Windows Memory Forensic Data Visualization

Abstract

Modern criminal investigators face an increasing number of computer-related crimes that require the application of digital forensic science. The major challenge facing digital forensics practitioners is the complicated task of acquiring an understanding of the digital data residing in electronic devices. Currently, this task requires significant experience and background to correctly aggregate the data their tools provide from the digital artifacts. Most of the tools available present their results in text files or tree lists. It is up to the practitioner to mentally capture a global understanding of the state of the device at the time of seizure and find the items of evidentiary interest. This research focuses on the application of Information Visualization techniques to improve the analysis of digital forensic evidence from Microsoft Windows memory captures. The visualization tool developed in this work presents both global and local views of the evidence based on user interactions with the graphics. The resulting visualizations provide the necessary details for verifying digital artifacts and assists in locating additional items of relevance. This proof-of-concept model can be modified to support various digital forensic target platforms including Mac OS X, Linux, and Android.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 12, 2014
Accession Number
ADA602889

Entities

People

  • James B. Baum

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Computational Forensics
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Crime
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Mining
  • Data Visualization
  • Information Systems
  • Internet
  • Operating Systems
  • Spreadsheet Software
  • United States
  • Visualizations
  • Web Browsers
  • Word Processors

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Data Science/Digital Signal Processing.
  • Criminal Law
  • Database Systems and Applications

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems