In this issue

National Innovation Award page 2

National Commission on 

Forensic Science!! ! page 6

NIST and NFI! ! ! page 6

Supreme Court Cites NIST!! page 7 

Fire Debris Detection! ! page 9

Cloud Computing Forensics page 10

Face Recognition!! ! page 11

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

1

The NIST Forensic Topography Analysis 

Project team, with funding from the National 

Institute of Justice, is developing the world’s 

first open-access research database of fired 

bullet and cartridge casing reference data, 

consisting of traditional reflectance 

microscopy images and three-dimensional 

surface topography. The database will support 

objective ballistics identification as it fosters 

the development and validation of 

advanced algorithms, 

mathematical similarity criteria and 

quantitative confidence limits. A 2009 National 

Research Council (NRC) report called into 

question, amongst other issues, the objectivity 

of visual toolmark identification by firearms 

examiners. This report recommended 

development of objective toolmark 

identification criteria and error rate estimates. 

Industry, academia and government 

laboratories are pursuing two promising 

approaches towards this goal: 1) development 

of mathematical criteria and advanced 

algorithms for the objective and automated 

identification and scoring of potential 

matches, and 2) supplementing traditional 

reflectance microscopy images with threecontinued on page 3

NIST Forensic Topography Analysis Project Seeks to 

Improve Ballistics Identification

by Robert M. Thompson and Xiaoyu Alan Zheng

NEWS

Vol. 2 Issue 2

3D topography data (false color) 

of a bullet land impression from 

NIST SRM 2460 Standard Bullet

NIST Names First Forensic Science Standards

Board Members

On June 26, NIST named 17 academic researchers and 

forensic science experts to the Forensic Science Standards 

Board (FSSB), a key component of NIST's Organization of 

Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), a new organization to 

help standardize and strengthen forensic science. The 

FSSB will oversee three resource committees and five 

scientific area committees. Subcommittees will focus on 

specific disciplines, including DNA, toxicology. medico-legal

continued on page 5
NIST Digital Forensic Resource Honored with a National Innovation Award

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

2

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance 

Innovation Working Group is honoring NIST 

for a software archive that has proven highly 

valuable to digital forensic investigators and 

is also paying off in other unimagined ways. 

The group announced its third annual 

NDSA Innovation Awards on May 12. The 

awards committee selected four award 

recipients from 30 nominees including the 

NIST National Software Reference Library

(NSRL). 

NIST’s NSRL was selected for “substantial 

leadership in building a national collection of 

software, developing and sharing workflows 

and approaches for software preservation, 

and for modeling approaches to corpus 

analysis of born digital collections,” 

according to the award announcement. 

In addition to its value in criminal 

investigations, the NSRL has become a 

valuable asset to the digital preservation 

community. Last year NIST and Stanford 

University Libraries collaborated on a 

project to expand the NSRL collection and 

increase its value as a cultural collection 

including early 1980s era software and 

video game titles. 

Each year the Innovation Working Group 

solicits nominations for projects, individuals 

and organizations doing innovative and 

substantive work in digital preservation. The 

group recently interviewed Doug White, the 

NIST NSRL project leader, and posted a 

write-up about the NSRL in its blog.

continued on page 3
Ballistics from page 1 

dimensional surface 

topography measurement 

data.

However, almost a decade 

prior to the NRC report, the 

researchers at NIST were 

already having success in 

the development and 

production of Standard 

Reference Material (SRM) 

Bullets and Cartridge Cases. 

In partnership with the 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms and Explosives, 

these standards were tested 

nationwide and are now the 

quality assurance control 

reference standards for the 

National Ballistic Information 

Network (NIBIN) in the 

United States. These SRMs 

enabled the development 

and refinement of 

microscopic 2D and 3D 

surface profile and 

topography measurement 

systems to qualify the 

accuracy of the 

individualizing detail 

born on the bullets and 

cartridge cases. These 

same analytical methods 

have been tested on 

actual fired bullets and 

cases in blind 

comparison studies with 

remarkable accuracy. 

These objective 

methods are being 

employed to document 

the surface feature 

“ground truth” for the 

fired bullets and 

cartridge cases in the 

growing research 

database.

