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Computer Evidence Glossary
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Cache:
A dedicated,
high speed storage location that can be
used for the temporary storage of
frequently used data. As data may be
retrieved more quickly from cache than
the original storage location, cache
allows applications to run more quickly.
Web site contents often reside in cached
storage locations on a hard drive.
Caching:
The
temporary storage of frequently-used
data to speed access. See also
Cache.
CAD
(Computer Aided Design):
The use of a wide range
of computer-based tools that assist
engineers,architects and other design
professionals in their design
activities.
Case
De-Duplication:
Eliminates
duplicates to retain only one copy of
each document per case. For example,if
an identical document resides with three
custodians, only the first custodian’s
copy will be saved. See De-
Duplication.
Catalog:
See Index.
CCD
(Charge Coupled Device):
A computer chip the
output of which correlates with the
light or color passed by it. Individual
CCDs or arrays of these are used in
scanners as a high-resolution, digital
camera to read documents.
CCITT
Group 4: A
lossless compression technique/format
that reduces the size of a file,
generally about 5:1 over RLE and 40:1
over bitmap. CCITT Group 4 compression
may only be used for bi-tonal images.
CCITT:
Consultative
Committee for International Telephone
&Telegraphy. Sets standards for phones,
faxes, modems, etc. The standard exists
primarily for fax documents.
CDPD
(Cellular Digital Packet Data):
A data communication
standard utilizing the unused capacity
of cellular voice providers to transfer
data.
CD-R
(Compact Disc Recordable):
A CD-ROM on which a user may permanently
record data once using a CD Burner.
CD-RW
(Compact Disc Re-Writable):
A CD-ROM on which a user
may record data multiple times.
CD-ROM:
See
Compact Disc.
Certificate:
An
electronic affidavit vouching for the
identity of the transmitter. See
Digital Signature, PKI Digital
Signature.
CGA (Color
Graphics Adapter):
See
Video Graphics Adapter (VGA).
Chaff/winnowing:
Advanced encryption
technique involving data dispersal and
mixing.
Chain of
Custody:
Documentation and testimony regarding
the possession, movement, handling and
location of evidence from the time it is
obtained to the time it is presented in
court; used to prove that evidence has
not been altered or tampered with in any
way; necessary both to assure
admissibility and probative value.
Character
Treatment: The
use of all caps or another standard form
of treating letters in a coding project.
Checksum:
A value used
to ensure data is stored or transmitted
without error. It is created by
calculating the binary values in a block
of data using some algorithm and storing
the results with the data. When the data
is retrieved from memory or received at
the other end of a network, a new
checksum is computed and matched against
the existing checksum. A non-match
indicates an error.
Child:
See
Document.
CIE
(Commission International de l’Eclairage):
The
international commission on color
matching and illumination systems.
CIFS
(Common Internet File System):
Used for client/server communication
within Microsoft® operating systems.
With CIFS, users with different
platforms and computers can share files
without having to install newsoftware.
Cine-Mode:
Data recorded on a film strip such that
it can be read by a human when held
vertically.
Cinepak:
A
compression algorithm; see MPEG.
CITIS
(Contractor Integrated Technical
Information Service):
The Department of Defense
now requires contractors to have an
integrated electronic document image and
management system.
Clawback
Agreement: An
agreement outlining procedures to be
followed to protect against waiver of
privilege or work product protection due
to inadvertent production of documents
or data.
Client/Server:
An architecture whereby a
computer system consists of one or more
server computers and numerous client
computers (workstations). The system is
functionally distributed across several
nodes on a network and is typified by a
high degree of parallel processing
across distributed nodes. With
client-server architecture, CPU
intensive processes (such as searching
and indexing) are completed on the
server, while image viewing and OCR
occur on the client. This dramatically
reduces network data traffic and
insulates the database from workstation
interruptions.
Client:
Any
computer system that requests a service
of another computer system. A
workstation requesting the contents of a
file from a file server is a client of
the file server. See Thin Client.
