It seems early to be looking back on 2012, but with our final issue of the year I want to take a moment to consider a year of changes. Under our new ownership by Advantage Business Media, DFI News has grown from a weekly newsletter to a digital magazine with a supporting daily newsletter and a two-day conference (The Evidence Conference, www.theevidenceconference.com). With this increased exposure, we’ve had the opportunity to bring you more of the content you need to stay on top of the digital forensic industry. If you have any suggestions for the upcoming year, don’t hesitate to send them my way at rwaters@DFInews.com. I am also always open to article or tip submissions as well as industry news you may want to share with your colleagues. I encourage you to contribute to making DFI News a community you can turn to for answers to your most challenging questions.

Top 5 Articles of 2012
Below is a look at the top five articles of 2012. Take a moment to catch up on what you may have missed before we move into the new year.

1. Windows 7 Registry Forensics: Part 3
In his series on Windows 7 registry forensics, John Barbara dissected the registry providing a list of artifacts available in each hive and what they can mean to your investigation. Get a first look at Windows 8 forensics in Josh Brunty’s article in this issue!
www.dfinews.com/article/windows-7-registry-forensics-part-3

2. Steganography and Smart Phones
A large number of data hiding Apps for Android, iOS, and Windows mobile platforms are rapidly emerging. In this article, Chet Hosmer helps you identify them and the resulting covert communications.
www.dfinews.com/article/steganography-and-smart-phones

3. Conducting Anonymous Cyber Investigations
Mark Wade discusses how to use different types of technologies to obscure your presence during the online reconnaissance phase of an investigation. The two main focal points are the different online Web resources and use of different locally installed technologies that can be used to obfuscate your actions.
www.dfinews.com/article/conducting-anonymous-cyber-investigations

4. ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accreditation of the Digital Forensics Discipline
The importance of accurate, technically competent, and valid examination results cannot be understated. Laboratory accreditation can provide a standard which can ensure confidence in the results obtained from the examination of digital evidence. This article gives you a starting point for your own accreditation.
www.dfinews.com/article/isoiec-170252005-accreditation-digital-forensics...

5. Google Analytics Cookies and the Forensic Implications
In this article, Jon Nelson explores how a marketing tool can be used in forensic analysis. It offers an in-depth look at the internal workings of Google Analytics cookies and compares and contrasts them with standard HTTP cookies. The focus then turns to the significant forensic implications of this often-overlooked artifact.
www.dfinews.com/article/google-analytics-cookies-and-forensic-implications