Thursday, October 18, 2012

Open Source Identity Ecosystem: We Have an App for That



Background

The United States population is one of the most open, information centric demographics in the world.  Tens of millions of people voluntarily expose the most intimate details of their lives through the pervasive world of social networking.  More than 88% of consumers have made purchases online spending more than 142 billion dollars in 2010 with a 14% increase continuing to trend upwards through the 2nd quarter of 2011 (comScore, Inc., 2011). Within a few years this trend will represent hundreds of billions of dollars of transactions conducted with the barest of security protections.  The bulk of these transactions can be characterized as the modern equivalent of giving your checking account number, routing number, and driver’s license information to a 16 year old supermarket customer service worker in return for a check cashing card.  A FTC-sponsored survey estimated that the annual total loss to businesses due to ID theft approached $50 billion with the total annual cost of identity theft to victims at $5 billion (H CMTE on Ways and Means, 2012).  This means more than a third of annual gross cyber revenue is lost to business or more likely the losses are passed to the consumers.  Yet those same hordes of consumers who willingly play this financial Russian roulette on a regular basis are the doppelgänger vocal detractors of government sponsored identity systems.  The paradox of an individual who will surrender his or her credit card, credit history, and identity to a faceless cyber organization but balk at providing their government-issued social security numbers to either state or federal government program is astounding.
The fundamental issue is one of trust - not trusted identity but trusted government.  Public trust is at an all time low according to the Pew Research Center.  Nearly eighty percent of Americans do not trust their own government.  In fact, the only time since 1975 that government trust broke 50% was in the months following 9/11 (Thompson, 2010).  To summarize, eighty eight percent of Americans trust the internet with their identity and their hard earned money while eighty percent of Americans distrust their government.  Given this situation, it is not surprising that government sponsored identity trust models have struggled to get off the ground unless they are thus elevated by significant amounts of funding.  The solution to this dilemma may be to turn the identity / trust dichotomy upside down.  The US government would be more effective as the behind the scene partner by allowing a certain level of trust as the relying party and allowing a measured participation by its own trusted identity systems.   Building on this foundation the ever-growing worlds of social networking, application [app] stores, and the real-time personal gratification that comes from instant access to information, becomes the propagator of the assured identity.  In this scenario it is likely that the nation will trend in the direction of the NSTIC Identity Ecosystem vision.  This is an alternative delivery mechanism of an important concept, but one easily digested by the American public.  It is unlikely the average individual has ever discussed the President’s Cyberspace Policy Review and very likely they have never heard of it. 

A two part concept

The first part of the concept focuses on the development of a unique cyber identify infrastructure.  The infrastructure must include development of new protocols and policy at multiple trust levels designed around the needs of relying parties with day to day contact with the “citizenry end user” mindful of that end user’s privacy requirements.  Infrastructure development would be preceded by a survey and public comment phase administered by a stakeholders’ steering committee supported by a number of institutions of higher education and private industry.  By design the infrastructure must also be flexible, scalable and adaptable.  The infrastructure would account for and allow use by the existing federal identity programs at the user level.  In addition, the proposed infrastructure supports a new and unique cloud based identity program built around the user’s ability to define dynamically the rules surrounding use and reuse of their Personal Information (PI) and have those bound to, and travel with the digital identity.  The infrastructure must be agnostic to token type yet driven by use case influenced levels of trust.  Most importantly, the final infrastructure would be open source.  API’s and SDK’s, resulting from the project, would be offered free of charge allowing for both the well-financed and under-financed to have equal access to program participation.   Commercialized this concept would establish an open source identity ecosystem community that is ultimately self supporting and free of the strictures of reliance on government funding and the profit driven pressures of the private sector. This approach allows for maximum interoperability and cost effectiveness.
The concept of an Identity Ecosystem open source community supported policy and protocol infrastructure is both unique and thought provoking in its conception.  Without an initial financial jumpstart from a forward looking organization, as well as expert oversight and guidance, it is unlikely such as concept would ever get off the ground. 
While the establishment of the infrastructure would be a worthy goal, it is actually the stepping stone to part two of the concept, which is the outward facing ambassador to the American public.  Part two is the feeder program for an Identity Ecosystem App store.  Academic, commercial, and governmental partners would identify, at minimum, a single use case for which the trusted identities, either as a product of the new infrastructure or those created through existing programs, can be leveraged to the benefit of their constituency, the average citizen.  Each partner would use the previously published API’s and SDK’s to develop an “App” which would be both practically tested and added to the code base for use by future application developers.  Again, in the spirit of the open source community model, the application will be made available to other relying parties with similar needs.   Leveraging a diverse project team, the solutions could span healthcare, government, commercial, academic, financial as well as physical and logical access needs.   The combination of the two concept segments would proffer a new ability to offer both users and relying parties choice in level of trust, affordability, convenience, ease of use, security and confidence while demonstrating and encouraging unparalleled innovation from a national or even world wide open source community (which should continue exponential growth even during the unfunded years). 
The combination of the two concept segments would address the issue of commonly accepted technical standards by developing a baseline “living” standard.  The standard would be put to the test through the development of multiple applications addressing diverse relying party requirements.    Interoperability would be assured by offering a free set of development and compliance testing tools and peer review of code supported by the community as a whole. 
If the concept was commercialized academic partners, would examine the liability and economic issues in context, allowing for direct or indirect influence of the “living” standard during the course of the project
Addressing privacy concerns is paramount so as to be consistent with addressing the issues identified earlier in this essay.  One of the primary conceptual methods that would be examined in this project is to maintain the anonymity of the user by focusing on the end use attributes or privileges assigned to the non-reputable identity rather than asserting the individual characteristics of the person.  Using the driver’s license as a simplistic example, it is not necessary to provide address, date of birth, unique identifier or even name when challenged so long as the identity is trusted by the querying system and a check can be made against the privilege. 
Any solution must be capable of integrating the PIV and PIV-I credentials currently deployed.  However, rather than focus simply on the expected uses of these strong authentication credentials, emphasis would be placed on the alternative use of the credentials by integrating acceptance of the credential by the project developed software.

