Tracable systems and Forensics

In this assignment you will work on the hexadecimal data of files to protect your files from others using basic techniques.
Objectives:
– Retouch on the programming skills of the students which may be needed for a forensics work
– Identify what is the hex/binary representation of file data.
– Access files on deeper level without the need of file system functionality.
– Implement a simple anti-forensics technique.
– Explain what the header and footer, or magic numbers, of a file are.
In this assignment you will create a simple anti-forensics tool that will be used to prevent opening a type of multimedia files using a multimedia editing software; i.e. hide the content of the files. The scope will be limited to only jpg files, although your tool has to be extensible if needed.
The tool should have the following functionality:
1- The tool should ask the user about the function required; i.e. 1: hide or 2: unhide? [2 pts]
2- The User specifies the type of the files the tool should modify [ 5 pts]
a. A list of options to choose from should be printed on the screen with a default value indicated.
3- The user enters a code/password to be used to hide the specified file type; jpg files. [3 pts]
4- The user provides the full path to a folder where the jpg pictures are. [ 5 pts]
a. The tools should print the list of files with the type specified in item 2.
b. The tool has to list the files affected by the modifications; either hiding or unhiding.
Notes:
1- Hiding the files should only be done by changing the first byte of the header code. [10 pts]
a. Unhiding should be done by restoring the original value of the first byte of the header.
b. This means you have to find a way to keep track of the changes you made.
2- Try to make using your tool as simple as possible
3- The code should be resilient against errors and wrong input. [5 pts]
a. Your code should not crash in such cases. Errors and wrong input should be addressed with printing out informative messages to the user.
Guidelines:
For the assignment above, you need to consider the following:
1- Form groups of 2 students. You can do the assignment alone if you could not find a partner.
a. One submission per group is sufficient.
2- The tool is a CLI tool; No GUI is required.
3- Programming Languages to be used are ONLY: Python, Java, or C++.
4- Develop your code under a Linux distribution of your choice.
a. I will grade your work; i.e. compile and run it, under a Linux system.
5- Avoid the use of any external packages/libraries that are not part of the default language
installation.
a. I will not consider using any of those during testing and grading.
6- Avoid the use of any sophisticated editors, like Eclipse, Netbeans, …etc.
a. I will not use any of these during the grading.
7- Make sure that your code compiles successfully
a. Fixing compilation errors will not be possible.
b. Very low score will be assigned if your code does not compile.
8- For example, to compile and run your code, I would do the following: (depending on the
language you chose)
a. python2.7 code.py
b. javac code.java
i. java code
c. g++ code.cpp -o code.out
i. ./code.out
9- Be carful of specifying path information.
a. Using a path that only exists in your machine may render your code unusable on my
machine while I am testing your code.
10- Please start the code with a commented part that has students’ names and ID numbers.
11- The grading will be requirements-based. This is what you should expect in real life work;
satisfying needs of customers who are not concerned of what your code looks like.
a. Meaning: based on how much the tool fulfills of the functions and Notes specified
above.
b. Do not expect inspecting your code because this is not a coding course.
i. The logic and implementation are totally your responsibility.
12- I provided a data folder that you can use while developing the assignment.
a. The folder contains only jpg pictures.
13- Not following the instructions closely will result in point deduction; up to %30 of the grade.
14- Submitting after the deadline will result in %10 points off for each additional day up to %30.
After that the assignment may not be accepted and ZERO grade is given.