Clipboard: A
holding area that temporarily stores
information copied or cut from a
document.
Cluster
(File): The
smallest unit of storage space that can
be allocated to store a file on
operating systems. Windows and DOS
organize hard discs based on Clusters
(also known as allocation units), which
consist of one or more contiguous
sectors. Discs using smaller cluster
sizes waste less space and store
information more efficiently.
Cluster
(System): A
collection of individual computers that
appear as a single logical unit. Also
referred to as matrix or grid systems.
Cluster
bitmaps:
Used in
NTFS (New Technology File System) to
keep track of the status (free or used)
of clusters on the hard drive. See
NTFS.
Clustering:
See Data Categorization.
CMYK:
Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow and Black. A subtractive method
used in four color printing and Desktop
Publishing.
Coding:
Automated
or human process by which documents are
examined and evaluated using
pre-determined codes, and the results
recorded. Coding usually identifies
names, dates, and relevant terms or
phrases. Coding may be structured
(limited to the selection of one of a
finite number of choices), or
unstructured (a narrative comment about
a document). Coding may be objective,
i.e., the name of the sender or the
date, or subjective,i.e., evaluation as
to the relevancy or probative value of
documents. See
Bibliographical/Objective Coding and
Subjective Coding.
COLD
(Computer Output to Laser Disc):
A computer
programming process that outputs
electronic records and printed reports
to laser disc instead of a printer.
COM
(Computer Output to Microfilm):
A process that
outputs electronic records and computer
generated reports to microfilm.
Comb:
A series of
boxes with their top missing. Tick marks
guide text entry and separate
characters. Used in forms processing
rather than boxes.
Comic
Mode:
Human-readable data, recorded on a strip
of film that can be read when the film
is moved horizontally to the reader.
Comma
Separated Value (CSV):
A record layout that
separates data fields/values with a
comma and typicallyencloses data in
quotation marks.
Compact
Disc (CD): A
type of optical disc storage media,
compact discs come in a variety of
formats. These formats include CD-ROMs
(“CD Read-Only Memory”) that are
read-only; CD-Rs (“CD Recordable”) that
are written to once and are then
read-only; and CD-RWs (“CD Re-Writable”)
that can be written to multiple times.
Compliance Search:
The identification of and
search for relevant terms and/or parties
in response to a discovery request.
Component
Video:
Separates video into luminosity and
color signals that provide the highest
possible signal quality.
Composite
Video:
Combines red, green, blue and
synchronization signals into one video
signal so that only one connector is
required; used by most TVs and VCRs.
Compound
Document:
A file that
collects or combines more than one
document into one, often from different
applications, by embedding objects or
linked data; multiple elements may be
included, such as images, text,
animation or hypertext. See also
OLE.
Compression:
Compression
algorithms such as Zip and RLE reduce
the size of files saving both storage
space and reducing bandwidth required
for access and transmission. Data
compression is widely used in backup
utilities, spreadsheet applications and
database management systems. Compression
generally eliminates redundant
information and/or predicts where
changes will occur. “Lossless”
compression techniques such as Zip and
RLE preserve the integrity of the input.
Coding standards such as JPEG and MPEG
employ “lossy” methods that do not
preserve all of the original
information, and are most commonly used
for photographs, audio, and video.
See Container File, Decompression,
Lossless Compression and Lossy
Compression.
Compression Ratio:
The ratio of the size of
an uncompressed file to a compressed
file, e.g., with a 10:1 compression
ratio, a 1 MB file can be compressed to
100 KB.
Computer
Forensics:
Computer
Forensics is the use of specialized
techniques for recovery, authentication
and analysis of electronic data when an
investigation or litigation involves
issues relating to reconstruction of
computer usage, examination of residual
data, authentication of data by
technical analysis or explanation of
technical features of data and computer
usage. Computer forensics requires
specialized expertise that goes beyond
normal data collection and preservation
techniques available to end-users or
system support personnel, and generally
requires strict adherence to
chain-of-custody protocols. See also
Forensics and Forensic Copy.
