Black Hat USA Training 2004
Caesars Palace Las Vegas • July 26-27

Two Day Course

July 24-25 & July 26-27

WetStone Technologies, Inc., Security Horizon and Black Hat are proud to announce the availability of their advanced forensic Steganography Investigation Training Course. This two-day comprehensive course provides detailed information and hands-on experience for individuals responsible for investigating the suspected use of digital steganography. Upon completion of the course, students can expect to have detailed background information about the latest steganography tools, the knowledge necessary to conduct a thorough investigation and the ability to present their findings in a court of law. 

Students will first be given an overview of steganography showing how it is used by criminals and terrorists. They will learn about best-of-breed technologies and how to embed information in both digital image and audio carriers. Unique to this course is that students will have the opportunity to work with a number of steganography tools, allowing them to become familiar with what is available and how each tool may be used in the hidden transmission of information. Once a foundation is established, the course goes on to teach investigative strategies, techniques and tools that will assist in the discovery and preservation of digital evidence. Both forensic and web-based investigative methods will be examined. The course ends with an exercise in which students will be required to complete a thorough investigation and report their findings in a mock courtroom.

This course is hands-on and allows students to use tools and techniques employed by criminals to hide information as well as the methods and strategies necessary to discover and present this evidence. We have recently added a full two-hour intensive investigation for detecting steganography on an imaged drive. All hardware and software will be provided and students will receive a copy of course materials and demonstrated steganography tools. Students will also have the option to purchase WetStone Technologies’ steganography and malware detection products at a special Black Hat conference price. A certificate of completion will be awarded at the end of the course.

Day 1:
Day one starts with an in-depth overview of the history and dangers of digital steganography. Students learn about digital image carriers, digital audio carriers and the steganography tools used to create hidden messages. The extensive introduction is followed by hands-on lab exercises where students have a chance to utilize their understandings of the least significant bit, palette modification, audio encoding and end-of-file hiding steganographic methods. Each student is provided their own state-of-the-art laptop for individual work on the lab exercises.

Day 2:
Day two emphasizes investigation theory and investigation strategies. Students are shown techniques to visually detect steganography without using any specialized tools or advanced technologies. Asking the proper questions and investigating specific clues allow investigators to qualify their suspects. Students learn how to steer an investigation based on the finding of software remnants, registry entries, website history, email messages, digital images and audio files. In order to complete the course, all students must complete a two-hour intense steganographic investigation of an imaged drive and report their evidence to the instructors. By the end of the

Pre-requisites: 
Students will be required to have basic computer skills and knowledge of the Microsoft Windows environment. Students are not required to provide any materials.

Who should attend?

• Law Enforcement
• Intelligence Officers
• Security Consultants
• Corporate Investigators
• Forensic Accountants
• IT Investigators

Chet Hosmer is a co-founder and the President and CEO of WetStone Technologies, Inc. He has over 25 years of experience in developing high technology software and hardware products. During the last 15 years, he has focused on the research and development of information security technologies with specialty areas including cyber forensics, secure time, and intrusion detection and response.

Chet is a co-chair of the National Institute of Justice’s Electronic Crime and Terrorism Partnership Initiative’s Technology Working Group, and was one of five international steganography experts interviewed by ABC News after the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks. Chet is a member of the IEEE and the ACM, and holds a B.S. Degree in Computer Science from Syracuse University. Chet is also the Director of the Computer Forensics Research and Development Center of Utica College.