of the Teacher and Doctor Manoel J. Pereira dos Santos, which resulted in obtaining the title of Specialist in Law and Information Technology with the maximum score.

The specialization course in Law and Information Technology is offered by the excellent and renowned university named Polytechnic School of USP (Escola Politécnica da USP – POLI/USP), which has the coordination by the excellent Teacher and Engineer Mr. Edson Gomi.

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Horus – A Computational Tool for Digital Image Forensics Through Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Comparison

by Flávio Ramon Almeida de Souza, Sandra Laryssa Silva de Sousa and Deivison Pinheiro Franco

The adulteration of images dates back to the 1850s when photographs were modified by manual techniques of manipulation of their negatives, which provided quite satisfactory results. However, technological evolution brought with it a paradigm shift in the creation, and processing of images, with new aspects that reformulated already well-known concepts, based on the study of paintings or photographic images - the process of image scanning began and, consequently, the concept of digital image that is nothing more than the representation of a two-dimensional image through binary numbers so that its storage, transfer, printing, reproduction and processing can be done by electronic means.

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Steganalysis: Exploring the Virtual Steganographic Laboratory

by Cordny Nederkoorn

Steganography is the art of obfuscation, hiding information in plain sight, while Steganalysis is the art of finding this hidden information. For computer forensics professionals, steganalysis is becoming a daily job. Different tools are available for steganalysis, with The Virtual Steganographic Laboratory being one of these tools. This article is the first of a series where different functions of VSL will be tested and discussed.

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Detect and Prevent File Tampering in Multimedia Files

by Doug Carner, CPP/CHS-III

Electronic files are vulnerable to tampering and corruption. Undetected, these changes can alter the meaning and value of critical evidence. By implementing a few simple steps, you can ensure that everyone is working from the exact same set of facts, and be able to prove if a file was altered prior to arriving into your care.

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Detecting image tampering through science article

By Doug Carner DABRE/CPP/CCFE/CHS

Digital image files are vulnerable to tampering and corruption. Such changes can be difficult or impossible to detect through a visual inspection alone and, if unchallenged, the meaning and value of critical evidence could be open to interpretation. In response, industry software has become increasingly sensitive to detecting subtle manipulations. These solutions are available at all financials levels and, in this article, we will examine some of the best free resources.

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Digital images - trust must be earned

By David Spreadborough, Forensic Video Expert, Amped Software

The science behind forensic image analysis is growing fast and constantly evolving. Even within the last five years, the ability to take a photo, manipulate it to tell a different story, and circulate the misinformation online has become infinitely easier. The advent of smartphones, convenient digital image manipulation software and easy dissemination of information is throwing up new challenges that investigators and forensic technicians must adapt to.

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Forensic Speaker Identification & Its Challenges

by Harini Girish and Don Caeiro

Forensic Speaker Recognition (FSR) is the process to determine if an individual (suspected speaker) is the source for a questioned voice recording (trace). It involves the comparison of the unknown voice recordings (questioned) with one or more known voice recordings (suspected). It is the science that attempts to determine whether the recorded voice belongs to the suspect or not. FSR is based on the theory that the voice of each person is as unique as fingerprints or DNA and depends on the individual features of organs producing speech, the vocal tract shape, cavity of the mouth, pronunciation skills, regional accent, etc. Speaker profiling is a method that includes the extraction of the individual information about the anonymous perpetrator from incriminated speech material, like gender, age, dialect, features of respiration, phonation, articulation, manner of speaking, etc. Therefore, a person belonging to a regional dialectal group can be identified with accent features reflected in his/her speech.

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Forensic Video Analysis - Step-by-Step

by David Spreadborough

Through an examination of the underlying digital data, a Forensic Video Analyst is able to make the correct decisions when dealing with a piece of proprietary video.

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On the Role of Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence in Digital Visual Media Forensics

by Raahat Devender Singh and Naveen Aggarwal

Ever since the invention of photography, digital visual media has continued to play a pivotal role in shaping our community's belief system by continually affecting our perception of reality. Aside from satisfying their usual recreational purposes, digital images and videos have been providing investigative benefits by serving as an evidence repository that can be used for post-incident analysis for quite some time now.

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Surveillance Video Authentication and Enhancement

by Neethu Prakash  and Anusha.S.P

Nowadays, video and audio evidence are admissible as evidence in a court of law. But in numerous cases, the video evidence that is collected from various surveillance systems are of low quality. Further processing of this video may make it either blurred or distorted. This paper introduces a novel technique for detecting the tampered frames and enhancement of video acquired under challenging conditions or poor lighting conditions, such as haze, low light, fog, etc. The main aim is to improve the visual appearance of the video.

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The CCTV File Format Minefield

by Dr Mark Sugrue

The first and often most difficult issue faced by CCTV investigators is simply getting the video evidence to play, but tips and technology can help…

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