Investigations, Practices and Procedures: Seizure-Forensic Examination-Evidence. Cellular and Satellite Telephones, Call Records-Billing Data, Cell Site Analysis. Telecomms. Computer and Network Analysis. GPS devices & Jammers, Cyber, IoT forensics.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
China Mobile Telephones
Monday, May 07, 2007
Mobile Phones to be used in counter-terrorism
Monday, April 16, 2007
Privacy: Phones, Emails, Internet
The European Courts of Justice gave a further decision recently regarding the importance of Human Rights and the right to Privacy when it comes to communications - Copeland -v- United Kingdom [COPLAND v. THE UNITED KINGDOM - 62617/00 [2007] ECHR 253 (3 April 2007) ]. The impact of this decision will again focus minds on what is reasonable conduct and relevancy of performing the conduct in the first place. The elements to the case of Copeland began in 1998 relating to monitoring of the Complainant's communications, revealed in 2000. However, such monitoring was before the Human Rights Act 1998 came into effect in October 2000 and prior to The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) Regulations 2000 having effect due to the requirements of The Regulations of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Two important elements of the last two pieces of legislation are: prevent or reduce cases of spying on peoples' communications; and remedy by which to measure whether the conduct and actions are unlawful or not.
I have some understanding of these issues. Back in 2001 I was head of a Fraud and Security SIG in the UK for an association whose members spent approx £8B per annum on communications. You could say I used this time over a four year period to increase my forensic skillsets for evidence arising in the workplace. One issue I dealt with in 2001 was Communications Surveillance in the Workplace in responce to the requirements in The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) Regulations.
I generated a discussion document and researched certain relevant issues at that time and the document was circulated to members and other interested parties. It is based on aspects of UK and EU legal issues. I have looked back in archive and have put a .pdf document into a Winrar file, which can be downloaded:
http://www.filebucket.eu//files/25/Communications%20Surveillance%20Workplace.rar.
This document is a 2001 document, so you need to be aware of latency of the document as to its usefulness in today's marketplace and forensic investigation.
A copy of the full Judgment can be found at: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2007/253.html.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
File Signatures Mobile Phone & Computer Forensics
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Recover deleted data Smart/MMC Cards
Friday, February 23, 2007
Can you help?
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Is your cell phone bugged
Vortex (a US company) has produced an online Video, which they say is "to explain this issue in a more demonstrative and somewhat less technical manner..."
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3437321657032158285&hl=en
It raises some quizzical issues. This is not my attempt to be dismissive of what they are saying, but I could not help but think it does rely upon the subjectivity of each mobile phone user to perhaps determine if their battery runs down too quickly or the handset gets hot when not in use that information is being extracted from it.
The video authors do stress that any such use of monitoring mobile phones is not targetted at the general public, but those under surveillance. But that in itself may not stop the general public thinking something maybe up if they find the events occurring that have been suggested .
Whilst videos like this can be informative, they can introduce feelings of worry or paranoia to those who maybe vulnerable to such feelings. Perhaps it might assist, if a mobile phone user thinks this is happening to first rule out common events that the mobile phone may be exposed to:
The mobile
A) had been left in direct sunlight
B) left close to a radiator or devices that emit heat generally in areas (kettles, photocopiers, computers/laptops etc)
C) that the user hasn't just taken the mobile phone out of the coat pocket (obvious I know, but worth saying anyway)
D) reduction in battery power occurs because of resource greedy applications running on the mobile phone
E) does update to the network and in areas were poor radio coverage pockets occur or where the mobile is located at the radio boundary of a Mast's coverage, updating to the network does increase energy consumption (drawn from the battery)
F) where a mobile phone is swtiched OFF and battery still runs low, it could be a fault of a bleed from the battery or that the mobile's firmware is faulty regarding e.g. the clock and draws more power from the battery at a higher rate
G) using broadband might require the ISP or application service to 'ping' the mobile to ensure the account is still connected, which might be a separate event from updating to the network regarding the subscriber IMSI-attach status for example
These are just some observations that might help, but if a mobile user is still concerned, the video does demonstrate a detection method using speakers. But even that may produce a false-positive result. There is of course another method that may eliminate this matter which the video suggests is to remove the mobile phone's battery. OK, but that doesn't take account of when the mobile is switched ON and in the idle mode. If the mobile user still feels uncomfortable, then change to a different or new mobile phone.
