I just got my blackberry for my birthday and I have gotten used to it! Now the UAE wants to ban the blackberry services starting October 11. Click here to read the article.

ICST published a news article about the success of the conference preparations and support of the Ministry of Interior.Click here to see the news release.

I'm happy to announce that after a lot of hard work exerted by myself  and the ZU office of development, the UAE Ministry of Interior decided to sponsor the 2nd Intentional Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, being the only platinum sponsor. I want to also thank E&Y for supporting this great cause.

It is interesting how people in totally different places of the world, end up having similar thoughts. Way before I saw the video I am posting below, I have been thinking of performing photocopy machine forensics. After giving a talk in Ireland a couple of months ago, I received an e-mail from one of the students that he found the video below. Interesting huh? Well, we should consider doing more quantitative research on the problem to identify the scale of the problem, don't you think?

At my birthday dinner, on a yacht (I had to mention that..), a conversation was started, I don't remember how, but it was on the philosophy of how computers are human-like. I was baffled to hear from non-technical people, that they philosophically view computers as humans in some ways. Why am I baffled? well, its simple, because without humans, there wouldn't be computers.

Computers operate on 1s and 0s, and that is that. Even the most sophisticated AI algorithms, are no where close to humans. Computers do not possess any REAL emotions, or REAL freedom of choice. What are your thoughts on this? If you read this entry, let me know your thoughts. I want to know if I am the only person stuck in this bubble that thinks that computers will NEVER be as sophisticated and complex as humans...

The academic world is an interesting one, especially in terms of publication. During my career, I have submitted numerous articles to journals and conferences, some of which were accepted, and others rejected which is quite normal. Being also part of the editorial board of a journal myself, and serving as a reviewer for journals and conferences, I have also seen some interesting things.

I am a little confused as to how reviewers have such contradicting perspectives on the same paper that was submitted. Lately, this has happened to me, and I have seen it happen before, and it just confuses me. Perhaps it has something to do with "deterministic screens", in which people see ideas/concepts/papers through their "own" screen. However, being a scientist, objectivity should be apparent. If you have faced a similar issue in the past, feel free to comment, or if you have an idea of why that is the case, also feel free to comment.

I just think its weird that sometimes you get two reviews, the first states "Wow, this is the best thing since sliced bread", and the other says "Wow, this is most pathetic piece of work I have ever seen!". The political world of academia never stops!

I am in the airport heading to Ireland to give a seminar at UCD, which I find quite exciting. I have never visited Ireland, but it looks beautiful, and I can't wait to explore it. I have been extremely busy working on various research projects, mainly:
1. Standardization of reporting in Cyber Forensic Investigation
2. XML standard for Digital Evidence Items
3. ICDF2C conference related "stuff"
4. Experimenting with the relationship between bypassing the internet proxy and cyber criminal engagement
5. Working on a network forensics training program for certain entities
6. Teaching/creating a small scale digital device forensics class
7. Meeting various interesting people and researchers
8. Working more on iPhone forensics

And many more things. Being a great researcher/professor/director means that you have to be the most dynamic person in the world ;)

Anyway, they just unplugged me from the electrical outlet at the airport because the airport personnel need to use it. I wonder if I should perform some research on rogue networks in middle eastern airports - sounds interesting..

One more thing, does anyone know what cloud computing is? I don't think so to be honest. I think its a term that is thrown around because it sounds "cool". Maybe I am misjudging many, but I truly feel that way so far. If you have a true definition for what cloud computing is, and how it is different from what exists, please inform me.

That is it for now!

March 2nd, 2010, marked a historical event, as the lab that I have been preparing was inaugurated by Minister of Interior Lieutenant-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, accompanied by Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and President of Zayed University. I am glad to be the director of a lab, first of its kind in the Arab world, and I hope that things will only get better from here. Below are some related press articles, and a video:

The National News Paper
Khaleej Times
AmeInfo

Laboratory video in the news:
News Video

Today two exciting things happened. 1) My proposal for the RIF (Research Incentive Fund), made it through, which is quite remarkable! The research proposal title was "Second-hand cellular phones: Do they pose a threat to our privacy?". I am glad that the reviewers saw value in the research proposal.

The other exciting thing is that I was just added to the Journal of Digital Forensics Security and Law (JDFSL) editorial board. It is nice to see that my work in Cyber Forensics has prompted professors around the world to consider for being part of their editorial team. One of my goals in the future is to start an open access journal, but I have a specific area that I would like to start it in.

Have a wonderful day, my day has started with great news! I hope yours does too.

You better believe it ladies and gentlemen. I will be chairing the International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime in Abu Dhabi! October 4-6! This is really exciting news. Visit the website at: http://www.d-forensics.org. So far, I have some really prestigious speakers that will be coming to speak. Keep an eye out for the greatest conference of the year!