SEC 340 Strayer University Week 9 Operation Stop Hack Hidden Messages Paper OPERATION STOP HACK: HIDDEN MESSAGES Operation Stop Hack: Hidden Messages Int

SEC 340 Strayer University Week 9 Operation Stop Hack Hidden Messages Paper OPERATION STOP HACK: HIDDEN MESSAGES

Operation Stop Hack: Hidden Messages
Introduction

The answers become a chain of communication. Download and submit this assignment worksheet [DOCX] for credit.

List the answers to all five ciphers, numbered 1–5.
Each answer is worth five points.

The FBI recently found some hidden files and messages on the hard drive of the hacker from Operation Stop Hack. They are enlisting your help to determine the content of these hidden messages. They want you to have the following Intel to help with your investigation:

INTEL
It appears as if the criminals were using cipher techniques to communicate with their other members about targets and operations. We found a message that appear to be encoded using various number bases, substitution and ciphers.
We think the following web tools will help in your investigation:
Rapid Tables.
Rumkin’s Cipher Tools.
Number bases; include base2 (binary), base10 (decimal), and base64.

Binary is represented by two numbers ones (1) and zero (0), hence the base2, which means that base 10 would be represented by 10 numbers, 0–9 (always start with zero).

We were able to figure out the first message, which was encoded using binary:
01001101 01100101 01100101 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 00110001 01110000 01101101 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001000 01101111 01110100 01000100 01101111 01100111 00100000 01010011 01101000 01100001 01100011 01101011
We determined that the first message read: Meeting set for 1pm at the HotDog Shack.
We used the Rapid Tables converter to figure the meaning of this code. The binary was copied into the textbox that reads binary and the text answer is shown in the box labeled ASCII.

We have tried to evaluate each message to determine the type of cipher; now we ask that you finish the task and crack the codes. Please return them to us quickly in case they can help capture other members.

