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project help ??? modern, relative project ideas,

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(@dermot29)
Posts: 15
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Hi all. I am in my final year of college and have just been tasked with finding a topic for my final year project. The objective of this particular project is to research a specific area to identify problems in that area. The aim is to then come up with something unique, or something different to address this problem. The project also entails producing a piece of software at the end related to the problem/solution.

So far, I have been looking at security of Android, but its a very broad area. I need help identifying specific areas that are problematic, so I can come up with something new. Its very difficult so far, as I have to keep in mind the software I have to produce at the end.

To tell you the truth, I am almost ready to give up on android for something else.

Any topic suggestions would be greatly appreciated, something new, interesting maybe, keeping in mind that software must be produced at the end

Thank you

 
Posted : 16/09/2014 4:52 pm
(@mobileforensicswales)
Posts: 274
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Please search for the word project in the search bar. This comes up time and time again. There are dedicated sticky topics for this

 
Posted : 16/09/2014 6:18 pm
jaclaz
(@jaclaz)
Posts: 5133
Illustrious Member
 

See if the ideas thrown on the table here
http//www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=6574940/#6574940
fit your bill. ?

jaclaz

 
Posted : 18/09/2014 10:59 pm
(@dermot29)
Posts: 15
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Topic starter
 

Thanks for the Link. It is certainly an interesting topic, but possibly a bit too challenging for myself to undertake. I am only beginning to look at android properly, or least mobile devices. I have to date only completed two modules in Digital Forensics which have really only covered the fundamentals of file recovery and Digital investigations.

For considering project topics to date I have been looking at gps and geodata and all the security related issues this brings up. I am interested in how gps has its uses for both pro security, and how it can be used maliciously also.

I wonder if anyone has any opinions on this topic. Is there any new angle I could approach this area related to mobile devices such as android, or has it all been done before ??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 
Posted : 19/09/2014 1:31 am
(@athulin)
Posts: 1156
Noble Member
 

The objective of this particular project is to research a specific area to identify problems in that area. The aim is to then come up with something unique, or something different to address this problem. The project also entails producing a piece of software at the end related to the problem/solution.

OK. I think that's approaching the problem the wrong way it seems to me it would be easier (for you) to identify a specific problem and then attack that, and then possibly generalize it.

That way you have a specific question to start from, instead of a vague and very wide area (such as Android security).

However, you may need to reevaluate your approach is the focus on research or is it on producing a piece of software? (If the latter, your knowledge pf software development and related tools will almost certainly restrict what platform you will use, and that, in turn, may restrict the kind of problems you are able to take on if you 'naturally' program in C#, for example, problems related to other software environments may not be your best choice.

I need help identifying specific areas that are problematic, so I can come up with something new. Its very difficult so far, as I have to keep in mind the software I have to produce at the end.

Well, you are unlikely to come up with something entirely new. But you may find a new slant of an already existing question. Me, I've have a TODO list of research questions that I have encountered during various jobs, and which I have not found to be covered. I expect many other FAs also have something like that – you may even have something like it yourself.

Just as an example

One big question on that list is 'do we really know how NTFS file timestamping work?' There are various articles and other material out there, but they are only rarely done scientifically, and when they are, they're restricted in scope. Much seems to be anecdotal and unspecific, and thus cannot necessarily be repeated by another researcher.

One way to approach that problem would be to write a piece of software that made every possible (well, …) file-related system call in some particular software platform (Win32, .NET, … what have you), and record how those calls modified the original timestamps (and possibly other artifacts) of the file, and analyze and document the changes. Of course, the changes need not be restricted to the target files – they may also affect the directory of those files, and even other areas of NTFS. (For some types of calls, there will be a source and a destination – say, file moving or copying –, and there may be changes in both.)

This could be cut down even more, by restricting the question/problem only to 'ChangeTime' (see FILE_BASIC_INFO). This is usually described as 'when the NTFS record was last changed', but even a minimum of testing shows that that description is incomplete.

Now, I don't think you will be able to approach this particular problem, unless you have a solid grounding in Win32 or .NET software development. You may be able to do it for a simpler platform, such as FAT or UDF or ext2 or … (on Mac) HFS … or (Raspberry) the RISC OS file system … or … . Better choose something you're interested in, you ghave easily available and also small enough to finish in the time you have available.

You may also cut it down, and examine only a subset of system calls, say only those that Microsoft document as belonging to the File Management API, or even just a subset of those.

Or, as Android seems to be a platform you're interested in, you may try to write that kind of software for Android – you will, probably, need to have some kind of Android development experience for this. Starting from scratch means that you need to spend time on learning it, and that effort may burn some of the motivation you have.

Timestamping in general is a fertile area for research, as it is so fundamental to forensic analysis. New or little-studied platforms (Android is comparatively 'new', RISC OS is older, but little studied as far as I can make out) may be good places to dig into.

Good luck!

 
Posted : 19/09/2014 7:38 pm
jaclaz
(@jaclaz)
Posts: 5133
Illustrious Member
 

One big question on that list is 'do we really know how NTFS file timestamping work?' There are various articles and other material out there, but they are only rarely done scientifically, and when they are, they're restricted in scope. Much seems to be anecdotal and unspecific, and thus cannot necessarily be repeated by another researcher.

One way to approach that problem would be to write a piece of software that made every possible (well, …) file-related system call in some particular software platform (Win32, .NET, … what have you), and record how those calls modified the original timestamps (and possibly other artifacts) of the file, and analyze and document the changes. Of course, the changes need not be restricted to the target files – they may also affect the directory of those files, and even other areas of NTFS. (For some types of calls, there will be a source and a destination, and there may be changes in both.)

I would presume "with all due respect for what has been done and shared non-scientifically or that is very restricted in scope". wink

Even when an experiment is done in a repeatable and documented way, it is not like anyone seems willing to repeat it 😯 , just for the record
http//reboot.pro/topic/19746-queer-ntfs-andor-xp-behaviour/

jaclaz

 
Posted : 20/09/2014 12:28 am
(@dermot29)
Posts: 15
Active Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks for the comments. I have been banging my head against a brick wall for two weeks now, trying to find a good topic. I like the ntfs time stamping idea, but am afraid it may be too difficult for me to implement, although I have spent most of my digital forensic classes looking at the hex in file systems, making sense of it all, I fear the coding might be too tricky

Anyway my topic idea is due next week. I started looking at gps and geodata, not specifically in regards to data recovery, but more in relation to security and privacy. Ive been reading about location based services and tracking of individuals, all very interesting stuff. Only today Im having a crisis of confidence with the whole thing. Its a very specialized area. Would be hard to build any kind of software application to address any of the security issues.

Ive started looking at file systems again, data recovery, maybe even gps related. I have good java skills with about one year of digital forensics in college. Ive looked at images, audio, file systems(fat,ntfs)some data carving,email, some basic stuff really.

I wonder does anyone have any suggestions, in line with my capabilities.

I could really do with the help. I plan to get going again tomorrow with research. I will probably continue with the gps stuff for now, in the hope it might all click, maybe look over some old stuff that Ive done to see what I can come up with

thanks

 
Posted : 25/09/2014 4:54 pm
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