In the past, development 

and validation of both of 

these approaches to 

objective toolmark 

identification were hindered 

by a lack of access to 

toolmark data sets. A useful 

data set would need to 

represent the large variety of 

ballistic toolmarks 

encountered by firearm 

examiners. It would also 

need to represent 

challenging identification 

scenarios, such as those 

posed by consecutively 

manufactured firearms 

components. It is very 

expensive for individual 

companies or institutions to

continued on page 4

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

3

Award from page 2

The blog relays another unexpected benefit 

of the NSRL. In 2004, the Food and Drug 

Administration contacted White’s team for 

assistance in tracking a potentially 

dangerous lot of Botox that had been mixed 

incorrectly. The FDA had information on 

which clinics received shipments of the bad 

lot, but it was locked in a file created with an 

older version of a popular business 

software. The FDA asked if NIST could 

provide the older version of the software 

from the NSRL, which it did. The FDA was 

able to open the file and trace the bad 

Botox, averting possible deaths. 

The 2014 NDSA Innovation Awards was 

presented at the Digital Preservation 2014 

meeting which was held by the Library of 

Congress, July 22-24, in Washington D.C. 

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance is 

a consortium launched by the Library of 

Congress’ National Digital Information 

Infrastructure and Preservation Program. 

The land impression on NIST SRM 

2460 Standard Bullet
NIST to Hold DNA Analyst Webinar Series

On Aug. 6, two NIST scientists along with academic and government experts will present 

NIST DNA Analyst Webinar Series: Validation Concepts and Resources – Part 1. John 

Butler and Becky Hill of the NIST Applied Genetics Group will be among the presenters. 

Forensic DNA analysts and other interested stakeholders are invited to participate in this 

free NIST webinar on validation concepts and resources which takes place from 1:00 p.m. 

to 5:00 p.m., ET, on Aug. 6 In recent years, instrument manufacturers and software 

companies have created new technologies to analyze challenging DNA samples. Examples 

include new quantification kits, STR multiplexes, instruments for CE separation, and an 

increasing number of available software programs for interpreting complex mixtures. These 

new technologies must be tested and validated before they can be reliably used in a 

forensic laboratory. During the webinar, NIST, Boston University and California Department 

of Justice experts will cover validation concepts and NIST software tools to assist in the 

validation process. See http://www.nist.gov/forensics/nist-dna-analyst-webinar-seriesvalidation-concepts-and-resources-part-1.cfm for more information.

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

4

Ballistics from page 3

generate their own data sets 

and to objectively evaluate 

their solutions. During an 

international symposium 

held at NIST entitled 

Measurement Science and 

Standards in Forensic 

Firearms Analysis 2012, one 

of the top priority requests 

from the attendees was the 

construction of a research 

database where bullet, 

cartridge case and toolmark 

surface data can be shared 

between researchers to 

facilitate testing, refinement 

and comparison of new 

systems, methods and 

algorithms. 

The ballistic surface 

database is being 

constructed to contain a 

variety of representative 

toolmark data, ranging from 

crime lab test fires to ones 

fired with consecutively 

manufactured barrels, firing 

pins, slides and other 

firearm surfaces. The 

database will contain both 

microscope images and 

three-dimensional surface 

topography data. To 

maintain an accurate ground 

truth, the database will 

consist of indexed surface 

data acquired at NIST using 

state-of-the-art instruments 

and measurement 

procedures. A portion of the 

data will also be collected 

and stored in a closed 

database for later validation 

tests and comparison of 

correlation software 

methods. 

The database will enable 

researchers to test and 

validate new approaches in 

objective, mathematicsbased, toolmark 

identification while easing 

the transition to threedimensional surface 

topography data. The 

database will provide a 

scientific knowledge base of 

the degree of similarity that 

can be found between 

marks made by different 

firearms and the variability in 

marks made by an individual 

firearm. In the future, 

examiners in court will not 

only present their subjective 

opinion of identification, but 

also will have an 

independent objective 

measurement of similarity 

between the evidence items. 

