Functional Architectural Design of a Digital Forensic Readiness Cybercrime Language as a Service

Abstract

Developing a generic digital forensic solution in a cloud computing platform that can address the functional requirements of digital forensic stakeholders is a complex process. The solution would require a technology-independent architectural design that addresses the challenges of incident threat identification, triggering, incident threat isolation and investigation. Existing approaches are limited to the functionality that treats these four challenges individually without the due diligence to consider their interoperability. This study proposes a context-independent and technology-neutral architecture to address these issues by developing a digital forensic readiness (DFR) based on a human language communication interaction (HLI) system that could create a cybercrime language as a service (DFClaaS). The functional architectural design of the proposed DFR HLI DFClaaS system comprises microservices, layered and event/component-based architectural patterns on top of cloud architectural patterns. The DFR HLI DFClaaS system integrates flexibility and other quality requirements to separate concerns while accommodating rigid requirements like security and reliability. The developed architecture is essential for any human-centred digital forensic solution. Therefore, integrating the developed architecture presents a reliable baseline for the digital forensic community.

Conceptual Model for Crowd-Sourcing Digital Forensic Evidence

“…Digital forensic science is drawn from the traditional science of forensics developed in conjunction with the biological sciences and has undergone a continuous growth that encompasses all digital devices [7] [8] [9][10] [11]. It mainly emerged from forensic science, which is a larger body of knowledge in which science is used to solve crime [12] [13] [14]. Furthermore, it has been defined as the use of "scientifically derived and proven mathematical methods toward the preservation, collection, validation, identification, analysis, interpretation, documentation and proper expertise witness presentation of digital evidence, derived from digital sources to facilitate or further the reconstruction of events found to be criminal", or helping to anticipate unauthorized actions" [15] [7].…”

Proof of Concept of a Digital Forensic Readiness Cybercrime Language as a Service

“…Building upon the insights presented in the study titled "Functional Architectural Design of a Digital Forensic Readiness Cybercrime Language as a Service" (Baror et al, 2023), our research seeks to implement the proposed solution as a response to the surge in cybercrimes. Inspired by the functional architectural design presented in the mentioned paper, our study aims to revolutionize the approach to cybercrime by developing the Digital Forensic Cybercrime Language as a Service (DFClaaS) system.…”

“…Our methodology involves constructing a high-level model based on the architectural design proposed by Baror et al (2023), and subsequently implementing a proof-of-concept. Leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, including Large Language Models, sentiment analysis, and lexicon analysis, to create an efficient and effective tool for combating cybercrimes.…”