Elections and voting play a crucial role in the development of a democratic society, enabling the public to express their views and participate in the decision-making process. Voting methods have evolved from paper ballot systems to e-voting systems to preserve the integrity of votes, ensuring a secure, transparent, and verifiable process. Continuous efforts have been made to develop a secure e-voting system that eliminates fraud attempts and provides accurate voting results. In this paper, we propose the architecture of a blockchain-based e-voting system called VoteChain. Developed to support the existing voting system in the state of Palestine, VoteChain aims to provide secure e-voting with features such as auditability, verifiability, accuracy, privacy, flexibility, transparency, mobility, availability, convenience, data integrity, and distribution of authority. The work introduces a smart contract designed to meet the demands of e-voting, governing transactions, monitoring computations, enforcing acceptable usage policies, and managing data usage after transmission. The proposed system also adopts advanced cryptographic techniques to enhance security. VoteChain features a web-based interface to facilitate user interaction, providing protection against multiple or double voting to ensure the integrity of the election. Furthermore, VoteChain is designed with a user-friendly and easily accessible administrator interface for managing voters, constituencies, and candidates. It ensures equal participation rights for all voters, fostering fair and healthy competition among candidates while preserving voter anonymity. A comparative analysis demonstrates VoteChain’s advancements in privacy, security, and scalability over both traditional and blockchain-based e-voting systems.

With the rapid advancement of technology and communication, smartphones have become ubiquitous, offering functionalities such as geo-location-based photo capturing through GPS and navigation applications. Digital forensic examiners can retrieve location data from Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) metadata embedded in photos, commonly referred to as “geolocation,” which is crucial in criminal investigations. Modern Android smartphones and digital cameras store GPS coordinates in every captured photo, allowing forensic analysts to leverage this information to solve cases. This paper demonstrates the process of manually extracting geographical identification data (latitude, longitude, altitude) from raw image files using Hex editor tools and validating the results with Google Maps. These methods aid forensic investigators and law enforcement agencies by providing evidence that can be presented in court.

Steganography is a method used to conceal information, while steganalysis focuses on detecting hidden data. In today's digital landscape, steganography is often used across open communication channels, embedding files, videos, messages, and images within other files to obscure their content from unintended viewers. However, cybercriminals exploit these techniques to covertly transmit data to various devices. Traditional endpoint antimalware tools are not typically designed to search for hidden data, making the detection of steganographic content challenging. The ease with which cybercriminals can transmit data using this method highlights its potential threat. This paper reviews various steganalysis tools and explores the integration of antivirus programs for real-time detection to enhance data confidentiality. A proof-of-concept for one of the steganalysis tools is also provided.