All Outputs (33)

NapierOne: A modern mixed file data set alternative to Govdocs1 (2022)
Journal Article
Davies, S. R., Macfarlane, R., & Buchanan, W. J. (2022). NapierOne: A modern mixed file data set alternative to Govdocs1. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 40, Article 301330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsidi.2021.301330

It was found when reviewing the ransomware detection research literature that almost no proposal provided enough detail on how the test data set was created, or sufficient description of its actual content, to allow it to be recreated by other resear... Read More about NapierOne: A modern mixed file data set alternative to Govdocs1.

Differential Area Analysis for Ransomware Attack Detection within Mixed File Datasets (2021)
Journal Article
Davies, S. R., Macfarlane, R., & Buchanan, W. J. (2021). Differential Area Analysis for Ransomware Attack Detection within Mixed File Datasets. Computers and Security, 108, Article 102377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102377

The threat from ransomware continues to grow both in the number of affected victims as well as the cost incurred by the people and organisations impacted in a successful attack. In the majority of cases, once a victim has been attacked there remain o... Read More about Differential Area Analysis for Ransomware Attack Detection within Mixed File Datasets.

Evaluation of Live Forensic Techniques in Ransomware Attack Mitigation (2020)
Journal Article
Davies, S. R., Macfarlane, R., & Buchanan, W. J. (2020). Evaluation of Live Forensic Techniques in Ransomware Attack Mitigation. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 33, Article 300979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsidi.2020.300979

Ransomware continues to grow in both scale, cost, complexity and impact since its initial discovery nearly 30 years ago. Security practitioners are engaged in a continual "arms race" with the ransomware developers attempting to defend their digital i... Read More about Evaluation of Live Forensic Techniques in Ransomware Attack Mitigation.

Wi-Fi Channel Saturation as a Mechanism to Improve Passive Capture of Bluetooth Through Channel Usage Restriction (2019)
Journal Article
Lowe, I., Buchanan, W. J., Macfarlane, R., & Lo, O. (2019). Wi-Fi Channel Saturation as a Mechanism to Improve Passive Capture of Bluetooth Through Channel Usage Restriction. Journal of Networking Technology, 10(4), 124-155. https://doi.org/10.6025/jnt/2019/10/4/124-155

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology that provides audio and data links between personal smartphones and playback devices, such as speakers, headsets and car entertainment systems. Since its introduction in 2001, security researchers have s... Read More about Wi-Fi Channel Saturation as a Mechanism to Improve Passive Capture of Bluetooth Through Channel Usage Restriction.

The Importance of Authenticity in Cyber Security Training and Education (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Macfarlane, R., & Mata de Acuna, J. (2019, November). The Importance of Authenticity in Cyber Security Training and Education. Presented at JISC Security Conference, Newcastle, England

The knowledge gap between academy and industry is a challenging issue that educators face every day. In the field of cyber security, it is important that students understand the need of adapting and acquiring new skills that allow them to put their t... Read More about The Importance of Authenticity in Cyber Security Training and Education.

System and method for management of confidential data (2018)
Patent
Buchanan, B., Lo, O., Macfarlane, R., Penrose, P., & Ramsay, B. (2018). System and method for management of confidential data. GB2561176A

This application is for a method of data management to identify confidential digital content on a database by first receiving a management request 302 from a system 304 to carry out data management operations. These include the identification of data... Read More about System and method for management of confidential data.

Method for identification of digital content (2018)
Patent
Buchanan, B., Lo, O., Penrose, P., Ramsay, B., & Macfarlane, R. (2018). Method for identification of digital content. World Intellectual Property Organization

Many areas oi investigation require searching through data that may be oi interest. One example oi data that may be involved in an investigation is copyrighted material that may be suspected of having been obtained or reproduced illegally by a third... Read More about Method for identification of digital content.

Distance Measurement Methods for Improved Insider Threat Detection (2018)
Journal Article
Lo, O., Buchanan, W. J., Griffiths, P., & Macfarlane, R. (2018). Distance Measurement Methods for Improved Insider Threat Detection. Security and Communication Networks, 2018, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5906368

Insider threats are a considerable problem within cyber security and it is often difficult to detect these threats using signature detection. Increasing machine learning can provide a solution, but these methods often fail to take into account change... Read More about Distance Measurement Methods for Improved Insider Threat Detection.

A methodology for the security evaluation within third-party Android Marketplaces (2017)
Journal Article
Buchanan, W. J., Chiale, S., & Macfarlane, R. (2017). A methodology for the security evaluation within third-party Android Marketplaces. Digital Investigation, 23, 88-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2017.10.002

This paper aims to evaluate possible threats with unofficial Android marketplaces, and geo localize the malware distribution over three main regions: China, Europe; and Russia. It provides a comprehensive review of existing academic literature about... Read More about A methodology for the security evaluation within third-party Android Marketplaces.

Evaluation of TFTP DDoS amplification attack (2015)
Journal Article
Sieklik, B., Macfarlane, R., & Buchanan, W. J. (2016). Evaluation of TFTP DDoS amplification attack. Computers and Security, 57, 67-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2015.09.006

Web threats are becoming a major issue for both governments and companies. Generally, web threats increased as much as 600% during last year (WebSense, 2013). This appears to be a significant issue, since many major businesses seem to provide these s... Read More about Evaluation of TFTP DDoS amplification attack.

