Free DME & DFIR Resources

If you haven't already, next time your surfing the glorious WWW on your mobile device stop in and check out dmeresources.com. Although I'm still tweaking for various display sizes, browsers, etc...the entire site, including our Professional Community, is mobile device friendly!

Log on and look up information in our Wiki, Forums, or Downloads right from the scene. When you do, be sure to try both the "Desktop" and "Mobile" versions of the site in your mobile browser to see which one works best for you and your device (you'll find the link at the bottom of the site when browsing from your mobile device).

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or recommendations. And remember, registered members of our community can now log in and submit a trouble ticket if something doesn't seem to be working right for you. As always, thanks for your valuable time and participation!

Someday very soon, if you stroll through Piedmont Park, travel the Downtown Connector, hit one of the bars or restaurants in Midtown or visit the Georgia Dome or Philips Arena, you'll have an invisible companion: the Atlanta Police Department.

This spring, the department will open a video integration center designed to compile and analyze footage from thousands of public and private security cameras throughout the city. Images from as many as 500 cameras in downtown and Midtown are expected to be flowing into the center by mid-summer.

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Apple's security and OS updates included the latest version of QuickTime, which Apple has just made available for Windows PCs.

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Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Is it a standard or is it a guideline? It's both, and it's courtesy of the ISO/IEC JTC (joint technical committee). I've been told the new document was created from a SWGDE guideline, but since you have to purchase the "standard" I couldn't really even tell you what language it is in, because I'm not paying for any document created in a vacuum.

ISO/IEC 27037 News Release

Apple appears to have hit a home run with the new iPod touch, at least in theory. Basically, they've taken all the cool from the iPhone, and removed the requirement for related a monthly cell phone bill. How cool is that? Well, I'll tell 'ya, it's way cool if you didn't already buy the iPhone and get locked into a cellular contract.

Many who've already purchased the iPhone are a bit peeved, as not only are they locked into a cell contract with a carrier they may not have otherwise done business with, but they did so at $200 more than the iPhone's new price! At least Apple is offering them some consolation by sending $100 rebate checks out, but still...ouch.

Locating forensic DME resources just became a bit easier with the introduction of the Media-Geek Forensic DME Resources Map. Several DME related geo-tagging resources are currently being developed, to include a Media-Geek membership geo-tagging feature. Members are encouraged to log-in and update the contact information in their profile, which now includes an option for permitting inclusion in the membership maps.

I've used everything from freeware tools to high-end encoders to accomplish various audio & video trans-coding tasks over the last 15 years or so, and when time permits, I love testing out new tools.  Recently, when installing software on to a new PC, I decided to try another low-cost solution that's been around for quite some time, but I've never used; AVS Video Converter.

The multimedia evidence community has been really buzzing the last couple of years in regards to how useful FFmpeg and Libav can be for dealing with proprietary video formats. Both tools are extremely useful in several aspects of a forensic DME workflow. With that said, however, whether it’s FFmpeg, Libav or another 3rd party tool, there are limitations and causes for concern when using them to process proprietary video file formats.

Back in the days when mechanical hard drives with spinning platters were the norm, you could simply hand your old hard drive to a deserving relative or friend as an upgrade, get a thank you, and call it a day. It’s not so simple with today’s solid-state drives.

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Last week I was back in Albany, NY to provide a free seminar on digital video evidence at the New York State Police Academy, followed by Ocean Systems 3-day DVR Assessment & Video Recovery training course. It was a sold-out class comprised of both students new to the field, as well as very seasoned digital and video evidence technicians and analysts. The end result was a really great week of training and peer networking. Many thanks to all of those who attended, and special thanks to the New York State Police (NYSP) for hosting both events!

The NYSP had a new academy class under way as well, with approximately 250 new recruits marching to-and-from the various classrooms within their renovated facilities. It was very cool to see so much activity at the academy again throughout the entire week. Best of luck to all the recruits in training. Hang in there and regardless of the outcome, thanks for stepping up to the plate!

I frequently get asked by friends and family about how to protect their PC or what software they should use to improve performance.  I've posted about some of the free software tools I use on my home PCs for this in the past, mentioning CCleaner, Advanced System Care, and other freeware tools...and I always recommend they be used in conjunction with a good anti-virus program and software firewall, of course. 

Despite all of the tools I use regularly to guard against malware, I recently stumbled on some pretty stubborn malware that I just couldn't get rid of with the tools I typically use, so I tried IObit's Security 360 Free and it worked like a charm.  Security 360 is designed to remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, bots and worms from 32bit and 64bit Windows  PCs (2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7) and is free for non-commercial use.

If you happen upon some stubborn malware give it a shot.  Hopefully it'll work as well for you as it did for me.  Have a happy & safe 4th of July everybody!

Despite our efforts to educate everyone in the digital evidence chain on the proper way to label and care for CDs, DVDs, and BDs (see CD and DVD Care and Handling: Stop Destroying Your Evidence!), read errors still happen...a lot. Here are two of my favorite tools for repairing and recovering data from disc-based media.