Authentic or edited? how to tell if the pic has been edit.

[PanicAd2380 webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

sorry about the dead link, it was late at night when i posted this ithought i had the right one. the picture is located here [url]http://www.adelphi.edu/~shutad/pb000042.png[/url] . My bad, please help me i need some one to tell me if that pic is authentic or has gone some serious editing.

[Linda Rathgeber]

It looks like a drawing instead of a photo.


Best regards,
Linda Rathgeber
----------------
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Contributor *PVII Foundations* [url]www.projectseven.com[/url]
Co-author *Playing with Fire* [url]www.playingwithfire.com[/url]
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-----------------

[Sam Poikail]

Actually it looks like a screenshot from an FPS (First Person Shooter) -
type game.

Looking closer at the screen shot, it would appear to come from Soldier of
Fortune II.

The second block on the second line seems to be an IP address and port
number.

The 3rd line of text is probably something along the lines of a checksum to
verify the validity of the screenshot, since that is what their software is
all about.

You are going to have better luck with your question by contacting support
at EvenBalance at [url]http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=support-sof2.php[/url]
, who make Punkbuster in the first place.

Cheers,
Sam

"PanicAd2380" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:bdrruo$ka6$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> sorry about the dead link, it was late at night when i posted this

ithought i had the right one. the picture is located here
[url]http://www.adelphi.edu/~shutad/pb000042.png[/url] . My bad, please help me i need
some one to tell me if that pic is authentic or has gone some serious
editing.

>
>

[darrel]

> any programs that can check for unusual code in the pic itself or
something?

A file is just a file. You can't really trace much. There may be some meta
info in it, but if it's just a GIF or JPG or what have you, there's really
not much to go on...especially if they editing a screen shot and just took a
screen shot of that.

Ah...the wonders of digital media!

-Darrel

[Sam Poikail]

From:
[url]http://www.punkbuster.com/publications/sof2-pl/index.htm[/url]
---------------
After each map ends and a few seconds after the next one is starting, the
PunkBuster Server will report some information to connected players about
the Server log files. This information gives players the filenames of the
log files and also the Digital Signatures of the log files saved at the
Server. This is useful mostly in organized matches where Server Admins
provide logs to administrators after each match. The Digital Signatures
that are reported to players keep the Server Admin or anyone else from being
able to change or edit the log files without altering the reported Digital
Signatures. If a log file is changed at all, then its Digital Signature
will no longer match what was broadcast to all players in the game. We have
for download, on our website at evenbalance.com, a free utility called pbmd5
that will compute the Digital Signature (also known as MD5) of any file. If
you would like to "save" the Digital Signature of log files reported by a
Server, we recommend bringing down the game console and then taking a
screenshot of your playing screen while that information is displayed. If
desired, the PB_GETSS command can be used to save the screenshot.
--------------

I am not sure if the log files they are talking about are the screenshots or
something else.....

The pbmd5 utility can be found at
[url]http://www.punkbuster.com/index.php?page=links.php[/url] , it is after the link
for RSA Data Security and the text "Our utility program for computing the
MD5 of files can be found here". It comes in Win32 and Linux flavors.

Errant thoughts:
It is easier to tell whether a digital file of a "natural" subject has been
changed than a picture of something that was computer generated.

The more expensive the equipment used to generate the image (particle
effects, render farms, etc, etc), the more expensive the detection
hardware/software.

Some police/government forces are currently equipped with digital cameras,
where output file can be verified for digital manipulation.

Cheers,
Sam


"PanicAd2380" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:bdsk5g$9nf$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Sam you are right, the screenshot is from SOF2, it was taken by Pb so it

can catch cheaters , what it shows is a wallhacker. Few days ago someone had
accused us of cheating a provided us with a pb ss. i opened the screenshot
in fireworks and it was obvious the picture was edit. yesterday i get the
same picture as the one that was edit, only this time the picture seem to be
authentic so either this guy did some serious editing or my team mate is
lieing. is there any way at all to find out if the pic is edit. any programs
that can check for unusual code in the pic itself or something?

>
>