The DFRWS-USA 2022 Virtual Conference was held Monday July 11 through Thursday, July 14, with times oriented to the continental USA timezones. Our after hours activities included the World Famous Forensics Rodeo, Birds of a Feather session, and the return of our Pub Quiz!
The program is available along with the papers. Over 4 days we featured 14 peer-reviewed research papers, 4 presentations, 4 workshops, and 2 keynotes as well as social activities each evening! Matt Mitchell of CryptoHarlem opened the conference with his keynote on Monday morning, and Samuel Cava of the FBI Multimedia Exploitation Unit gave the keynote on Tuesday morning.
The Best Paper Award went to “Memory Analysis of .NET and .Net Core Applications” by Modhuparna Manna (Louisiana State University), Andrew Case (Volatility Foundation), Aisha Ali-Gombe (Towson University) and Golden Richard (Louisiana State University). Congrats!
DFRWS USA 2022 was held in cooperation with ACM’s SIGSAC.
Conference Location:
On the Internet
usa@dfrws.org
July 11, 2022 to July 14, 2022
Keynotes
Digital Forensics : The Duty to Protect
Matt Mitchell | Crypto HarlemAll technology leaves a trace, and digital artifacts are even more important than ever in advocating for justice. The duty of forensicator is inherent. This need is even more vital in areas of human rights and social justice. Matt Mitchell will lay the case for how to achieve this successfully.
Biography
Matt Mitchell is a hacker, founder CryptoHarlem, and tech fellow to the BUILD program at the Ford Foundation. In his work there, Matt develops cybersecurity strategy for the foundation's grantee partners. In 2021, Matt graced the cover of Newsweek magazine and was named one of America's Greatest Disruptors. That year he was awarded a Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in 2020 named a WIRED25 by Wired magazine, and in 2017 named a Human of The Year by Vice Motherboard.
Matt is a well known security researcher, operational security trainer, and data journalist. His organization CryptoHarlem, hosts impromptu workshops teaching basic cryptography tools to the predominately African American community in upper Manhattan. Matt worked as an independent digital security/counter surveillance trainer for media and humanitarian focused private security firms. His personal work focuses on marginalized, aggressively monitored, over-policed populations in the United States. Matt sits on the Network Investment Council of Reset Tech, and the board of Action Squared Inc.
Matt is a member of the advisory board to the Open Technology Fund and on the board of Action Square. He is formerly a tech advisor to the Human Rights Foundation, and the Internet Freedom Festival. Matt was also an advisor to the Internet Freedom Festival, the Digital Security Exchange, Citizen Clinic at Berkeley University Center for Long Term Cybersecurity, The 4th Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and TurnOut.
Large-scale multimedia review under pressure, from public tips to bodycams -- FBI use cases
Samuel Cava | Multimedia Exploitation Unit, FBIOn April 15, 2013, the FBI was changed forever. On that day, in Boston Massachusetts, two improvised bombs made from pressure cookers would be detonated at the Boston Marathon injuring hundreds and killing 3 innocent people. The FBI's technical resources were put to the test and found to be insufficient for what has become a new investigative normal -- massive multimedia evidence. This keynote will put listeners into the analysis seat and take them on a journey from 2013 to today. While progress is still necessary, the FBI is up to the challenge.
Biography
Samuel J. Cava is the Unit Chief of the Multimedia Exploitation Unit (MXU) in the Operational Technology Division of the FBI. MXU provides leading edge IT solutions and services to law enforcement for the processing and exploitation of digital evidence. MXU provided instrumental support to some of the Nation's largest investigations, including the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, 2018 Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, 2020 civil unrest, and the Jan 6 Capitol Riots.
Prior to his FBI career, Mr. Cava served as the Director of the Department of Defense Biometric Fusion Center during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. As Director, he championed many initiatives, including the creation of DoD's first National biometric system. He came to DoD from West Virginia University where he was the Forensics and Biometrics Program Director.
Mr. Cava started his career as a US Air Force officer. His duty assignments included tours at the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Air Intelligence Center. Mr. Cava is a West Virginia native and received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University, where he studied on an Air Force ROTC scholarship.