This message appears to be encoded using hexadecimal:
Ox 57 65 20 6E 65 65 64 20 74 6F 20 6D 65 65 74 2C 20 74 68 65 20 70 6F 6C 69 63 65 20 61 72 65 20 62 65 63 6F 6D 69 6E 67 20 73 75 73 70 69 63 69 6F 75 73
The next message appears to be base64:
U3RvcCB3b3JyeWluZywgdGhlIGpvYiBpcyBhbG1vc3QgZG9uZSBhbmQgeW91IHdpbGwgZ2V0IGEgbGFyZ2UgcGF5b3V0
The next missive appears to be encoded using ROT13, so we suggest using the Rumkin Tools:
Jung’f gur arkg wbo?
This e-mail was found and it appears to be Atbash:
Dv ziv tlrmt gl szxp gsv hsrkbziw hl dv xzm ivwrivxg z hsrknvmg lu wrznlmwh
The FBI are stumped: a double cipher was used to encode a message. It looks like hexadecimal, but the ASCII text does not look like English. They also found the passphrase: secret. The message appears to be a sort of polyalphabetic substitution.
Determine what cipher is considered a polyalphabetic substitution cipher:
Ox 4C 6C 67 20 72 78 6D 73 67 6D 20 6E 6D 65 64 20 78 63 62 69 20 69 64 65 65 76 20 73 67 20 58 76 6B 75 65 72 20 45 65 61 20 39 6B 6C 20 78 70 65 65 6B 70 72 20 73 78 20 31 30 63 64 2E 20 43 68 6D 20 61 6B 63 70 20 6D 73 6F 67 20 6B 6C 78 61 76 20 67 64 65 62 64 20 77 61 6A 78 78 65 20 68 71 6E 72 2C 20 70 7A 6D 6E 76 20 4D 20 62 66 6E 67 74 78 20 6D 7A 69 20 75 70 77 6D 77 71 20 79 7A 78 61 20 73 20 67 71 75 69 20 6D 7A 65 76 20 6E 6D 65 64 20 76 67 69 73 6E 6C 69 20 76 79 69 20 6C 7A 6D 72 64 69 67 6C 2E Operation Stop Hack: Hidden Messages
Submit this completed worksheet for credit.
1. This message appears to be encoded using hexadecimal:
Ox 57 65 20 6E 65 65 64 20 74 6F 20 6D 65 65 74 2C 20 74 68 65 20 70 6F 6C 69 63 65 20 61
72 65 20 62 65 63 6F 6D 69 6E 67 20 73 75 73 70 69 63 69 6F 75 73
2. The next message appears to be base64:
U3RvcCB3b3JyeWluZywgdGhlIGpvYiBpcyBhbG1vc3QgZG9uZSBhbmQgeW91IHdpbGwgZ2V0I
GEgbGFyZ2UgcGF5b3V0
3. The next missive appears to be encoded using ROT13, so we suggest using the Rumkin Tools:
Jung’f gur arkg wbo?
4. This email was found and it appears to be Atbash:
Dv ziv tlrmt gl szxp gsv hsrkbziw hl dv xzm ivwrivxg z hsrknvmg lu wrznlmwh
5. The FBI are stumped, a double cipher was used to encode a message. It looks like hexadecimal,
but the ASCII text does not look like English. They also found the passphrase: secret. The
message appears to be a sort of polyalphabetic substitution.
a. Determine what cipher is considered a polyalphabetic substitution cipher:
Ox 4C 6C 67 20 72 78 6D 73 67 6D 20 6E 6D 65 64 20 78 63 62 69 20 69 64 65 65 76 20 73 67
20 58 76 6B 75 65 72 20 45 65 61 20 39 6B 6C 20 78 70 65 65 6B 70 72 20 73 78 20 31 30 63
64 2E 20 43 68 6D 20 61 6B 63 70 20 6D 73 6F 67 20 6B 6C 78 61 76 20 67 64 65 62 64 20 77
61 6A 78 78 65 20 68 71 6E 72 2C 20 70 7A 6D 6E 76 20 4D 20 62 66 6E 67 74 78 20 6D 7A 69
20 75 70 77 6D 77 71 20 79 7A 78 61 20 73 20 67 71 75 69 20 6D 7A 65 76 20 6E 6D 65 64 20
76 67 69 73 6E 6C 69 20 76 79 69 20 6C 7A 6D 72 64 69 67 6C 2E
Running Head: OPERATION STOP HACKING
Operation Stop Hacking
Name
Institution
Course
Date
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OPERATION STOP HACKING
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The Legal Statutes Involved In This Type of Case and the Specific Legal Consideration to
Take when Collecting Evidence
The issue presented in this case scenario is a case that requires legal considerations on
cybersecurity and forensic investigations as well as the fourth amendment on legal searchers and
seizure of electronic equipment suspected to have been used in committing cybercrime. Among
the three main cybersecurity laws that will guide the evidence gathering process is the Homeland
Security Act of 202, the HIPAA of 1996, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. By
extension, FISMA will be used to ascertain the extent to which the guidelines, policies,
principles, and standards on information security were violated or breached during the
cybercrime (Montasari et al., 2019). The FBI will rely on the 2015 Cybersecurity Act to seek the
relevant data and information from the affected parties so that they can use such information as
evidence o prosecute the suspected criminals. The federal trade commission will play a
significant role in helping the FBI in establishing whether the suspects in this criminal hacking
act was committed on volition.
The fourth amendment, which protects U.S citizens from searches and seizure of their
homes and properties and against any warrant in place of such actions without a probable cause,
will guide the FBI in conducting their evidence gathering (Kerr, 2001). They will thus have to
establish a probable cause, swear an affidavit, and then describe the place and the electronic
equipment to be seized. During prosecution, the FBI will rely on the federal CFAA, 18 U.S.C $
1030, which prohibits computer abuse and related fraud to determine the criminal and civil
liabilities of the suspects. The ECPA will be used to establish the extent of violation of
