First test assignment for Compare Testlab completed

Compare Testlab has now completed the first test assignment – to independently verify an algorithm created by IT researcher Johan Garcia at Karlstad University to track data fragments on a hard drive.

"The test assignment has been carried out according to my expectations and means that I can now proceed with applying for further support from Innovationsbron", explains Johan Garcia who is a researcher and lecturer in computer science at Karlstad University.

Innovationsbron works with the commercialization of, among other things, research results from universities with a focus on the so-called pre-commercial phases where the high risk affects the availability of investors.

"In order to receive continued support, I was recommended to let my algorithm be tested by an independent party - therefore it was a very good fit to become a pilot project for Compare Testlab".

"This assignment is an important step towards becoming an established test center that more tangibly shows what we want and can offer," says Sven Wedemalm, who is responsible for Compare Testlab.

Compare Testlab already has customers who hire themselves into the advanced test environment at Sätterstrand, Hammarö, to perform the tests themselves. With the test assignment from Karlstad University, Compare Testlab is now also starting to deliver its own services within test and validation.

Johan Garcia has - through financial support from Innovationsbron - hired Compare Testlab to be able to carry out tests of the algorithm he developed during the past year.

The tests have been carried out by Torbjörn Wiger to verify Johan Garcia's algorithm – that is, to check that it really works and is suitable for use in different IT environments as Johan Garcia has intended.

The algorithm has been tested in two different environments – a regular desktop environment and a server environment. And it has been tested from various aspects based on speed and coverage - that is, how quickly and well it finds fragments on a hard drive.

The algorithm is based on a combination of new insights and improvement of previously known techniques, according to Johan Garcia. It involves searching for data fragments on hard drives, for example parts of images, Mp3 files or other types of compressed or encrypted files. From a single small piece of the puzzle, you can make a match against the entire file. One possible area of use is within the police. In a way that was not possible before, investigators can quickly and efficiently search for fragments from illegal images, for example images of abuse and child pornography.