Computer:
Includes but
is not limited to network servers,
desktops, laptops, notebook computers,
mainframes and PDAs (personal digital
assistants).
Concatenate:
Generally,
to add by linking or joining so as to
form a chain or series; two or more
databases of similar structure can be
concatenated to enable referencing as
one. Concept Search: Searching
electronic documents to determine
relevance by analyzing the words and
putting search requests in conceptual
groupings so the true meaning of the
request is considered. Concept searching
considers both the word and the context
in which it appears to differentiate
between concepts such as diamond
(baseball) and diamond (jewelry).
Container
File:
A single
file containing multiple documents
and/or files, e.g. .pst, .nsf and .zip
files. The file must be ripped or
decompressed to determine volume, size,
record count, etc., and to be processed
for litigation review and production.
See Decompression and Rip.
Content
Comparison:
A method of
de-duplication that compares file
content or output (to image or paper)
and ignores metadata. See also
De-Duplication.
Contextual Search:
Searching electronic
documents where the surrounding text is
analyzed to determine relevancy.
Continuous Tone:
An image (e.g. a
photograph) that has all the values of
gray from white to black.
Convergence:
Integration of computing, communications
and broadcasting systems.
Cookie:
A message
given to aWeb browser by aWeb server.
The browser stores the message in a text
file. The message is then sent back to
the server each time the browser
requests a page from the server. The
main purpose of cookies is to identify
users and possibly prepare customizedWeb
pages for them.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC):
a high precision atomic time standard
with uniform seconds defined by
International Time and leap seconds
announced at regular internals to
compensate for the earth’s slowing
rotation and other discrepancies. Leap
seconds allow UTC to closely track
Universal Time, a time standard based
not on the uniform passage of seconds,
but on the Earth’s angular rotation.
Time zones around the world are
expressed as positive or negative
offsets from UTC. Local time is UTC plus
the time zone offset for that location,
plus an offset (typically +1) for
daylight savings, if in effect. As the
zero point reference, UTC is also
referred to as Zulu time (Z). See
also Normalization.
Corrupted
File: A file
damaged in some way, such as by a virus,
or by software or hardware failure, so
that it is paratially or completely
unreadable by a computer.
COTS
(Commercial Off-the-Shelf ):
Hardware or software
products that are commercially
manufactured, ready-made and available
for use by the general public without
the need for customization.
CPI:
Characters Per
Inch.
CPU
(Central Processing Unit):
The primary silicon chip
that runs a computer’s operating system
and application software. It performs a
computer’s essential mathematical
functions and controls essential
operations.
CRC
(Cyclical Redundancy Checking):
Used in data communications to create a
checksum character at the end of a data
block to ensure integrity of data
transmission and receipt. See
Checksum.
CRM
(Customer Relationship Management):
Applications
that help manage clients and contacts.
Used in larger companies. Often a
significant repository of sales,
customer, and sometimes marketing data.
Cross-Custodian De-Duplication:
Culls a document to the extent multiple
copies of that document reside within
different custodians’ data sets. See
De-Duplication.
CRT
(Cathode Ray Tube):
The picture tube of older
computer monitors or televisions, to be
distinguished from newer “flat” LCD or
plasma screens.
Cryptography:
Technique to scramble data to preserve
confidentiality or authenticity.
Cull
(verb):
To remove a
document from the collection to be
produced or reviewed. See Data
Filtering, Harvesting.
Custodian:
Person having control of a network,
computer or specific electronic files.
Custodian
De-Duplication:
Culls a
document to the extent multiple copies
of that document reside within the same
custodian’s data set. See
De-Duplication.
Customer-Added metadata:
See
User-Added Metadata.
Cyan:
Cyan-colored
ink reflects blue and green and absorbs
red.
Cylinder:
The set of
tracks on both sides of each platter in
the hard drive that is located at the
same headposition. See
Platter.
Glossary - Courtesy of
The Sedona Conference®
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