Authors: Dr. Asanka P. Sayakkara and Prof. Kasun de Zoysa from the Centre for Digital Forensics (CDF), University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Sri Lanka.
DFRWS APAC 2023
Abstract
Our digital electronics generate electromagnetic radiation. These radiation patterns are shown to be correlating with the internal operations of electronics circuitry. Electromagnetic side-channel analysis (EM-SCA) is the field that exploits electromagnetic radiation emitted from computing devices to exfiltrate sensitive information. EM-SCA can take us to places where the classical digital forensics approaches cannot go. This workshop is aimed at providing the foundation into the exciting field of EM-SCA for digital forensics, arming the participants with the required skills and directions to go deep into this field. During this half-day workshop, the participants will be exposed to the software-defined radio equipment that can be used to acquire electromagnetic radiation, i.e., HackRF SDRs, and the procedure to capture, process, and analyse electromagnetic radiation from a diverse set of devices-under-test (DUT) — including Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, and smartphones — to extract forensically-useful insights.
Bio:
Dr. Asanka P. Sayakkara
Asanka is currently a Senior Lecturer of Computer Science in the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Sri Lanka. In addition to the teaching duties, he serves as the academic coordinator of the Master of Computer Science degree program in the same university. Furthermore, he leads his Signal Insights research group, exploring the domain of electromagnetic side and covert channel domains for both security and forensics purposes. He obtained his PhD in the field of security and digital forensics from University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland in the year 2020. During his PhD studies, Asanka worked with the Forensic & Security Research (ForSec) Group and Artificial Intelligence Solution for Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Smart Systems (ASEADOS) lab of UCD. Before starting my PhD research, I worked with the Sustainable Computing Research (SCoRe) Group at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, until the year 2017. Asanka obtained my bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Colombo School of Computing in the year 2013.
Prof. Kasun De Zoysa
Kasun obtained his BSc in Computer Science from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1998. He obtained his Ph.D. in the area of Information Security from the Department of Computer and System Science at Stockholm University, Sweden in 2003. After a brief period of post-doctoral work at the George Washington University, USA, he joined the faculty of University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Sri Lanka in 2003. At present he works as a Professor in Computer Science, and Advisor for the Forensic Investigation Unit at UCSC.
His research interests include digital forensic, drone communication, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). Prof. De Zoysa involved in various Advisory Committees at government and private organizations such as Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka Police Service, Department of Immigration, Sri Lanka Postal Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank (NSB), Sampath Bank, Seylan Bank, and Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited (CPSTL), as the capacity of Chairperson and Consultant since 2003.
He has contributed over twenty (20) international research and development projects funded by various funding agencies such as World Bank, European Union, National Research Council of Sri Lanka (NRC), The Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) and Internet Society (ISOC). He has published over hundred (100) research papers in international conferences and journals in the area of information security. In addition, he delivered over fifty (50) workshops and seminars in the area of information security for the industry/academia in his expertise since 2003.