Source attribution for network address translated forensic captures

  • Authors:
  • M. I. Cohen

  • Affiliations:
  • Australian Federal Police, High Tech Crime Operations, 203 Wharf St., Spring Hill, 4001, Brisbane

  • Venue:
  • Digital Investigation: The International Journal of Digital Forensics & Incident Response
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Network Address Translation (NAT) is a technology allowing a number of machines to share a single IP address. This presents a problem for network forensics since it is difficult to attribute observed traffic to specific hosts. We present a model and algorithm for disentangling observed traffic into discrete sources. Our model relies on correlation of a number of artifacts left over by the NAT gateway which allows identification of sources. The model works well for a small number of sources, as commonly found behind a home or small office NAT gateway.