Forensic Attribution Challenges During Forensic Examinations Of Databases by Werner Karl Hauger Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science (Computer Science) in the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology University of Pretoria, Pretoria September 2018 Publication data: Werner Karl Hauger. Forensic Attribution Challenges During Forensic Examinations Of Databases. Master's disser- tation, University of Pretoria, Department of Computer Science, Pretoria, South Africa, September 2018. Electronic, hyperlinked versions of this dissertation are available online, as Adobe PDF files, at: https://repository.up.ac.za/ Forensic Attribution Challenges During Forensic Examinations Of Databases by Werner Karl Hauger E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract An aspect of database forensics that has not yet received much attention in the aca- demic research community is the attribution of actions performed in a database. When forensic attribution is performed for actions executed in computer systems, it is nec- essary to avoid incorrectly attributing actions to processes or actors. This is because the outcome of forensic attribution may be used to determine civil or criminal liabil- ity. Therefore, correctness is extremely important when attributing actions in computer systems, also when performing forensic attribution in databases. Any circumstances that can compromise the correctness of the attribution results need to be identified and addressed. This dissertation explores possible challenges when performing forensic attribution in databases. What can prevent the correct attribution of actions performed in a database? The first identified challenge is the database trigger, which has not yet been studied in the context of forensic examinations. Therefore, the dissertation investigates the impact of database triggers on forensic examinations by examining two sub questions.