Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

SSD Discore - A Scoring Method for SSD's Data Integrity Validation Using Different Smart Attributes in the Digital Forensics Process


Affiliations
1 Institute of Computer Science and Information Science, Srinivas University, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Solid-state drives (SSD) are replacing hard disk drives (HDD) in the majority of computer systems today. Because SSDs outperform HDDs in terms of efficiency, SSDs are now more necessary to replace HDDs. However, due to uncertain data integrity, SSDs are not forensically sound in design. The data on SSD is continuously changing as a result of Wear Leveling, TRIM and Garbage Collection, which makes data integrity verification in digital forensics challenging. The use of hash algorithms to validate data integrity is crucial in establishing the legitimacy of evidence gathered from suspect systems. In order to shed light on this matter, an experiment was carried out to gather data from an SSD in both user active and user non-active state. The data was then analyzed using the different attributes of Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) to ascertain the data integrity and by proposing a scoring method “SSD DiScore (SSD Data Integrity Score)”, which can aid in digital forensic investigation procedure.

Keywords

SMART, Data Integrity, SSD, Write Blocker, Digital Forensics, SSD DiScore.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • EC Council, “What is Digital Forensics - Phases of Digital Forensics”, Available at www.eccouncil.org/what-is-digital-forensics, Accessed on 2023.
  • P. Cichonski, T. Millar, T. Grance and K. Scarfone, “Computer Security Incident Handling Guide: Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology”, Computer Security Incident Handling Guide, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 1-12, 2012.
  • Z. Shah, N. Mahmood, and J. Slay, “Forensic Potentials of Solid State Drives”, Proceedings of International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks, pp. 113-126, 2014.
  • Manish Kumar, “Solid State Drive Forensics Analysis-Challenges and Recommendations”, Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, Vol. 67, pp. 13-24, 2021.
  • Akinola Ajijola, Pavol Zavarsky and Ron Ruhl, “A Review and Comparative Evaluation of Forensics Guidelines of NIST SP 800-101 Rev. 1: 2014 and ISO/IEC 27037: 2012”, Proceedings of International Conference on World Congress on Internet Security, pp. 66-73, 2014.
  • E. Mistek, M.A. Fikiet, S.R. Khandasammy and I. K. Lednev, “Toward Locard’s Exchange Principle: Recent Developments in Forensic Trace Evidence Analysis”, Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 91, No. 1, pp. 637-654, 2018.
  • Klennet, “Write Blockers are not Effective with SSDs”, Available at www.klennet.com/notes/2018-04-16-write-blocking-ssd.aspx, Accessed on 2023.
  • F. Focus, “Why SSD Drives Destroy Court Evidence, and What Can Be Done About It”, Available at www.forensicfocus.com/articles/why-ssd-drives-destroy-court-evidence-and-what-can-be-done-about-it, Accessed on 27 November 2023.
  • P. M. Bednar, “SSD: New Challenges for Digital Forensics”, Proceedings of International Conference on Association for Information Systems, pp. 1-9, 2011.
  • Infosec Institute, “Rock Solid: Will Digital Forensics Crack SSDs, Infosec Resources”, Available at www.resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/ssd-forensics, Accessed on 2013.
  • K. Vyas, “How Long Does an SSDs Last? Calculate Your SSD’s Lifespan”, Available at www.enterprisestorageforum.com/hardware/ssd-lifespan-how-long-will-your-ssd-work, Accessed on 2023.
  • Tech Community Microsoft, “Understanding SSD Endurance: Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD), Terabytes Written (TBW), and the Minimum Recommended for Storage Spaces Direct”, Available at www.techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/33564, Accssed on 2023.
  • Crystal Disk Info, “Crystal Dew World”, Available at www.crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo. Accessed on 2023.
  • Collibra, “Data Quality and Scoring” Available at: www.collibra.com/us/en/blog/the-6-dimensions-of-data-quality, Accessed on 28 November 2023.
  • Interpol, “Digital forensics,” Available www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Innovation/Digital-forensics, Accessed on 28 November 2023.
  • M. Jazzar and M. Hamad, “Comparing HDD to SSD from a Digital Forensic Perspective”, Proceedings of International Conference on Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems: ICPS 2021, pp. 169-181, 2022.
  • R.A. Ramadhan, P.R. Setiawan and D. Hariyadi, “Digital Forensic Investigation for Non-Volatile Memory Architecture by Hybrid Evaluation Based on ISO/IEC 27037: 2012 and NIST SP800-86 Framework”, IT Journal Research and Development, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 162-168, 2022.

Abstract Views: 36

PDF Views: 0




  • SSD Discore - A Scoring Method for SSD's Data Integrity Validation Using Different Smart Attributes in the Digital Forensics Process

Abstract Views: 36  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Abdul Shareef Pallivalappil
Institute of Computer Science and Information Science, Srinivas University, India
S.N. Jagadeesha
Institute of Computer Science and Information Science, Srinivas University, India

Abstract


Solid-state drives (SSD) are replacing hard disk drives (HDD) in the majority of computer systems today. Because SSDs outperform HDDs in terms of efficiency, SSDs are now more necessary to replace HDDs. However, due to uncertain data integrity, SSDs are not forensically sound in design. The data on SSD is continuously changing as a result of Wear Leveling, TRIM and Garbage Collection, which makes data integrity verification in digital forensics challenging. The use of hash algorithms to validate data integrity is crucial in establishing the legitimacy of evidence gathered from suspect systems. In order to shed light on this matter, an experiment was carried out to gather data from an SSD in both user active and user non-active state. The data was then analyzed using the different attributes of Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) to ascertain the data integrity and by proposing a scoring method “SSD DiScore (SSD Data Integrity Score)”, which can aid in digital forensic investigation procedure.

Keywords


SMART, Data Integrity, SSD, Write Blocker, Digital Forensics, SSD DiScore.

References