Monday, February 19, 2007
USB Profiler mobile 'phone examination
USB Profiler mobile 'phone examination
Friday, February 16, 2007
GPS Mobile Phone Computer Training Shoes
The conventional mobile 'phone looks set to radically undergo a design change, if the above training shoe becomes popular. The internal microphone and speaker fitted into the trainer can be configured to act as a wireless phone. The trainer even comes with a USB port. Problems might arise of course when going through customs or airport security and you are wearing a pair of these. I must confess perhaps to a little apprehension regarding having to examine this type of exhibit. Will be adding odour eaters and Fabreeze to my forensic examiners toolkit.
To find out more click on the Technologies tab at the bottom of home page - http://www.isaacdaniel.com/fele.htm
Saturday, February 03, 2007
GSM Radio Test Measurements - Non-Dominance
Readers and cell site analysis students will recall the thread at http://trewmte.blogspot.com/2007/01/gsm-radio-test-measurements.html regarding GSM Radio Test Measurements. In that thread the discussion related to possible anomalies and interpretation regarding radio test measurements. In this thread I want to highlight another radio anomaly termed non-dominance that may occur.
Generally speaking, non-dominance occurs when radio coverage from two or more radio sources are equally aligned so that they all become dominant. The rare event in Screen Image 1 displays coverage quality and signal strengths of four radio sources are all equal to each other, in a confined area, where the receiver is in the idle mode and at ground level. Attempting to define that one particular Mast would be used to make or receive a mobile call in these circumstances might be difficult. The problems interpreting outcomes due to non-dominance could be numerous. For instance:
i) Who is to say that the receiver camped on a Mast's coverage shown by ACT would actually use that Mast? The coverage at NC2, NC3 and NC4 are equally as likely to be candidates to carry a mobile call.
ii) What happens in the case that the Mast's coverage upon which the receiver is camped at ACT the Mast is not actually best placed or line of sight with the receiver and in other circumstance would not be considered at first instance to serve the geographical area? The receiver under these conditions could be placed in an entirely different geographical area simply from summarising the Mast details shown in the mobile call records.
iii) When call setup (OACSU) takes place and a connection made it could be possible a mobile ‘phone starts a connection for less than a second on the Mast at ACT but forced into hard handover immediately thereafter thus shifts the call to another Mast (say, NC4)? It could be possible the Mast at ACT is shown as the Mast in the call records, which could be rather misleading when attempting to consider geographical location of the mobile telephone when compared to a particular mobile call.
iv) How can the radio examiner, from looking at historical records, correspond radio test measurements against the outward set of event elements recorded in call records? Non-dominance may mean a series of calls being made at one location handled by numerous Masts – thus may amount to a suggestion from analysis of the Masts usage from the call records that the mobile is on the move when in fact it is rather confined to an area. Non-dominance may result in a high number of short duration mobile calls shown in the call records. The short duration calls may not be due to the user terminating the calls, but rather the network dropping the calls.
I introduced, I believe, GSM non-dominance as an important radio anomaly to be considered regarding evidence of radio test measurements into the first criminal case in the UK back in 2003 at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey). GSM non-dominance was identified and shown in my evidence. Three other experts appearing for the prosecution or other defendants received my report. Acceptance of my results and findings were agreed and no challenges were made. However, I should point out that the discovery that non-dominance can occur for radio coverage was not my invention but arose from radio propagation studies by mobile network radio engineers endeavouring to agree anomalies for radio principles. The non-dominance principle had already been adopted for the Tetra standards and is accepted in GSM radio parlances as a noteworthy event. Therefore, I was fairly well armed with other independent findings.
The purpose of this discussion thread is to provide yet another example of radio conditions that can prevail when conducting GSM radio test measurements. That simply analysing call records may only present half a picture – a trompe l’oiel ( a lie to the eye) if you will.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Master Password Unlock
I have received requests for copies of the 2006 supplement edition of Mobile Telephone Evidence (MTE) Newsletter Vol4-MTE-03-2006 supp: 002 regarding Master Password Unlock for Nokia mobile telephones.
http://www.filebucket.net/files/1597_knksh/Handset%20Password%20Unlock.rar
Sunday, January 21, 2007
MD5 Collisions
Here is some addtionally reading on MD5 collisions, which was another cryptographic algorithm (like SHA-1) cracked back in 2005.
http://www.cits.rub.de/MD5Collisions/
SHA-1 Secure Hash Algorithm Cracked
An interesting article about it at:
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-1-11/50336.html
Thursday, January 18, 2007
GSM Radio Test Measurements
Radio Test Measurements 1
The screen image (Radio Test Measurements 1) represents the output results of radio coverage detected at the receiver (mobile telephone) and represent a single static view of that coverage at one instance. During cell site analysis there will be many screens obtained but for the purposes of this discussion this single screen image will do the job. Firstly, the reader will need to comprehend, at least, an interpretation that can be given to the identifiers in the screen image above.
1. Chan: this indicator refers to the Broadcast Control Channel number.
2. RxLv: this indicator refers to the received strength of signal at the test handset measured in deciBel milliwatts, (dBm), where dBm is the notion for the measurement of power of the received radio signal e.g -75dBm.
3. C1: this is a quality indicator (path loss criterion) and is used for cell selection and cell reselection. The parameters are determined from the signal strength, the minimum received power levels for initiation of signals between the mobile and network, the maximum transmit power for accessing the network and the power of the mobile phone itself.
4. C2: this is an indicator used only for cell reselection optimisation and identifies parameters to aid the mobile phone in its cell reselection process.
5. 'ACT' denotes the strongest, thus dominant, serving cell coverage at that location providing the best quality associated with the BCCH number (Chan). Meaning the mobile telephone has completed the cell selection/reselection processes for normal service and has chosen a cell from which it plans to receive all available services (known as "camping on a cell").
6. 'NC2-NC6' denotes other cells available in an area that may equally offer service, but that the mobile phone has not camped upon them. However, the mobile network is aware that the mobile phone has choices available to it. Displayed beside the NCs are the cells, identified by their respective Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) numbers.
More on Cell Site Analysis: http://cellsiteanalysis.blogspot.com
Monday, January 15, 2007
Forensic CaseNotes
John Douglas of QCC Information Security (http://www.qccis.com/content.php?section=forensics) has produced a new program for preparing contemporaneous notes during examination. Forensic CaseNotes is available free of charge. Nice one, John.
Introduction
The purpose of CaseNotes is to provide a single lightweight application program to run on the Microsoft Windows platform to allow forensic analysts and examiners of any discipline to securely record their contemporaneous notes electronically.
The main features are:
- Flexible configuration of case meta-data (case details, like the reference number, etc.)
- Secure “write-once, read-many” style of case note data capture
- Full audit trail of case note data entry and meta data edits in a self contained log
- Tamper evident storage of data using internal MD5 hashes for all data entered
- No use of heavy database technologies – all you need is the program and your case file
- Use of AES 512bit encryption (optional) to further secure data in sensitive cases
- Storage of configuration information in a user editable text based .ini file
- Support for running multiple copies of CaseNotes at the same time Tested and works in languages other than English (Japanese, Russian, Greek, Italian, ...)