In the future, objective 

measurement methods will 

have a strong foundation of 

data built by this NIST team 

and national forensic 

science partners.
FSSB from page 1

death investigation, 

facial identification, 

latent fingerprints and 

firearms and 

toolmarks, among 

others. The 

subcommittees will 

propose consensus 

documentary 

standards, for 

adoption by the board, 

to improve quality and 

consistency of work in 

the forensic science 

community. To see the 

NIST news release on 

the FSSB, go to 

www.nist.gov/

forensics/first-forensicscience-standardsboard-062614.cfm

To see the NIST 

forensic science 

webpage listing FSSB 

members, go to 

www.nist.gov/

forensics/osac/fssb.cfm.

On July 16, NIST announced the selection of 35 additional OSAC members who will serve 

on the resource committees. The new members, selected for their expertise in law, 

psychology and quality assurance, will serve on three OSAC Resource Committees. 

Members will play a critical support role by advising the FSSB, the scientific area 

committees and subcommittees focused on specific forensic science disciplines as they 

adopt, develop and review standards.

“As our science-focused committees and subcommittees work to support the development 

of forensic science standards and guidelines, we expect that there will be many questions 

related to law, work flow processes and quality control. These resource committees will 

help address those,” said John Paul Jones II, associate director for OSAC affairs. See the 

full resource committee announcement at www.nist.gov/forensics/osca-rc.cfm. 

 

A NIST-DOJ membership selection team is in the process of reviewing more than 1,300 

applications for the remaining OSAC positions. Later this summer, NIST expects to 

announce members of the Scientific Area Committees within OSAC. 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

5

The structure of the NIST Organization of Scientific Area 

Committees
For three weeks in May, two visitors from the 

Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) worked 

on collaborative projects with NIST 

researchers. Arian van Asten, Ph.D., worked 

with the NIST Surface and Trace Chemical 

Analysis Group studying trace chemical 

detection methods with direct analysis in 

real-time mass spectrometry. Ate 

Kloosterman, Ph.D., worked with Mike Coble 

of the Applied Genetics Group evaluating 

probabilistic genotyping software approaches 

to DNA mixture analysis. Kloosterman and 

van Asten are professors at the University of 

Amsterdam as well as leading forensic 

scientists within the NFI. 

This collaboration resulted from a 2012 

agreement between NIST and the NFI to 

work together to advance technologies, 

methods, practices and standards in forensic 

science. See http://www.nist.gov/oles/

mou-121212.cfm. 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

6

The National Commission on Forensic 

Science (NCFS), a federal advisory 

committee to the U.S. Department of 

Justice and jointly chaired by DOJ and 

NIST, held its second meeting on May 

12-13, 2014. The second NCFS meeting 

featured panel discussions on the topics of 

cognitive bias and ethics. Attendees also 

heard reports from the six NCFS 

subcommittees: 

• accreditation and proficiency testing, 

• medicolegal death investigation, 

• reporting and testimony,

• scientific inquiry and research, 

• training on science and law, and 

• interim solutions. 

Mark Stolorow, director of the NIST 

Organization of Scientific Area Committees 

(OSAC), and Willie May, NIST acting 

director, discussed NIST efforts with OSAC 

and future plans to fund a NIST Center of 

Excellence in Forensic Science. 

NIST and DOJ established the NCFS in 

March 2013 with the signing of a 

memorandum of understanding. The 

commission includes representatives from 

federal, state and local forensic science 

labs; research scientists and 

academicians; prosecutors, defense 

attorneys and judges; law enforcement; 

and other relevant stakeholders. 

Meeting summaries and a link to a webcast 

of the meeting can be found on the NCFS 

website at http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/

meetings.html. The next NCFS meeting will 

be held on Aug. 26-27, 2014. 