Works Cited

comScore, Inc. (2011, August 8). comScore Reports $37.5 Billion in Q2 2011 U.S. Retail E-Commerce Spending, Up 14 Percent vs. Year Ago. Retrieved March 1, 2012, from comScore, Press & Events : http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/8/comScore_Reports_37.5_Billion_in_Q2_2011_U.S._Retail_E-Commerce_Spending
H CMTE on Ways and Means. (2012, February 29). Committee on Ways and Means Facts and Figures: Identity Theft. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from Committee on Ways and Means: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/ss/factsfigures.pdf
Thompson, D. (2010, Aril 19). 80 Percent of Americans Don't Trust the Government. Here's Why. Retrieved March 1, 2012, from The Atlantic Business Archive: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/80-percent-of-americans-dont-trust-the-government-heres-why/39148/


Monday, August 27, 2012

Pencils to Processors


Data Collection at Crime Scene

Part Two “The Future is Here”


The Future


The basics of crime scene investigation in the field of law enforcement have remained largely unchanged over the years. There will never be a replacement for the experience and knowledge of a savvy investigator and his/her observational and intuitive skills. What has changed in the field of investigation is the advent of different kinds of evidence collected, and the methodology for documenting and preserving it. (Schecter, 2011)   

Advanced Response Concepts Corp has developed and deployed a tablet based solution to assist investigators in electronically documenting evidence found in the field.  The solution known as Condor™ facilitates the identification, labeling, and tracking of evidence while keeping precise attendance records at the scene.  Designed with interoperability with the U.S. Department of Justice NIEM (National Information Exchange Model) compliance system in mind Condor™ is the logical extension of the simplicity and efficacy of paper‐based notes and forms. Advanced Response Concepts has developed a twenty first century alternative allowing users to apply the same intuitive skills. Condor™ is specifically designed to enhance and augment an investigator or crime scene technician’s skill set, by creating an intuitive, user‐friendly process and workflow to improve the field based collection of data required to properly document and investigate a crime scene.

CONDOR ™ supports this process through the use of tablet data collection devices, used to enter all of the information and facts typically gathered through the observation and interview process, and typically managed on paper while in the field. The user enters relevant event data into the system where it is recorded, aggregated, and able to be used to produce detailed agency‐configurable reports to completely document investigative activities, including the collection and tracking of physical evidence artifacts.  CONDOR ™ is intended to address a number of identified needs in the forensic and law enforcement communities, including several of those identified recently in the comprehensive report published by the National Academy of Sciences;  Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States, A Path Forward. (Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council, 2009)  These issues include: improving and strengthening the chain of custody, better field documentation, improved scene management and access control all of which are specifically targeted by CONDOR ™.