- Tested on Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows Vista. (sorry if you use a Mac)
- It’s free! That means no dongles and no restrictions on how many copies you use!
CaseNotes Quick Start Guide
http://www.gastric.com/casenotes/CaseNotesQuickStartGuide.pdf
CaseNotes Setup Program
http://www.gastric.com/forensics/CaseNotesSetup.msi
*Microsoft .NET framework v 2.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en
*John Douglas informs http://trewmte.blogspot.com that Microsoft .NET framework v 2.0 is required to be installed.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Blackberry to include Push To Talk (PTT)
I have learned, having entered a licencing agreement, Research In Motion (RIM) are to launch a Blackberry version that has Push To Talk with PTT technology provider Kodiak Networks. A Java version of the Kodiak handset client is to be intergrated into RIM's Blackberry handsets, so I learned. Kodiak also has supporting mobile application suite features, such as: availability status, call me alerts, call waiting, contact list privacy, voice messaging and convert-to-cellular capabilities.
With ever increasing features and functions, Blackberry's are definitely going to get more difficult to examine. Note I said "more difficult" and not used the word "impossible". It takes a number of hours to deal with current versions of Blackberry. With increasing features, start to expect examination times to increase between 1-2 days per device.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
3G USIM-Detective Training Course 2007
This core course introduces mobile telephone examiners and computer investigators to foundation information about Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card computer architecture, operating functionality, file structures and elementary files. The course is intended to assist delegates understand the complexity of 3G USIM cards and potential locations where user and network data can be recorded.
Ideally, delegates on this course should already have undertaken study into GSM SIM cards as the course requires delegates to also examine 3G USIM cards using Quantaq Solutions USIM-Detective software.
Courses: March, April and May 2007
http://rapidshare.com/files/10245341/USIM-Detective_datahseet_2007.pdf.html
Downloading from Rapidshare:
1. Click the above URL link or copy and paste into browser address bar
2. Go to bottom of Rapidshare html page displayed and click box that says FREE
3. Enter the four alphanumeric code into box that says "here"
4. Click Download (that also displays mirror site from which download is being obtained)
5. File download dialogue box appears, choice Open or Save
3G USIM-Detective Training Course 2007
This core course introduces mobile telephone examiners and computer investigators to foundation information about Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card computer architecture, operating functionality, file structures and elementary files. The course is intended to assist delegates understand the complexity of 3G USIM cards and potential locations where user and network data can be recorded.
Ideally, delegates on this course should already have undertaken study into GSM SIM cards as the course requires delegates to also examine 3G USIM cards using Quantaq Solutions USIM-Detective software.
Courses: March, April and May 2007
http://rapidshare.com/files/10245341/USIM-Detective_datahseet_2007.pdf.html
Downloading from Rapidshare:
1. Click the above URL link or copy and paste into browser address bar
2. Go to bottom of Rapidshare html page displayed and click box that says FREE
3. Enter the four alphanumeric code into box that says "here"
4. Click Download (that also displays mirror site from which download is being obtained)
5. File download dialogue box appears, choice Open or Save
Cell Site Analysis EMTE Training Course 2007
Cell Site Analysis EMTE Training Course 2007
Understand the core elements involved in the GSM mobile telephone network and how when combining their use can be used to assist determine geographical location of a mobile telephone for criminal cases and investigation purposes.
Download a copy of the data sheet content for our Cell Site Analysis EMTE Training Course to be run in February and March 2007. Places are limited, as only 10 delegates can attend per course. This is a three day course.
http://rapidshare.com/files/10241385/Cell_Site_Analysis_EMTE_Training_Course_2007.pdf.html
Downloading from Rapidshare:
1. Click the above URL link or copy and paste into browser address bar
2. Go to bottom of Rapidshare html page displayed and click box that says FREE
3. Enter the four alphanumeric code into box that says "here"
4. Click Download (that also displays mirror site from which download is being obtained)
5. File download dialogue box appears, choice Open or Save