Enhancement of Computer Forensics assisted by Biometric Technology

Abstract

Computers are widely used for many different purposes, ranging from normal daily tasks like word processing to browsing the internet. With the increase in computer usage, the inevitable happens – groups of people use these computers to perform unlawful tasks such as posting individual persons private information online, hacking into bank accounts, stealing internet user information and more. These actions are criminal and punishable in many countries. The rise in computer crime has led to the field of computer forensics which attempts to obtain evidence from a piece of hardware a particular person committing the crime has used.

There are many tools available in order to retrieve data from computers even though the hard drive may have been formatted. Unfortunately, retrieving stolen data from a criminal may result in plausible deniability – a field where computer forensics fails to prove the data ownership and the evidence may be dismissed. For the above reason, the authors propose biometric technology that potentially enhances computer forensics.

In this paper, the authors will discuss ways to integrate biometrics into computer hardware in order to detect the identity of the current user through storage of a user’s ear, fingerprint, lips and iris signatures.

Authors: B. Venkata Durga Kumar, Terence Le Grange

Published: ISBC 2010, Malaysia