CONDOR ™ is a scalable and robust combination of task specific hardware and software that is designed from the user up.  This approach has allowed our development team and subject matter experts (criminal investigative practitioners) to focus on creating a tool that fits the user and requires minimal changes to their operational process or existing work flow.  This user centric focus is the key to creating a tool that “fits” the end user to the greatest extent possible, eliminating the frustrations of trying to adapt to new technologies while still maintaining a consistent, technically correct and systematic approach to processing a crime scene.

The system consists of multiple options for tablet devices used to gather, collect, record and manage information. CONDOR ™ is not bound to any specific type of hardware for user input, allowing for continued migration to newer handheld technologies as they emerge offering greater flexibility to field users.


Conclusion 


When the phrase “Use tablet computers to record crime scene information” is entered into a Google search engine the top five responses say a lot about the future of enterprise computing at crime scenes.  Result one and three focus on the article quoted in this paper referencing iPad purchases in Tennessee.  The number two result is a news article highlighting Advanced Response Concepts Condor System being deployed in Delaware.  The fourth is a website for rugged computing solutions.  What is interesting is that as you work your way down the list the links all begin to point overseas, to academic institutions, solutions in place, and ground breaking strides forward in the use of technology.  Why is US Law Enforcement failing to keep up with the times or the rest of the world in this area?

A study conducted in Great Britain by the University of Birmingham found in a side by side comparison, no discernible difference in content or quailty between reports handwritten at the crime scene and those generated using tablet computers.  They did find a significant time savings and noted users found using tablets to be easier to work with.  Tablet technology in the crime scene environment is a force multiplier.
Computers at the scene of a crime allow for instant capture of sound, video, and still images.  They allow for voice to text conversion and handwriting recognition.  Information captured can be forwarded in real time to colleagues on the street and fusion centers.  American Law enforcement has embraced technology in offensive and defensive weaponry, surveillance tools, records and laboratory management systems, everywhere it seems but where it all starts, at the scene of the crime.  Every officer on the street is seeing increasing caseloads and longer waits for court dates. In an era of ever increasing budget shortfalls and staffing cuts it would seem as though the force multiplier capability of crime scene computing is a tool whose time has come.  

In the immortal words of Sgt Joe Friday:  “This is the city. Every 24 hours a little bit of everything happens. Two million people make a lot of history in one day. They write it all down and file it away. Some of it's important, some of it isn't. Business, industry, government - you buy a three-cent stamp or an oil well - they keep records of it. Progress, money, success... and failure. A complete history of every day; some of it's public, some personal. It's all written down. In my job we catalog trouble. I'm a cop.

 

Works Cited

Byrd, M. (2010-2012). Written Documentation at a Crime Scene. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Crime Scene Investigator Network: http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/document.html

Carrier, B., & Spafford, E. H. (2003). Getting Physical with the Digital Investigation Process. Purdue University, Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security – CERIAS. Utica: International Journal of Digital Evidence.

Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council. (2009). Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States, A Path Forward. National Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Justice. Washington DC: National Academies Press.

Daigneau, E. (2011, March). Tablets: Government's Newest Tool. (E-Republic) Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Governing the States and Localities: http://www.governing.com/topics/technology/Tablets-Governments-Newest-Tool.html

Katims, L. (2011, January 12). IPads Helping Tenn. Police Fight Crimes on the Go . Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Government Technology Magizine: http://www.govtech.com/featured/IPads-Helping-Tenn-Police-Fight-Crimes-on-the-Go.html

Lee, H. C., Palmbach, T., & Miller, M. T. (2001). Henry Lee's Crime Scene Handbook. San Diego, California: Elsevier Academic Press.

Mechling, J. (2011, March 9). Will the iPad, and competing tablet computers, help us manage information overload or add to the distractions? (e-Republic) Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Governing the States and Localities: http://www.governing.com/columns/mgmt-insights/iPad-risky-game-changer.html

Schecter, P. (2011). Crime Scene Management, Evidence Tracking System Overview and Summary. Fairfax VA: Advanced Response Concepts Corporation.

Sung, T. (1248, 1981). The Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China (Science, Medicine, and Technology in East Asia) (1981 ed.). (B. McKnight, Ed., & B. McKnight, Trans.) Center for Chinease Studies.