National Commission of Forensic Science Discusses Cognitive Bias

May 19 – Dutch officials, including Secretary 

General Pieter Cloo of the Netherlands 

Ministry of Security and Justice, visited NIST 

for a briefing and exchange on forensics and 

cybersecurity. Pictured above: NIST’s Mark 

Stolorow (left) and Marcel van der Steen 

(middle) and Arian van Asten of the 

Netherlands Forensic Institute participated in 

the briefing. Photo: NIST

NIST and Netherlands Forensic Scientists Collaborate
As digital technology transforms 21st 

century life, questions about privacy rights 

abound. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on 

one such question in late June: if you are 

arrested, can the police search your cell 

phone without first obtaining a warrant? No, 

according to the June 25, 2014, ruling in 

Riley v California. In considering the 

question, the court had to mesh established 

policy on search warrants together with an 

understanding of cell phone technology.

To help with that challenge, the justices 

turned to a variety of sources, among them 

the NIST Guidelines on Mobile Device 

Forensics. The unanimous court opinion, 

written by Chief Justice John Roberts, cites 

this document three times. The ruling 

focuses on two separate cases in which 

police arrested suspects and searched 

their cell phones without first obtaining a 

search warrant. In both cases, state and 

federal prosecutors argued that the 

searches were justified to prevent the 

suspects from destroying evidence. Courts 

have long upheld police officers’ right to 

search an area within the suspect’s 

immediate reach without a warrant.

The prosecutors argued that information on 

a cell phone may be vulnerable to two types 

of evidence destruction unique to digital data 

– remote wiping and encryption. The 

Supreme Court opinion cites the NIST 

Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics to 

explain remote wiping. “Remote wiping 

occurs when a phone connected to a 

wireless network receives a signal that 

erases stored data. This can happen when a 

third party sends a remote signal or when a 

phone is preprogrammed to delete data 

upon entering or leaving certain geographic 

areas (so-called ‘geofencing’),” the opinion 

explains, citing the NIST guidelines authored 

by Rick Ayers of NIST, Sam Brothers of the 

Department of Homeland Security, and 

Wayne Jansen of Booz Allen Hamilton.

The justices ruled that neither the remotewiping nor encryption concerns were 

relevant. The arresting officers can turn the 

phone off or remove its battery to prevent 

remote wiping, the opinion says.

They cited the NIST guide two more times in 

elaborating on the technical issues. “If they 

are concerned about encryption or other 

potential problems, they can leave a phone 

powered on and place it in an enclosure that 

isolates the phone from radio waves. See 

Ayers 30-31,” the opinion says. However, it 

also notes that such enclosures “may not be 

a complete answer to the problem. See 

Ayers 32.”

continued on page 8

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

7

Supreme Court Cites NIST Guide in Ruling on Cell Phone Searches

Rick Ayers, one of the authors of the NIST 

Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics. 

© Nicholas McIntosh Photography
NIST Webinar on Analyzing Complex Mixed 

DNA Samples Reaches More Than 1000

Mike Coble, a forensic scientist in the NIST Applied 

Genetics Group, recently organized a webinar for 

forensic DNA analysts on probabilistic genotyping 

software for complex DNA mixtures. This 4-hour 

webinar, held on May 28 with the assistance of 

John Paul Jones of the NIST Office of Special 

Programs and Gladys Arrisueno of NIST 

Conference Services, included presentations from 

forensic DNA scientists at the Denver Police 

Department, the New York City Office of Chief 

Medical Examiner, the Netherlands Forensic Institute, 

and the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 

Laboratory. More than 1,000 viewers tuned into the 

webinar to learn about overcoming the challenges 

associated with interpreting mixed DNA samples. Slides from the eight presentations and the 

webinar recording are available online at http://www.nist.gov/forensics/nist-dna-analystwebinar-series-pt1.cfm. 

NIST Provides DNA Training to FBI Laboratory

On June 10, the NIST Applied Genetics Group provided the third annual all-day training 

session to more than 100 FBI Laboratory DNA analysts. NIST scientists Becky Hill, Mike 

Coble, Kevin Kiesler, Erica Butts, Katherine Gettings and Peter Vallone gave presentations. 

