| | |  | Computer Security | Home » » CD and DVD Forensics | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | CD and DVD Forensics will take the reader through all facets of handling, examining, and processing CD and DVD evidence for computer forensics. At a time where data forensics is becoming a major part of law enforcement and prosecution in the public sector, and corporate and system security in the private sector, the interest in this subject has just begun to blossom.
CD and DVD Forensics is a how to book that will give the reader tools to be able to open CDs and DVDs in an effort to identify evidence of a crime. These tools can be applied in both the public and private sectors. Armed with this information, law enforcement, corporate security, and private investigators will be able to be more effective in their evidence related tasks. To accomplish this the book is divided into four basic parts: (a) CD and DVD physics dealing with the history, construction and technology of CD and DVD media, (b) file systems present on CDs and DVDs and how these are different from that which is found on hard disks, floppy disks and other media, (c) considerations for handling CD and DVD evidence to both recover the maximum amount of information present on a disc and to do so without destroying or altering the disc in any way, and (d) using the InfinaDyne product CD/DVD Inspector to examine discs in detail and collect evidence.
*This is the first book addressing using the CD/DVD Inspector product in a hands-on manner with a complete step-by-step guide for examining evidence discs
* See how to open CD's and DVD'd and extract all the crucial evidence they may contain
* Included free is a trial version of author's market leading software "CD/DVD Inspector" | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Paul Crowley | | Paperback:
| 320 pages | | Publisher:
| Syngress | | Publication Date:
| March 12, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1597491284 | | Product Length:
| 8.94 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.06 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.85 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.92 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.01 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.87 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.01 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 7 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 7 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Thinly veiled ad for their productDec 08, 2006
By J. C. Gordon
The book has some info at the beginning, but most of the book is dedicated to showing you how to use their $549 product "CD/DVD Inspector". You're better off with something like "File System Forensic Analysis".
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 CD/DVD Inspector Manual/ with valuable information about CD/DVD forensicsAug 21, 2008
By Robert
"Linux User, Attorney, Hacker"
This book provides vital information about hidden data found on CD and DVD Forensics (I am unaware of any other competing book on this topic). My biggest issue with this book is that CD/DVD Inspector Tool costs over 500 dollars (law enforcement receives a discount) -- the book claims to offer a demo version from the website -- after going to the website-- it appears that you must specifically request a demo copy from the company. There is an alternative product called ISObuster which is mentioned in the book which performs many of the functions the CD/DVD Inspector tool discussed in the book. Given the cost of the book, I would have desired a more balanced analysis of other tools avaliable, in addition, to the CD/DVD Inspector Tool. After reviewing the book and supplemental information online about CD/DVD formats much of the functionality is avaliable through less expensive tools on Windows or using regular command line tools typically included in most Linux distributions. I recommend the book primarily because there seems to be a lack of alternative resources discussing this highly specialized topic.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
CD and DVD ForensicsFeb 21, 2007
By William E. Wiersma
"Techguy"
Review of CD and DVD Forensics by Paul Crowley
An extremely technical , well written book covering all aspects of CDs and DVDs. From the opening paragraph you know that you should be a Medical Examiner to truly understand all of the ramifications of these types of storage media.
In depth coverage of the media itself, is followed by the file structure on CD and DVD media as well as potential problems you can encounter using the forensic recovery processes. Software is described that can be of assistance, types of drives, cleaning products and handling techniques, are covered in detail.
Use of the primary recovery software is covered in extreme detail over nearly 100 pages. If you are truly serious about file recovery, in a most professional manner and varied circumstances, get the book and follow the step by step processes described. This book is not meant for a casual read about CDs and DVDs.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Only worth buying if you use or want to learn the CD/DVD Inspector applicationFeb 07, 2007
By Ben
I am sure if you wish to learn CD/DVD Inspector, or use it regularly, this book is one to buy. I have also heard that this book is used as a text in a CD DVD course being offered. However, if this is not what you are doing, then I would suggest that you look elsewhere, as this is not a well rounded introduction to the field nor the output of a study. To me the CD and DVD Forensics text read more like the 'missing manual' for the application than truly useful information. I guess I was a little disappointed with this, as I don't believe the title nor the blurb conveyed the extent of the product tie in.
Physically, the book is printed on low quality paper and is quite thin, the font size used is huge and approximately 1/5 of the book is made up of the glossary and the table of contents. The photographs and images used are also of a low quality, which is a shame.
However, I will keep this book on hand because it does have some interesting information within it, and in case I ever need to use the CD/DVD Inspector application. Certainly not a well-rounded book though.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Some info on these media formats, but basically a manual for softwareDec 31, 2006
By jose_monkey_org
"jose_monkey_org"
I got a review copy of CD and DVD forensics in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and immediately two thoughts came to mind. First, I honestly didn't ever think about these media types in a forensic examination, and so it was a bit unexpected to see a book on them. The author, Paul Crowley, does a good job of explaining why these media types are important to the forensic examiner. Secondly, I began to wonder if it would compare favorably to Brian Carrier's excellent "Filesystem Forensic Analysis". Crowley's book doesn't, but given that Carrier has set such a high bar, it's not surprising.
Chapter 1 dives right into it, covering a lot of CDROM and DVD disc physical attributes and some common layout features. Chapter 2 is a similarly thorough treatment of the logical layout and describes a lot of the fliesystems commonly found in optical media. In this chapter some additional images and illustrations would have helped.
Chapter 3 is surprisingly short, and it introduces binary forensic images. There's little treatment, if any, given to how to collect them. I'm not clear why this chapter was so short or even standalone. Chapter 4 is a bit longer, but also quite short. It covers collecting CD and DVD evidence. There are some useful tips and insights in this chapter, but again it's so short. Chapter 5, "Preparing for disc examination" is a bit longer again, and contains some useful information. There's some useful information here, and some more in depth treatment would have been appreciated.
Chapter 6 starts the real meat of the book, the CD/DVD Inspector manual. This is a lengthy chapter with good illustrations, organization, and a full treatment of the specific messages given by the software. A pretty standard overview of the software package, specific to it as well.
Chapter 7 is, sadly, a short chapter on using CD/DVD Inspector. I say this is sad because a more thorough treatment with insights and exercises would have been valuable. As it stands it's basically tossing you in the deep end. Chapter 8, "Advanced tasks with CD/DVD Inspector", is quite similar. Again, a longer, fuller treatment of the tasks would have been great.
Chapters 9 and 10 are real letdowns because they treat such important material ("Reporting your findings" and "Things to keep in mind", respectively) so cursorily. Just a few pages apiece (Chapter 10 is all of one page!). Real insights would have been valuable here.
Appendix A is useful and covers "Disk swap modifications", and finally a lengthy glossary rounds out the book.
While the material is presented clearly (both the text and the illustrations), it's not presented completely in most chapters. This feels like an exercise without much value beyond being a manual for the software and some introductions and overviews of CD and DVD filesystems. All in all this book should go back to the author for a full fleshing out. I give it three stars on the basis of its strengths, but I think it's more of a 2.5 star book overall.
If you're looking for forensics material, this may wind up on your bookshelf, but see if you can get this book at a steep discount. It's incomplete for the novice or student and focuses specifically on one software package. I hope that any future editions are more complete.
See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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