(W28M00) Pre-Course Preparation Material

Pre-Course Preparation Material

 

1.Suggested Reading Material

The instructor recommends the following books as additional resources for the participants of the digital video forensics course.

Please note that familiarity with the contents of the under-mentioned books is merely a suggestion and not a strict requirement for the course; these books are simply resources that would be beneficial for the participants for future references. Also note that the effective scope of these books is rather extensive and will not necessarily be the focus of discussion during the course itself. Moreover, module 1 of the course will cover those fundamental aspects of digital video processing that are essential for the comprehension of the subject matter of the rest of the course.

 

  • Digital Image Processing by Rafael C. Gonzalez and Richard Eugene Woods, Prentice Hall.
  • Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, A Practical Approach with Examples in MATLAB by Chris Solomon and Toby Breckon, Wiley-Blackwell.

 (note: This is fundamentally a book about image processing which aims to make the subject accessible and practical.     It is not a book about the MATLAB programming language. Although some prior knowledge of Matlab is an advantage and will make the practical implementation easier, the authors of this book have endeavored to maintain a self-contained discussion of the concepts which will stand apart from the computer-based material. The participants do not have to be knowledgeable in Matlab to profit from this book. However, if the participants have not encountered Matlab before and wish to get the maximum from this book, please refer to the Matlab and Image Processing primer on the book website (http://www.fundipbook.com)

  • Digital Video Processing by A. Murat Tekalp, Prentice Hall.
  • Digital Video Concepts, Methods, and Metrics by Shahriar Akramullah, Springer.

 

2. Free and Open Source Software Required During the Course

The participants will require the following software to conduct some basic authentication tests on sample videos. Though a full authentication analysis requires years of experience and sophisticated software (which the participants will learn about in the final module of the course), quick preliminary tests can be performed using these software with minimal guidance. These software will be used during module 3 of the course.   


  • Hash Value Analysis: Two easy-to-use free MD5 programs are Digestit, which can be downloaded from http://colonywest.us/digestit and Checksum, which can be downloaded from http://corz.org/windows/software/checksum.

Mac users can download MD5 from http://md5.soft32.com/.  Alternatively, use the md5 command from the Terminal (check http://osxdaily.com/2009/10/13/check-md5-hash-on-your-mac/ for more information).

  • Metadata:   A computer’s operating system can display a file's last modified, last accessed and first created dates, collectively known as the MAC dates. Metadata may also include details about the software or equipment used to capture the recording, including the user settings in effect at the time of file saving.

Some metadata can be read with the tools you already have. For example, with Windows, you can right click on the file, left click on Properties, and then left click on the Details tab. You may also be able to access certain metadata by simply choosing the Properties option located under the File menu of whatever software you are using to open the file.

In the case of a media file, MediaInfo (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mediainfo) lets you review every metadata field of most audio and video files, even the hidden fields.

Mac users can download Media-Info from the Mac App Store.

  • Hex Editor: Hex editors allow the user to examine and modify any bit or byte of file data. Changing this information will alter the file’s hash value, but reading this data can provide deep insight into any programs that previously affected the underlying file data. One of many free hex editors is Be.HexEditor, which can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/hexbox.

Mac users can either download iHex Hex Editor from the Mac App Store or Hex Fiend from http://ridiculousfish.com/hexfiend/.

  • Dubbed Video Test: To perform this test, participants will need to open any video with software that allows the user to advance frame-by-frame. VLC, which can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/vlc, is a popular open-source video player that can decode most formats without requiring the installation of other software.

 

Mac users can download VLC media player from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html.

  • Video Error Level Analysis (VELA): VELA can be performed on any video using several video-editing programs, including the popular open source VirtualDub program. Step-by-step instructions and a guide to interpreting the results can be found at the author’s website (http://ForensicProtection.com/VELA.html).

Please note that VELA can be performed without the help of the aforementioned software package. The participants will learn about this alternative implementation during Module 4 of the course.

 

3.Programming Environment

Aside from the aforementioned software, it is highly recommended that the participants have access to any of the following programming environments.

  • MATLAB: MATLAB, developed by MathWorks, is the easiest and most productive software environment for engineers and scientists. Please note that it is proprietary software.
  • Octave: Octave is an open source interactive editor and prompt, and has a built-in Matlab compatibility. It is an excellent alternative to Matlab. For further information regarding download and installation, please visit http://wiki.octave.org/Octave_for_MacOS_X#Octave_4.0.2_VM_installer_for_Mac_OS_X_10.10_Yosemite.2C_10.11_El_Capitan.2C_10.12_Sierra
  • Python: Python is an easy to learn and even easier to use programming language. For more information regarding documentation and download options, please visit https://www.python.org/.

In case the participant is unfamiliar with any of these programming languages, any other programming language of the participant’s choosing would be acceptable, as long as the participant considers themselves capable of following the instructor’s directives for writing some basic and uncomplicated test programs (during modules 3 and 4 of the course).  

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