The results and winners of the 2009 Digital Forensics Research (DFRWS2009) Challenge were announced at the 9th Annual DFRWS Conference. This challenge delves into gaming consoles from a forensic perspective, combining UNIX file system forensics, memory forensics, and network forensics. The winning submission was from Wouter van Dongen and Alain van Hoof at University of Amsterdam System & Network Engineering…Each year the DFRWS creates a forensic challenge to encourage practitioners and researchers around the globe to tackle emerging technologies from a forensic perspective.
This year the challenge focused on aspects of Sony Playstation3 (PS3). Gaming systems like the PS3 are powerful computer systems that can be a valuable source of evidence in a variety of digital investigations, but their proprietary design and security measures present a variety of challenges from a forensic perspective.
The five submissions this year came from researchers, developers and practitioners in the community. The winning submission provided a thorough analysis of the file system and network traffic, with some information extracted from the physical memory dump. The careful correlation of information from multiple data sources was a major strength of this submission. The results were presented in a very clear manner, and there is a particularly impressive timeline diagram.
Full 2009 Forensic Challenge Results available at: www.dfrws.org/2009/challenge/results.shtml
DFRWS is a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to the sharing of knowledge and ideas about digital forensics research. DFRWS organizes an annual conference and sponsors technical working groups and annual challenges to help drive the direction of research and development.
The first DFRWS Forensic Challenge was released in 2005, focusing on the contents of physical memory on Windows systems. As a result of this effort, Memory Forensics has become a well-established area of digital forensic practice and research.
The 2010 Forensic Challenge will be posted in early 2010 and the winning submission will be announced at the 10th Annual DFRWS Conference will be held in Portland, Oregon on August 2 to 4, 2010.
Ultimately, it is the goal of DFRWS to establish a professional tone and direction for this young, but growing, field. It is notable that many works cite the framework documents resulting from the breakout discussions. The conference is not only a snapshot of the state of the research in the field, but is also a useful pointer towards the future.
Contact Information:
Digital Forensics Research
33 Thornwood Drive, Suite 500
Ithaca, NY 14850
Contact Person:
Eoghan Casey
Board of Directors, Secretary
Phone: 443-451-7331
email: email
Web: www.dfrws.org
