Ubuntu 10.10

Evening, 

Ubuntu Logo

On Thursday evening I decided to install Ubuntu 10.10, I thought I should take the plunge after using Linux systems a lot at University. Before Uni I was very competent with Windows systems, and not really knowing any other operating systems getting used to Linux was an interesting challenge. The extra functionality available is amazing compared to Windows, and this has some great benefits for forensic tools based on the Linux system. With Linux's open source philosophy  there are many free tools which perform a multitude of tasks. Another massive benefit of the OS is the security, there are hardly any viruses based at the Linux system and even then it is very difficult to get root access.

I don't think I could use Ubuntu as my main OS just yet, although OpenOffice is a good replacement it does not have all the functionality of Word. The new shapes, and drawing tools in Word are very useful for diagramming. Slowly though I can see Ubuntu becoming my main OS, as I get a bit more used to it.

Forensics in the News

A recent event which took place in the HP building on campus was the Cyber Security Challenge (https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/). It sounds like a really good forum to express forensic knowledge and to show yourself off if you think you have what it takes. There are prizes on offer for competitors, but also the event is looked at by people from the industry. It looks really good, maybe after a few years more experience it would be interesting to enter. 

FCS

Getting to grips with EnCase

EnCase

I am currently in the middle of my first project using EnCase (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EnCase), one of the leading computer forensic tools in the industry. It is a very in-depth tool, so it took some time to get used to all the features, to enable me to find all the evidence in the case study. Writing my first report has proven difficult so far, getting all the evidence collated in an orderly manner and making the explanation coherent. In the last few days it has been coming together nicely. Many other people on my course are talking about the same subject, around this last week more people have commented that they are getting the hang of it. 

EnCase does seem a little bit unstable on the university computers, it is better on my laptop, with the screen going white for extended periods of time while it is working hard. It is apparent that EnCase does have some security flaws, which people are bound to exploit if they are committing illegal activities, hopefully Guidance software continue to work hard at plugging the gaps and remain top of the forensic tools.

The University have very good access to forensic tools, accessed through a virtual machine to a "Forensic Caddy", this allows us to change the time and date settings without permanent damage. It is really important that we get to use the tools first hand, and get to know how to use them. This will hopefully help when trying to secure work after university as experience is now key in the job market.

Introduction

Hi there, I am a first year student at UWE studying Forensic Computing. This is a small blog designed to highlight interesting events from the forensic field, and also show what it is like to live the life of a forensics student.

The reason for starting this was after an interesting talk from David Sullivan (http://www.appointments-uk.co.uk) about putting yourself "out there" to try and gain a position in the forensics field.

An interesting story that I read today was about a man who admitted to rape via facebook (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12505683). It just shows how careful you have to be with social media, and that nothing is truly private any more. There has been a lot of discussion about the disclosure of private information recently, with Wikileaks making all the headlines and phone tapping from the News of the World. The story of Andy Gray and Richard Keys at SkySports also illustrates how sensitive you have to be around technology, what they perceived to be "private jokes" spread over YouTube and the internet rapidly and ended up with two less employees at the station.