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A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

A case study in PDF forensics: The Epstein PDFs

This article details a PDF forensics case study on a small, random selection of the Epstein PDF files released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The tranche contains 4,085 PDF files, with an estimated 5,879 remaining unreleased. Key findings include:

  • A difference in PDF version reporting between forensic tools.
  • The presence of two incremental updates.
  • The discovery of a hidden (orphaned) document information dictionary revealing the software used in processing.
  • The DoJ avoided JPEG images to prevent metadata leakage.
  • Overall, the DoJ’s sanitization workflow could be improved to reduce file size and information leakage.
Peter Wyatt

By Peter Wyatt
December 2025

Why PDF matters to Information Governance

February 2022 by Duff Johnson
Article


This Global Information Governance Day it’s time to focus on how better PDF = better IG. #GIGD

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February 2022 by Is the role of encryption key for information governance?
Computer storage devices and a shield.

It is essential to understand that with long term storage secure formats does not in themselves prevent user error or … Read more

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February 2022 by PDF Association staff
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The Standards Support Endowment supplements PDF Association membership dues to support administration of ISO TC 171 SC 2 and the … Read more

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January 2022 by PDF Association staff
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The latest veraPDF adds support for PDF/A-4, the archival subset specification for PDF 2.0.

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January 2022 by Carsten Luedtge (Compart GmbH)
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In fact, it’s about up-valuing content and documents to intelligent information media. In the final analysis, data is the raw … Read more

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January 2022 by Peter Wyatt
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PDF Association’s CTO, Peter Wyatt discusses text strings in PDF.

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December 2021 by PDF Association staff
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This summary recalls developments in 2021 and looks forward to PDF Association activities in 2022.

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December 2021 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association now hosts 3D PDF demonstration files provided by PDF Association members.

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November 2021 by PDF Association staff
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Support PDF standards development; buy your ISO standards from the PDF Association! Members even get a discount!

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November 2021 by Carsten Luedtge (Compart GmbH)
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Key performance indicator (KPI) systems must also be strictly oriented to the strategic corporate goals in document and output management … Read more

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November 2021 by Peter Wyatt
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PDF Association CTO Peter Wyatt explains the transparent imaging model in PDF and recounts its significance since Adobe introduced this … Read more

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