Computer forensic software

NIST recently released Version 2.1 of the National Software Reference Library (NSRL) Reference Data Set (RDS) to the computer forensics community. The RDS is a resource for law enforcement, corporate, and other organizations investigating crimes involving computers. It contains over 15 million file profiles from software, including operating systems, database management systems, word processing packages, graphics applications, utilities, image libraries, font libraries, and many others. These profiles can be used to "fingerprint" known files on computer systems and either remove or include them automatically in reviewing files for probative content. The RDS also is being used for digital library management and to support intrusion detection.

The NSRL is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the National Archives and Records Administration; and NIST.

The RDS is available on CD-ROM from NIST's Standard Reference Data Office. Annual subscription ordering information can be found at www.nist.gov/srd/nistsd28.htm. Ongoing information about the project can be found at www.nsrl.nist.gov.

CONTACT: Doug White, (301) 975-4761; nsrl@nist.gov.