Participation
DFRWS invites contributions in the categories listed below. The submission details are listed below under SUBMISSION INFORMATION.
FULL RESEARCH PAPERS undergo double-blinded peer review, and the proceedings are published by Elsevier as a special issue of the Journal of Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation. We ask to submit articles according to the submission instructions.
PRESENTATIONS require a brief proposal (~500 words; not a paper). These proposals undergo a light review process to select presentations of maximal interest to DFRWS attendees, and to filter out sales pitches. Accepted proposals will be given a presentation slot (~15min) during the conference. Note, the presentation/demo will not be part of the published proceedings.
POSTERS and DEMOS allow for the presentation of current research efforts and the discussion of preliminary results with the Digital Forensics Community. Consequently, posters can include early results, a brief demonstration of a prototype or can outline research ideas. Posters will be available on the website and authors have the opportunity to present during breaks to receive feedback from the community. Note, posters will not be part of the published proceedings. Email usa-posters@dfrws.org with you poster submission by July 5 2022 and demos until July 8, 2022.
WORKSHOPS / TUTORIALS can be 2 or 4 hours (please indicate) and ideally include hands-on participation by attendees, allowing for an in-depth, detailed exploration of tools and techniques of interest to DFRWS attendees. Workshops can cover state-of-the-art research projects, useful tips and techniques for standard tools, or most anything that DFRWS attendees would consider beneficial. While commercial tools can be used, these workshops should NOT be thinly-veiled commercial advertisements.
DFRWS will provide one free conference registration for each workshop accepted.
PANEL PROPOSALS should be one to three pages and clearly describe the topic, its relevance, and a list of potential panelists including their biographies (short). Panels will be evaluated based on the topic relevance and diversity of the panelists.
Submission Information
We ask you to submit all contributions via EasyChair (select the appropriate track during submission). Please make sure to follow the submission guidelines on the website. Organizers may reject work that does not follow the listed criteria.
Easychair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=dfrwsusa2022
Topics of Interest
DFRWS welcomes new perspectives that push the envelope of what is currently possible in digital forensic. Potential topics to be addressed by submissions include, but are not limited to:
- Machine learning and data mining for digital evidence extraction/query
- Malware and targeted attacks (analysis and attribution)
- Forensics analysis and visualization of Big Data
- Non-traditional forensic scenarios / contexts
- Network and distributed system forensics
- Mobile and embedded device forensics
- Cloud and virtualized environments
- Vehicle forensics (e.g., drones, cars)
- SCADA / industrial control systems
- Covert channels (e.g. TOR, VPN)
- Implanted medical devices
- Smart power grids
- Smart buildings
- Virtual currency
- Digital forensic preparedness / readiness
- Digital investigation case management
- Digital evidence sharing and exchange
- Digital forensic triage / survey
- Digital forensic tool validation
- Event reconstruction methods and tools
- Digital evidence and the law
- Case studies and trend reports
- Anti-forensics and anti-anti-forensics
Deadlines
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 15, 2022 | Author notification |
| March 31, 2022 | Camera Ready Papers Due |
| April 19, 2022 | Calls for Presentations and Workshops Due |
| April 22, 2022 | Workshop and Presentation Notifications |
| July 5, 2022 | Poster submissions Due |
| July 8, 2022 | Demo Submissions Due |
Committees
Organizing Committee
Conference Chair
Alex Nelson, Ph.D. (NIST)
Conference Vice Chair
Jessica Hyde (George Mason University / Magnet Forensics )
Technical Program Co-Chair
Andrew Case (Volexity)
Technical Program Co-Chair
Frank Breitinger (University of Lausanne)
Secretary
Frank Adelstein, Ph.D. (NFA Digital)
Event Management/Production
Daryl Pfeif (Digital Forensics Solutions and DFRWS)
Keynote Chair
Bradley Schatz, Ph.D. (Schatz Forensic)
Workshops Chair
Matthew Geiger (Qintel)
Advertisement/Sponsorship
Daryl Pfeif
Industry Outreach Chair
David Cowen
Awards Chair
Cheche Agada
Platform Chair
Dave Loveall (FBI)
Platform Vice Chair
Masood Athar
Posters and Demos Chair
Kevin Fairbanks
Birds of a Feather Chair
Michele Giles
Presentations Chair
Dave Loveall (FBI)
Proceedings Chair
Aaron Sparling
Registrations Chair
Xiaodong Lin
Rodeo Chair
Erika Noerenberg (Carbon Black)
Rodeo Vice Chair
Madi Brumbelow
Academia Outreach Chair
Jessica Hyde (George Mason University / Magnet Forensics )
Web Chair
Elizabeth Schweinsberg
Web Vice Chair
Bhargav Rathod
Scholarships Chair
Jessica Hyde
Social Media Chair
Kevin Pagano
Members at Large
Andrew White, Cory Hall, Denise Ferebee, Eoghan Casey, Golden Richard III, Joe Sylve, Mark Guido, Michele Gilles, Nicole Beebe, Sebastian Weigmann, Tim Vidas, Wietse Venema
Technical Program Committee
Andrew Case
Frank Breitinger
University of Lausanne
Frank Adelstein
NFA Digital
Irfan Ahmed
Virginia Commonwealth University
Aisha Ali-Gombe, Ph.D.
