Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Techno Security conference down in Wilmington, NC for the first time (and maybe the last time? More on that later). It was also the first conference I've been to in almost 2 years so I was excited to check out a conference I've been meaning to hit for years and years.
The Talks
I'm always super interested in the technical talks especially from the mobile forensics side and there were plenty to go around.
AI in Digital Forensics: Hype, Hope, and Hard Truths
Heather and Jared Barnhart collaborated on a talk discussing AI in forensics. It continues to be the buzz on how vendors and others integrate it into their software. I can see the point Jared makes by utilizing it to understand a database file that may be relevant to a case. I'm definitely going to try to prompt more with it to see what results can come out of it for research.
Everything Including the Kitchen Sync: Identifying and Leveraging Synced Devices
Ian Whiffin did a great presentation on cloud syncing artifacts. What we may think is evidence generated on one specific device may have been synced from another so we need to better understand these artifacts and how more and more syncing across multiple devices could affect our investigations.
Following the Money | Tracking Mobile Payment Artifacts
Chris Vance did an awesome presentation on payment apps such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. With so many people pivoting to digital wallets and more and more items being stored there it's quite important that our tools support these in the future. I have some research ideas that I want to add to some open sourced tools based off what was presented.
The Workshops
I had the pleasure of helping with not just one but two different workshops. Both very relevant to my interests.
LEAPP Forward: Unlocking the Power of Open-Source Forensic Analysis
Heather Charpentier and Alexis Brignoni did a workshop on the ins and outs of the LEAPP project (ALEAPP, iLEAPP, etc.). I'm very passionate about these as I contribute constantly to them and help develop them. I can only hope that people get more involved and we can build this out to an even more amazing toolset. Oh and the interest for LAVA, the next-gen report viewer, is at an all time high!
Sysdiagnose Logs 101
Kim Bradley gave a primer workshop on Sysdiagnose logs from Apple devices. Even though they have been around for forever, it seems like there is so much untapped potential from these logs that analysts need to know about and be able to parse. Unified logs can be part of these too and that has been a buzz word as of late on LinkedIn.
The Expo Hall and the Networking
I haven't been to an expo type conference in some time so it was nice to check out a bunch of vendors both old and new. Of course I had to pick up some cool swag like a LEGO FRED computer, a new faraday bag, a flip out screwdriver/flashlight and much more.
One of my favorite things about conferences is meeting friends both old and new. I finally met a handful of people in-person that I've known for years only through social media. I can't stress it enough, no matter how many people you know you can always find people you don't. Drink responsibly (if you want), but attend those vendor parties! You never know who you may interact with that can help you in your career in one way or another.
The Rest
Overall, the conference was great. I only wish I had more time to hit sessions I was interested in that overlapped with other duties. I also wish I took more pictures to document the experience. See you in Myrtle Beach next year perhaps!? Who knows, maybe I'll have some talk ideas!