Taylor, S. (2012). The History of Crime Scene Investigation. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from E-How: http://www.ehow.com/about_5371617_history-crime-scene-investigation.html

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pencils to Processors, Part 1



Data Collection at Crime Scenes

Part One “Living in the Past”

 

Introduction

“Crime scene investigation, or forensic science, involves the group effort of a team of professionals who study the scene of a crime. It takes many individuals who apply a wide range of specific sciences upon every aspect of the scene to complete this investigation. Investigators collect and study evidence such as fingerprints, biologicals like body fluids or skin cells, and ballistics (trajectory dynamics). The earliest forms of forensic science date back to prehistoric times."

Modern crime scene investigation advanced rapidly through the late 1900s and the early 2000s. Using the solid foundation developed over thousands of years of forensic investigation, modern forensics built upon these technologies and expanded their application to include computer forensics, DNA forensics, entomological (insect) forensics and enhanced biological studies”. (Taylor, 2012)

The Mission Space


A crime will more often than not consist of multiple crime scenes.  Consider that an act of domestic violence can start outside of a residence and move to a room or rooms within the residence. Though the “scenes” themselves are contiguous, they can be and often are treated individually.  The more cliché example of a bank robbery could be even more complex.  The February 1997 North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles.  This crime could be described as being multiple scenes over a six block area to include the bank’s ATM lobby, teller and vault areas, the initial LAPD response at Laurel Canyon, the getaway vehicle, the scene of the Phillips suicide, and many others.  

A crime scene can be defined from macroscopic and microscopic points of view.  The macroscopic view focuses on crime scenes within a crime scene in the manner of previously mentioned examples.  The microscopic view culminates in the aggregation of individual physical elements relating the crime.  Every case investigated can contain multiple macro and microscopic scenes.  The interrelations between these definitions must all be considered as each has the potential to yield information critical to the investigation and eventual prosecutorial effort.  (Lee, Palmbach, & Miller, 2001)

The Challenge


When looking at the construct of a crime scene the one universal constant is its complexity.  So why is the primary methodology of crime scene investigation still reliant on the pencil and yellow legal pad as the tool of choice?   Every law enforcement agency has a formal procedure for the method by which written documentation is recorded and used.  The primary goal of this exercise is the accurate recording of the information with an eye on the future information sharing requirements of the case and/or future potentially related cases.  The Miami Dade Police Department Crime Scene Investigations unit uses a narrative section divided into five categories.  These categories are summary, scene, processing, and evidence collected, and pending.  Miami Dade Investigator Mike Byrd relates a recent request illustrating the importance of complete, detailed, and accurate recording of investigative information: 

 “Recently I was asked to give an opinion on the crime scene portion of a cold case investigation which had occurred more than 20 years earlier. I agreed to take a look at everything to give my interpretation of the crime scene from the work product. So the reports and pictures were ordered from the original files.
When the items came in the mail the report consisted of a one page, one paragraph narrative. The scene photographs consisted of several overall prospective of a wooded area. I could be of no assistance to my fellow colleague. But the experience best illustrates how important it is to properly use the tools at hand. We are brought in to assist in the beginning stages of an investigation when very limited information is known. We should realize that our work product may need to be viewed extensively by someone years from now for interpretation.”  (Byrd, 2010-2012).

Why we still relay on century old tools to support investigations with twenty first century expectations with regard to accuracy, detail, and recall is indicative of a traditional institution still clinging to the familiarity and perceived reliability of past methods while still operating in a contemporary society. So why is this attitude prevalent?  One could argue that these are time honored traditions with a proven track record.  Modern forensics goes back centuries.  Generally speaking the first modern forensic science publication detailing an investigative technique is attributed to by Tz'u Sung.  His thirteenth century text, “Hsi Duan Yu” (the Washing Away of Wrong) was written in 1248 AD. It detailed a process of distinguishing drowning from strangulation, portions of which are still used today. (Sung, 1248, 1981)  It has been the introduction of digital forensics, digital still and video, and the leap forward in DNA evidence thanks to the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology invented by Nobel prize winner Kary Mullis that has become the tip of the investigative spear.

Current Choices?