Evaluation of the DFET Cloud. (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Buchanan, W. J., Ramsay, B., Macfarlane, R., Smales, A., Keane, E., Callahan, C., …Popov, O. (2015, September). Evaluation of the DFET Cloud. Paper presented at Cybercrime Forensics Education and Training (CFET) conference

The DFET (Digital Forensics Evaluation and Training) Cloud creates new training methods/techniques to support judicial authorities, law enforcement agencies and associated stakeholders in the fight against cybercrime through the development of a virt... Read More about Evaluation of the DFET Cloud..

Teaching penetration and malware analysis in a cloud-based environment. (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Buchanan, W. J., Ramsay, B., Macfarlane, R., Smales, A., & Russell, G. (2015, June). Teaching penetration and malware analysis in a cloud-based environment. Paper presented at UK Workshop on Cybersecurity Training & Education

This paper outlines evaluation of running a private Cloud-based system over two semesters at Edinburgh Napier University for two modules: Security Testing and Advanced Network Forensics (BEng (Hons) level and focused on Penetration testing and Malwar... Read More about Teaching penetration and malware analysis in a cloud-based environment..

Evaluating Digital Forensic Tools (DFTs). (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Flandrin, F., Buchanan, W. J., Macfarlane, R., Ramsay, B., & Smales, A. (2014). Evaluating Digital Forensic Tools (DFTs). In 7th International Conference : Cybercrime Forensics Education & Training

This paper outlines the key methods used in the evaluation of digital forensics tools.

Approaches to the classification of high entropy file fragments. (2013)
Journal Article
Penrose, P., Macfarlane, R., & Buchanan, W. J. (2013). Approaches to the classification of high entropy file fragments. Digital Investigation, 10(4), 372-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2013.08.004

In this paper we propose novel approaches to the problem of classifying high entropy file fragments. We achieve 97% correct classification for encrypted fragments and 78% for compressed. Although classification of file fragments is central to the sci... Read More about Approaches to the classification of high entropy file fragments..

Security issues of a publicly accessible cloud computing infrastructure. (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Russell, G., & Macfarlane, R. (2012, June). Security issues of a publicly accessible cloud computing infrastructure

Edinburgh Napier University runs a custom cloud computing infrastructure for both student and public use. Such access carries dangers, both reputational and legal, as accidental or deliberate acts by users can be dangerous to other systems. This pape... Read More about Security issues of a publicly accessible cloud computing infrastructure..

A forensic image description language for generating test images. (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Russell, G., Macfarlane, R., & Ludwiniak, R. (2012). A forensic image description language for generating test images. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Cybercrime Forensics Education & Training

Digital Forensics is a fast developing job market, as well as being topical and interesting, and as such is an area in which University students are keen to develop and study. At Edinburgh Napier University this topic has been taught with flexible an... Read More about A forensic image description language for generating test images..

Performance and student perception evaluation of cloud-based virtualised security and digital forensics labs. (2011)
Journal Article
Buchanan, W. J., Graves, J., Bose, N., Macfarlane, R., Davison, B., & Ludwiniak, R. (2011). Performance and student perception evaluation of cloud-based virtualised security and digital forensics labs. HEA ICS Conference,

This paper focuses on the integration of virtualised environments within the teaching of computer security and digital forensics, and includes three case studies. The first case study involves assessing student perception on the usage of VMware Works... Read More about Performance and student perception evaluation of cloud-based virtualised security and digital forensics labs..

A methodology to evaluate rate-based intrusion prevention system against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS). (2011)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Buchanan, W. J., Flandrin, F., Macfarlane, R., & Graves, J. (2011). A methodology to evaluate rate-based intrusion prevention system against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS). In Cyberforensics 2011

This paper defines a methodology for the evaluation of a Rate-based Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) for a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) threat. This evaluation system uses realistic background traffic along with attacking traffic, with four... Read More about A methodology to evaluate rate-based intrusion prevention system against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)..

Formal security policy implementations in network firewalls. (2011)
Journal Article
Macfarlane, R., Buchanan, W. J., Ekonomou, E., Uthmani, O., Fan, L., & Lo, O. (2012). Formal security policy implementations in network firewalls. Computers and Security, 31(2), 253-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2011.10.003

Network security should be based around security policies. From high-level natural language, non-technical, policies created by management, down to device and vendor specific policies, or configurations, written by network system administrators. Ther... Read More about Formal security policy implementations in network firewalls..

Cloud-based digital forensics evaluation test (D-FET) platform. (2011)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Buchanan, W. J., Macfarlane, R., Flandrin, F., Graves, J., Fan, L., Ekonomou, E., …Ludwiniak, R. (2011, June). Cloud-based digital forensics evaluation test (D-FET) platform. Paper presented at Cyberforensics 2011

This paper outlines the specification of the Cloud-based DFET platform which is used to evaluate the performance of digital forensics tools, which aim to detect the presence of trails of evidence, such as for the presence of illicit images and determ... Read More about Cloud-based digital forensics evaluation test (D-FET) platform..