Topics included Standard Reference Materials, probabilistic genotyping methods, Ychromosome short tandem repeat statistics, single nucleotide polymorphism typing with 

next-generation sequencing instrumentation, rapid DNA testing and forensic applications of 

next-generation instruments. 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

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Supreme Court from page 7 

After digesting these and other technical and 

societal issues, the opinion concludes that 

police officers need a warrant to search a 

cell phone. “Modern cell phones are not just 

another technological convenience. With all 

they contain and all they may reveal, they 

hold for many Americans ‘the privacies of 

life,’ ... The fact that technology now allows 

an individual to carry such information in his 

hand does not make the information any 

less worthy of the protection for which the 

Founders fought,” the opinion concludes.

NIST developed its Guidelines on Mobile 

Device Forensics to help investigators make 

decisions about the best ways to gather, 

preserve and report on data from cell 

phones and other mobile devices.

“As this ruling illustrates, it is important that 

policy decisions are based on a sound 

understanding of technological issues,” says 

Barbara Guttman, manager of the Software 

Quality Group in NIST’s Information 

Technology Laboratory. “We're glad the 

Supreme Court found our guidelines helpful 

in answering this important question.”

Webinar participants (clockwise from left): 

consultant and presenter Charlotte Word, Mike 

Coble, Gladys Arrisueno and John Paul Jones, 

all of NIST; Todd Bille of ATF, and Ate 

Kloosterman of the Netherlands Forensic 

Institute. Photo: NIST
Fire Debris Detection Technique Developed to 

Aid Arson Investigations

NIST researchers have demonstrated a new method 

for detecting ignitable liquids that could change the 

way arson fires are investigated. They describe the 

method in a recent paper in the Journal of 

Chromatography A. An arson investigation typically 

requires collecting one or two liters of ashes and 

debris from various locations within a fire scene in 

metal cans similar to those used for paint, and 

sending the material to a lab. The testing methods 

typically include gas and liquid chromatography or 

various versions of spectroscopy, with gas 

chromatography being the most widely used in fire 

debris analysis, according to the lead NIST 

researcher Tom Bruno. When the fire debris is 

received at the testing facility, samples are taken for 

testing. Sometimes this will involve suspending a strip 

with activated charcoal in the air or “headspace” 

directly above the sample in the paint can for a period 

of time that can vary, depending on the judgment of the 

analyst, for 2-3 hours or up to 16 hours.

Other testing methods include “dynamic purge and trap” of the headspace. And still another 

sampling method involves a newer solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method that does not 

destroy the sample. This later method, however, has a high displacement rate of heavier over 

lighter ignitable liquid components, is difficult to automate, makes preserving and archiving 

samples difficult and has not shown a consistent ability to obtain repeatable and quantitative 

results. Also, the SPME sampling method requires expensive equipment, and the SPME 

fibers are easily damaged. Still other methods are less sensitive and produce large amounts 

of chemical waste.

The vapor collection method developed by Bruno’s group involves the dynamic adsorption of 

headspace vapors on short porous layer open tubular (PLOT) columns maintained at low 

temperature (as low as -40 C). The benefits of this method are many. The collection 

sensitivity is high; below 1 part per billion (ppb). The low temperature is achieved using a 

vortex tube connected to compressed air; it has no moving parts, and is attractive for use in 

environments with explosive or flammable materials.

To learn more, see the NIST news release at http://www.nist.gov/mml/acmd/

arson-061714.cfm. 

Reference: Nichols, J.E., et al. (2014) Analysis of arson fire debris by low temperature 

dynamic headspace adsorption porous layer open tubular columns. Journal of 

Chromatography A 1334: 126-138. 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

9

Shown here are the tools for testing arson 

samples using NIST's new PLOT capillary 

method. Credit: NIST
NIST Report Invites Public Comment on Challenges of Cloud Computing for 

Forensic Investigators

NIST has issued a draft report summarizing 

65 challenges that cloud computing poses 

to forensic investigators who use digital 

evidence to solve crimes. The working 

group, which prepared the report NIST 

Cloud Computing Forensic Science 

Challenges, is an international body of 

cloud and digital forensic experts from 

industry, government and academia.

Through the report, the working group aims 

to initiate a dialogue on forensic science 

concerns in cloud computing ecosystems. 

“The long-term goal of this effort,” explains 

NIST’s Martin Herman, co-chair of the 

working group, “is to build a deeper 

understanding of, and consensus on, the 

high-priority challenges so that the public 

and private sectors can collaborate on 

effective responses.”