Towson University
Saed Alrabaee
United Arab Emirates University
Stefan Axelsson
Stockholm University
Ibrahim Baggili
University of New Haven
Florian Buchholz
James Madison University
Michael Cohen
Rinku Dewri
University of Denver
Karan Dwivedi
Sarah Edwards
Simson Garfinkel
George Washington University and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Zeno Geradts
NFI
Paul Giura
AT&T Security Research Center
Mark Guido
The MITRE Corporation
Farkhund Iqbal
Zayed University
Andrea Lanzi
Universita` degli studi di Milano
Xiaodong Lin, Ph.D.
University of Guelph
Ryan Maggio
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Alex Nelson, Ph.D.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Erika Noerenberg
Carbon Black
Fabio Pagani
University of California Santa Barbara
Fernando Perez-Gonzalez
Universidad de Vigo
Gilbert Peterson
US Air Force Institute of Technology
Tu-Thach Quach
Sandia National Laboratories
Golden Richard III, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University
Sanjay K. Sahay
BITS, Pilani, K.K. Birla Goa Campus
Brendan Saltaformaggio
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mark Scanlon
University College Dublin
Bradley Schatz, Ph.D.
Queensland University of Technology
Elizabeth Schweinsberg
US Digital Service
Ashu Sharma
WatchGuard
Taeshik Shon
Ajou University
Christopher Stelly
University of New Orleans
Wietse Venema, Ph.D.
James Wagner
University of New Orleans
Andrew White
Dell Secureworks
Xiaolu Zhang
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Cliff Zou
University of Central Florida
Registration
DFRWS USA 2022 registration will include access to all presentations, keynotes, workshops, and entrance to the famous rodeo challenge. More details to follow in 2022.
Because the conference is being held online, there is only 1 price, no matter when you register! But wait, there’s more! A Combo ticket is available through March 31 for DFRWS EU, USA, and APAC 2022. A Double ticket is for DFRWS USA and APAC 2022.
Group discounts are available. If you have a group larger than four, please contact usa-registration@dfrws.org.
If you are a student in a Ph.D., Masters, or Bachelors degree program, you may qualify for a student grant covering part or all of your registration fee. The decisions will be made by the organizing committee on a case-by-case basis considering your circumstances, provided evidence, objectives of the conference, and the available/remaining funds. Apply on our Student Scholarship page now. For additional questions, please contact usa-scholarship@dfrws.org.
Virtual Conference Prices
| Type of Registration | Triple - All 3 Conferences | Double - Any 2 Conferences | Single - Just DFRWS USA 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | $300 | $250 | $150 |
| Law Enforcement | $275 | $225 | $125 |
| Student | $200 | $200 | $100 |
Sponsors
Sponsors help DFRWS to produce quality events and foster community. Click a logo to learn more about the sponsor.
Information about sponsorship opportunities is available at: http://www.dfrws.org/sponsorship-opportunities