The use of computers in crime scene analysis and forensic investigation has been a growing phenomenon over the last twenty years.  However the use of computers at a crime scene is not as widespread as you may come to expect in this day and age.  Crime scene utilization of a tool most Americans accept as commonplace is largely restricted to the gathering and processing of digital evidence, the area some investigators refer to as the “crime scene within the crime scene”.  This additional dimension, if you will, is focused on the information that can be gleaned from a computer when it is treated as evidence.  A computer itself is, typically, only one piece of physical evidence, but it can be processed to identify thousands of pieces of digital evidence and each piece of digital evidence can be analyzed to identify ownership, location, and timing. (Carrier & Spafford, 2003) 

With increasing expectations with regard to documentation what are the options?  Law enforcement departments in two Tennessee counties have turned to the Apple® iPad®.   The Jefferson County Police Department recently purchased 19 Apple iPads, one for each officer, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  In adjacent Knox County, Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes and Family Crisis units recently began using the tablet computers, and detectives have enjoyed the mobility the iPads give them.  Functionality inherent in the popular devices proved to be the selling points.  Applications, known as “Apps” from the Apple® store allow officers to leverage the touch screen to draw sketches.  Built in microphones facilitate recording testimony at crime scenes while WiFi and CDMA allow officers to send reports, share information with colleagues and investigate background information without calling dispatch. (Katims, 2011)

The iPad is an impressive device.  In 2010 the New York Times proclaimed that 2010 would be the “Year of the Tablet.” (Daigneau, 2011)  In retrospect Apple dominated the market forcing the competition to delay or table forecasted launches in a scramble to produce competitively priced and feature rich challengers.  “[iPads] could critically accelerate and improve our utilization of digital information, and through that, the performance of government. Thus, they possess great strategic potential, but they could also serve as a risky distraction”. (Mechling, 2011)  But the iPad is not without its drawbacks, as web columnist Jerry Mechling alludes to in the afore mentioned quote.  Apple® maintains strict control over application development, licensing and deployment.   The device was created to allow an individual unlimited access to information but does so in a completely closed system.  Security tools built into the device are not without their vulnerabilities.  The fact that the Apple® “Jailbreak” community often has security patches published on the web before Apple® does is indicative of the weaknesses in the Apple® armor. The simplicity of the iPad masks its transformational power.  Navigating with your fingers rather than a keyboard marks a fundamental change in user interfaces.  

Despite its success the iPad® is not the only game in town.   In the two years the iPad® has been on the street a plethora of manufactures have entered the market with strongly competitive devices and operating systems.  Enter the other industry behemoth Microsoft.  In late 2012 Microsoft® will release Windows 8 with an accompanying tablet PC version. Partnered with Nvidia®, supplying the Tegra 3™ chip to be used with ARM based hardware, Microsoft will move to level the playing field currently dominated by Apple® and protagonist Android®.  Although this does not herald a coming competitive nirvana it does open the door to adaptation of software solutions known to the public safety community as well as allowing the open source community its opportunity to make a mark.   

Works Cited - Parts One and Two

Byrd, M. (2010-2012). Written Documentation at a Crime Scene. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Crime Scene Investigator Network: http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/document.html

Carrier, B., & Spafford, E. H. (2003). Getting Physical with the Digital Investigation Process. Purdue University, Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security – CERIAS. Utica: International Journal of Digital Evidence.

Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council. (2009). Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States, A Path Forward. National Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Justice. Washington DC: National Academies Press.

Daigneau, E. (2011, March). Tablets: Government's Newest Tool. (E-Republic) Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Governing the States and Localities: http://www.governing.com/topics/technology/Tablets-Governments-Newest-Tool.html

Katims, L. (2011, January 12). IPads Helping Tenn. Police Fight Crimes on the Go . Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Government Technology Magizine: http://www.govtech.com/featured/IPads-Helping-Tenn-Police-Fight-Crimes-on-the-Go.html

Lee, H. C., Palmbach, T., & Miller, M. T. (2001). Henry Lee's Crime Scene Handbook. San Diego, California: Elsevier Academic Press.

Mechling, J. (2011, March 9). Will the iPad, and competing tablet computers, help us manage information overload or add to the distractions? (e-Republic) Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Governing the States and Localities: http://www.governing.com/columns/mgmt-insights/iPad-risky-game-changer.html

Schecter, P. (2011). Crime Scene Management, Evidence Tracking System Overview and Summary. Fairfax: Advanced Response Concepts Corporation.

Sung, T. (1248, 1981). The Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China (Science, Medicine, and Technology in East Asia) (1981 ed.). (B. McKnight, Ed., & B. McKnight, Trans.) Center for Chinease Studies.

Taylor, S. (2012). The History of Crime Scene Investigation. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from E-How: http://www.ehow.com/about_5371617_history-crime-scene-investigation.html