The characteristics that make cloud 

computing so attractive also create 

challenges for forensic investigators who 

must track down evidence in the everchanging cloud computing environments. 

Even if they seize a tablet or laptop 

computer at a crime scene, digital crime 

fighters could come up empty handed if 

these devices are linked to pooled 

resources in the cloud. 

The draft report is available at http://

csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsDrafts.html.

NIST Mobile Device Forensics Workshop Helps Investigators Keep 

Pace with Technology

More than 1,000 people attended an all-day 

mobile forensics workshop held at NIST on June 

18 – most of them via an online webcast. While 

about 50 people came to Gaithersburg., Md., for 

the workshop, 989 people viewed it online on 

June 18. Since then, nearly 400 additional people 

have visited the webcast archive page. 

During the workshop, nine presenters covered 

topics such as mobile forensics tool testing at 

NIST, acquisition techniques from various smart 

phones including iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices; mobile malware and spyware 

apps, and the current state of mobile forensics in academia and industry. Rick Ayers, a 

researcher in the Software Quality Group in NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory, and 

John Paul Jones, a program manager in Office of Special Programs, organized the 

workshop. Presentations and video of the event are archived and can be accessed at 

www.nist.gov/forensics/mobile_forensics2.cfm and www.nist.gov/forensics/nist-mobileforensics-webcast.cfm. For more information on the NIST Computer Forensics Tool Testing 

Program, see www.cftt.nist.gov. 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

10
End Notes

The National Science Foundation has issued a call for proposals to establish industry/

university cooperative research centers relevant to forensic science. The call for proposals is 

online at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14066/nsf14066.pdf (PDF).

A new report summarizes the efforts of the Subcommittee on Forensic Science to address 

concerns about the validity of forensic science methods and practices. A February 2009 

National Academy of Sciences report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A 

Path Forward, raised the concerns. The White House-sanctioned Subcommittee on Forensic 

Science organized under the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on 

Science issued the new report in May. The report is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/

sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/NSTC/forensic_science___may_2014.pdf (PDF). 

NIST Forensic Science News Summer 2014

11

Following the Boston 

Marathon bombing in 

April 2013, investigators 

pored through a vast 

amount of digital 

imagery and video in 

order to identify 

suspects. They turned 

to automated facial 

recognition systems to 

speed the task and 

were able to identify 

the perpetrators in a 

matter of days. 

Automated facial 

recognition systems 

can be very useful in 

solving crimes and maintaining security. 

Work at NIST is helping to ensure that these 

systems are accurate and reliable. 

A NIST Information Access Division effort 

led by Patrick Grother recently released 

results from a Face Recognition Vendor Test 

that evaluated one-to-many face recognition 

algorithms. The 138-page NIST Interagency 

Report 8009, which is online at http://

biometrics.nist.gov/cs_links/face/frvt/

frvt2013/NIST_8009.pdf, provides core 

technical performance of face recognition 

algorithms. Face recognition algorithms 

were tested on 

reasonable quality 

law enforcement 

mugshot images as 

well as poor quality 

webcam images 

collected in similar 

detention operations 

and moderate quality 

visa application 

images. The 

webcam images 

were used to show 

how face 

recognition 

accuracy degrades 

in non-ideal, 

poorly-controlled condition such as may be 

found in some surveillance situations. This 

evaluation found that “when mugshot 

images from 1.6 million individuals are 

enrolled by the most accurate algorithm, 4.1 

percent of subsequent mated searches fail 

to yield the correct mate in the rank one 

position.” This study also noted that for the 

four developers who submitted algorithms to 

NIST in 2010 and 2013, accuracy improved 

in all cases. Read more in a NIST news 

story online at www.nist.gov/itl/iad/

face-060314.cfm. 

NIST Evaluates Facial Recognition Algorithms

In NIST's one-to-many tests of facial recognition 

software, algorithms attempt to match an unknown 

image such as the one on the left to a different 

image of the same individual (right) in a large 

collection of 1.6 million known images. Credit: NIST