802.11-based wireless networking has invaded cities, offices, homes and coffee shops over the last five years, and has become a widely used and accepted technology. It has revolutionised computer networking and automation and added a social aspect to personal computing. Accompanying this widespread usage is the presence of crime; the more popular technology, the more opportunity exists for its misuse. / This dissertation studied 802.11-based wireless networking environment from a forensic computing perspective. It sought to understand the current state of wireless misuse: present misuses; potential forms of misuse involving 802.11-based wireless networks; and current tools and techniques used in its identification, containment and analysis. The research highlights the lack of current tools and procedures for forensic computing investigations that are able to effectively handle the presence of wireless devices and networks, and that there are forms of misuse that may escape detection by forensic investigation teams. This work was then developed into a taxonomy of wireless misuse. / Once the current state was known, this research sought to readdress the current state of forensic computing teams, through analysing the need for software tools and procedural changes to counter the misuses that this technology allows. Once software outcomes were developed, the legal and technical feasibility of their use was ascertained. Based on the outcomes of this work, a final set of software requirements was developed and the proposed methodology for their development was discussed. / A new series of procedures was also developed for forensic investigators to identify, contain and analyse sources of electronic evidence with 802.11-networking. Much of this work was based upon but extending current procedural guides for law enforcement. / The final outcome of this research was the development of a series of recommendations for forensic teams and research that incorporates short, medium and long term development for forensic teams as well as research and development. This work intended to provide mechanisms for future research that are jurisdictionally independent able to be adapted for each individual forensic team. The short term recommendations were primarily changes to procedure, whereas the medium and long terms changes sought to address the larger issues raised by wireless networking devices being the target of or involved in crime or misuse. / Much of this dissertation is exploratory in nature and much of its length is devoted to determining the current state of the misuse and current mechanisms employed to counter it. In such a rapidly developing field of study, this work will need constant revision as new technologies emerge and new forms of misuse take advantage of them. / Thesis (PhDInformationTechnology)--University of South Australia, 2007

Collaborative environments allow users to share and access data across networks spanning multiple administrative domains and beyond organisational boundaries. This poses several security concerns such as data confidentiality, data privacy and threats to improper data usage. Traditional access control mechanisms focus on centralised systems and implicitly assume that all resources reside in the one domain. This serves as a critical limitation for inter-organisational collaborative environments, which are characteristically decentralised, distributed and heterogeneous. A consequence of the lack of suitable access control mechanisms for inter-organisational collaborative environments is that data owners relinquish all control over data they release. In these environments, we can reasonably consider more complex cases where documents may have multiple contributors, all with differing access control requirements. Facilitating such cases, as well as maintaining control over the document’s content, its structure and its flow path as it circulates through multiple administrative domains, is a non-trival issue. This thesis proposes an architecture model for specifying and enforcing access control restrictions on sensitive data that follows a pre-defined inter-organisational workflow. Our approach is to embed access control enforcement within the workflow object (e.g. the circulating document containing sensitive data) as opposed to relying on each administrative domain to enforce the access control policies. The architecture model achieves this using cryptographic access control – a concept that relies on cryptography to enforce access control policies.

802.11-based wireless networking has invaded cities, offices, homes and coffee shops over the last five years, and has become a widely used and accepted technology. It has revolutionised computer networking and automation and added a social aspect to personal computing. Accompanying this widespread usage is the presence of crime; the more popular technology, the more opportunity exists for its misuse. / This dissertation studied 802.11-based wireless networking environment from a forensic computing perspective. It sought to understand the current state of wireless misuse: present misuses; potential forms of misuse involving 802.11-based wireless networks; and current tools and techniques used in its identification, containment and analysis. The research highlights the lack of current tools and procedures for forensic computing investigations that are able to effectively handle the presence of wireless devices and networks, and that there are forms of misuse that may escape detection by forensic investigation teams. This work was then developed into a taxonomy of wireless misuse. / Once the current state was known, this research sought to readdress the current state of forensic computing teams, through analysing the need for software tools and procedural changes to counter the misuses that this technology allows. Once software outcomes were developed, the legal and technical feasibility of their use was ascertained. Based on the outcomes of this work, a final set of software requirements was developed and the proposed methodology for their development was discussed. / A new series of procedures was also developed for forensic investigators to identify, contain and analyse sources of electronic evidence with 802.11-networking. Much of this work was based upon but extending current procedural guides for law enforcement. / The final outcome of this research was the development of a series of recommendations for forensic teams and research that incorporates short, medium and long term development for forensic teams as well as research and development. This work intended to provide mechanisms for future research that are jurisdictionally independent able to be adapted for each individual forensic team. The short term recommendations were primarily changes to procedure, whereas the medium and long terms changes sought to address the larger issues raised by wireless networking devices being the target of or involved in crime or misuse. / Much of this dissertation is exploratory in nature and much of its length is devoted to determining the current state of the misuse and current mechanisms employed to counter it. In such a rapidly developing field of study, this work will need constant revision as new technologies emerge and new forms of misuse take advantage of them. / Thesis (PhDInformationTechnology)--University of South Australia, 2007

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Watson School, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-57). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Computer Science, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Additional advisors: Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Kevin D. Reilly, Robert Thacker, Chengcui Zhang. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 7, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-132).

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Ying Zhu, committee chair; G.Scott Owen, Robert W. Harrison, committee members. Electronic text (87 p. : ill. (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 7, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-87).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43)