communication in transits and storage. In contrast, the ECPA Title II, 18 U.S.C $ 2702, will be
used to ascertain the violation of the hacking incident (Govender, 2018). The Wiretap Act Title I
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of ECPA 18 U.S.C $2511 will be used to prosecute the unauthorized interception of electronic
communication.
How to Approach the Crime Scene, Steps and Procedures to Process the Digital Evidence
The approach to gathering, documenting, and processing digital evidence begins with the
identification of potential sources of forensic evidence. The next step is the preservation and
protection of the physical scene of crime upon obtaining the search warrant. The investigators
will then move to search and seizure all the computer and electronic devices found in the
premises and then survey them for any physical evidence that could be related to the hacking
incident. This step ensures that all relevant evidence is collected in their original form. Up to this
point, the investigators will easily document the evidence and scene of the crime (Gehl & Plecas,
2017). It would be important to gather human intelligence to ascertain the date and time
boundaries, the parties involved, and machines that were affected. The next step is to prioritize
the targets while remaining within the legal framework of forensic investigation. The
investigative officers will then allocate skilled experts and resources to enable them to balance
the cost of the investigation and the value of the process.
A digital and forensic crime investigation will be conducted to reconstruct the crime
scene. The evidence must be analyzed to outline the timeline of events and then a report field.
All the evidence obtained should be documented and signed, and any data captured must be
verified cryptographically. Once the evidence is gathered, it would be processed and presented as
a complete theory and lead to the root cause and motive of the crime (Gehl & Plecas, 2017).
Analysis of the Crime Scene Diagram
For this particular case, the crime scene diagram will take the form of a floor plan, also
known as the bird’s eye view diagram drawn on a horizontal plane. This diagram will help in
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recording the location and relationships of evidence gathered from the crime scene and also
facilitate the refreshment of the memory of the investigator (Hong, 2018). It will also help in
supplementing the records gathered from the crime scene, thereby eliminating all the confusing
and unnecessary details that may arise during the crime scene investigation. It would also
promote the understanding of the physical crime scene so that relevant questions are posed to the
witnesses and suspects. The crime scene diagram will also help in creating a nexus between the
crime committed and the witness testimony.
Devices that will be collected for Evidence and their Importance
The wireless access point is a device that will serve as evidence for the access and IP
address locations for all the connections that the suspect used to hack the victim’s network. The
external media device will be documented for any storage of data obtained from the network of
the victim of the hacking. The printer will provide information on any physical printout and hard
copy of all the information that was retrieved from the hacked sites (Kebande & Ray, 2016). The
Router will provide the network connectivity between the computer devices and the victim’s
network during the hacking process. The PC can serve as evidence of access to the network of
the victim and its nexus to the suspect’s network. The smartphone will provide physical location
signals and communication during the hacking process.
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References
Gehl, R., & Plecas, D. (2017). Crime Scene Management. Introduction to Criminal
Investigation: Processes, Practices, and Thinking.
Govender, T. F. (2018). A critical analysis of the search and seizure of electronic evidence
relating to the investigation of cybercrime in South Africa (Doctoral dissertation).
Hong, I. (2018). International Digital Forensic Investigation at the ICC. In Handling and
Exchanging Electronic Evidence Across Europe (pp. 125-139). Springer, Cham.
Kebande, V. R., & Ray, I. (2016, August). A generic digital forensic investigation framework for
the internet of things (IoT). In 2016 IEEE 4th International Conference on Future
Internet of Things and Cloud (FiCloud) (pp. 356-362). IEEE.
Kerr, O. S. (2001). Searching and seizing computers and obtaining electronic evidence in
criminal investigations. Office of Legal Education, Executive Office for United States
Attorneys.
Montasari, R., Hill, R., Carpenter, V., & Montaseri, F. (2019). Digital Forensic Investigation of
Social Media, Acquisition, and Analysis of Digital Evidence. International Journal of
Strategic Engineering (IJoSE), 2(1), 52-60.

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