Digital Forensic Methods Using Systematic Artifacts of Imaging

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Abstract:The objective of this project is to develop novel digital forensic techniques and support it with experimental validation for later technology transfer to forensic investigators. The goal of digital forensics is to establish the origin, integrity, processing history, and meaning of evidence in digital form that includes digital images, video, or audio. This is an emerging and rapidly developing field typically approached using methods from signal processing, estimation, and detection combined with machine learning. The main thrust of this project is development of forensic methods that rely on systematic artifacts of imaging sensors due to sensor design, in-camera signal processing, and imperfections of the sensor manufacturing process itself. These artifacts form an equivalent of a digital sensor fingerprint. By detecting the fingerprint in a digital image, one can link a given image to the specific camera/sensor that took it and establish thus the image origin and integrity or uncover the image processing history. Some of the research directions are highly relevant and complex problems that have not been addressed before, such as the possibility to detect attempts to forge the fingerprint. Other tasks involve using existing concepts in a novel manner or substantially improve upon existing technology. One of them is to group images according their source camera without having the cameras. The developed methods are subject to large scale experimental verification on a hundred thousand images obtained from more than 1000 cameras.