Advanced Framework for Digital Forensic Technologies and Procedures*

Abstract: Recent trends in global networks are leading toward service‐oriented architectures and sensor networks. On one hand of the spectrum, this means deployment of services from numerous providers to form new service composites, and on the other hand this means emergence of Internet of things. Both these kinds belong to a plethora of realms and can be deployed in many ways, which will pose serious problems in cases of abuse. Consequently, both trends increase the need for new approaches to digital forensics that would furnish admissible evidence for litigation. Because technology alone is clearly not sufficient, it has to be adequately supported by appropriate investigative procedures, which have yet become a subject of an international consensus. This paper therefore provides appropriate a holistic framework to foster an internationally agreed upon approach in digital forensics along with necessary improvements. It is based on a top‐down approach, starting with legal, continuing with organizational, and ending with technical issues. More precisely, the paper presents a new architectural technological solution that addresses the core forensic principles at its roots. It deploys so‐called leveled message authentication codes and digital signatures to provide data integrity in a way that significantly eases forensic investigations into attacked systems in their operational state. Further, using a top‐down approach a conceptual framework for forensics readiness is given, which provides levels of abstraction and procedural guides embellished with a process model that allow investigators perform routine investigations, without becoming overwhelmed by low‐level details. As low‐level details should not be left out, the framework is further evaluated to include these details to allow organizations to configure their systems for proactive collection and preservation of potential digital evidence in a structured manner. The main reason behind this approach is to stimulate efforts on an internationally agreed “template legislation,” similarly to model law in the area of electronic commerce, which would enable harmonized national implementations in the area of digital forensics.     

The new science and engineering management: cooperative research centers as government policies,industry strategies,and organizations

Cooperative research centers (CRCs) are key mechanisms for national and subnational governments and private industry for achieving social and economic outcomes with science and technology. Despite growing policy and scholarly interest in the management and productivity of CRCs, their complex and variegated nature has led to limited and inconsistent understanding of CRCs. In this introduction to this Special Issue of The Journal of Technology Transfer, we discuss the impetuses for and embodiment of CRCs as government policies, industry strategies, and organizations and thus address a number of unexplored aspects of CRCs that are important to decision making for both policy and management. Of note, we discuss the lack of definitional clarity regarding CRCs and introduce criteria for distinguishing CRCs from other organizations. We conclude by introducing the article contributions, which are international in scope and address CRCs from multiple theoretical perspectives and levels of analysis, and by discussing areas for future research.     

De l'espace nomade à l'espace mobile en passant par l'espace du contrat: une expérience théorique

The paper retraces both a scientific itinerary and what might be described as a stratification and a history of the dominant social forms of structuring space: nomadism, sedentariness, mobility. It argues against a possible evolutionist interpretation of this scheme by privileging a synchronic observation of the various intersecting spatial forms in what might be called the truth of the place (which is the stage of intersection). The theoretical idea of a mobile space is thus schematized by opposing it to the paradigm of fixedness which dominates classical as well as modern spatial analysis. The rapprochement of nomadic space (being the source of reflection) and mobile space (being the result of reflection) is presented as a “methodological” space avoiding metaphorical vagueness.     

American standards: definition and differentiation through nonprofit regulation

Nongovernmental organizations are deeply enmeshed in global governance, as promoters and, increasingly, subjects of regulation. Focusing on the proliferation of self-regulatory initiatives, this article asks: Why do NGOs adopt governance initiatives? Do their subsequent regulatory experiences match their expectations? It investigates these questions through the analysis of InterAction, the American international NGO alliance, and its PVO Standards. Based on interviews with NGO leaders, it emphasizes collective meaning over material benefit: American NGOs constitute themselves as American NGOs through standards, with which they underscore their professionalism and market orientation. These gains do not accrue equally, however, with large, central organizations perceived to benefit most from regulation.     

The hidden persistence of witchcraft

Today, we have come full circle from the Salem Witchcraft Trials—accusations of deviant behaviour; an ever-widening investigation conducted in an atmosphere of increasing hysteria; investigation procedures that assume the outcome and encourage accusations, leading to accusations of increasing numbers of individuals for a growing and ever more varied pattern of deviant behaviour; collapse, either before or after the initiation of the criminal process, of the ensuing web of accusations; and, finally, the emotional, financial, or reputational ruin of the accused with no possibility of redress.Underlying the legal conundrum that these Satanic abuse episodes pose is the problem of power—the power to make our world that is an attribute of our social existence, and the potentially corrupting influence of that power. The problem of power is that it threatens the autonomy the hierarchical structure toward which society inevitably tends (in however fluid a manner) and from the power exercised by the loose and shifting majoritarian consensus that often dominates a community.The dilemmas inherent in our legal world arise from two paradoxical circumstances—that we, as politically autonomous, liberty-endowed individuals, are nevertheless socially constructed, and that the law, though it must be autonomous of collective values in order for individual freedom to be possible, must nevertheless reflect who we are in order to command our assent. The problem of false accusations expresses these dilemmas in an especially acute way, and the law must address these dilemmas more carefully if individual rights and collective power are to be maintained in tolerable tension.The Frances Lewis Law Centre of Washington & Lee Law School generously provided support for the research that underlies this essay. The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of David Caudill, Alison Kitch, and Judith McMorrow.     

The struggle to implement teaching-hospital mergers

Abstract: This paper presents some initial results from a longitudinal study of two major hospital mergers (involving three large institutions each). After examining the context of the two mergers and the cultures that must be integrated, we describe the processes of pre-merger negotiation, leadership development, strategic framing and operationalization. Despite very different processes that seem on the surface smoother in one organization than in the other, both organizations have experienced difficulties in achieving successful operationalization. We conclude that the context of limited resources, diffuse power and divergent cultures are largely responsible for the difficulties experienced. Sommaire: Cet article présente quelques résultats préliminaires tirés d'une étude longitudinale de deux grandes fusions d'hôpitaux (impliquant trois gros établissements chacune). Après avoir examiné le contexte des deux fusions et les cultures à intégrer, nous décrivons les processus de négociation précédant la fusion, de développement du leadership, d'encadrement stratégique et d'opérationnalisation. Malgré des processus trés différents, dont l'un semble à prime abord plus harmonieux que l'autre, les dew organisations ont éprouvé des difficultés à atteindre une opérationnalisation réussie. Now en concluons que le contexte de ressources limitées, de pouvoir diffus et de cultures divergentes est largement à l'origine des difficultés éprouvées.     

Social capital and support for the welfare state in Russia

Few tasks are more important in a post-communist setting than rebuilding the welfare state. We study individual preferences for increasing social welfare spending to reduce inequality. Using two surveys of about 34,000 and 37,000 Russians, we show the great importance of the “bridging” type of social capital for redistribution preferences in Russia, as it precludes possibilities of cheating and free-riding on the welfare state. Instrumenting social capital with education, climate, and distance from Moscow, we deal with endogeneity concerns and also contribute to our understanding of the deep roots of social capital in Russia. We claim that social capital in post-socialist countries could help mobilize public support for redistribution even where institutions are weak.