Title: Application of quality in use model to assess the user experience of open source digital forensics tools

Authors: Manar Abu Talib; Reem Alnanih; Adel Khelifi

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates ' Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, Department of Computer Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ' College of Computer and Information Technology, American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE

Abstract: Open source digital forensics tools are playing an important role for forensics investigations. So, there is a need to assess these tools to ensure they meet users' needs. The existing literature does not satisfy the requirements of assessing their quality-in-use. This paper assesses three most used digital forensics tools, namely autopsy, DFF, and DART using five quality-in use characteristics, namely, effectiveness, productivity, efficiency, error safety, and cognitive load. The results demonstrated that Autopsy, DFF, and DART performances are similar in terms of efficiency and productivity. DDF outperformed the other two in effectiveness. Autopsy was the best in terms of error safety, and DART had the highest cognitive load. The relevant community may consider these findings in selecting solutions to perform its duties. The future researches can involve more studies to encompass additional aspects of software quality, to compare open and closed source digital forensics programs and to enhance testing efforts

Keywords: quality models; open source software; OSS; digital forensics tools; autopsy; DFF; DART; quality-in-use model; ISO/IEC 25010.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESDF.2020.103870

International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, 2020 Vol.12 No.1, pp.43 - 76

Received: 20 Jan 2018
Accepted: 03 Sep 2018
Published online: 02 Dec 2019 *

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