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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

Interview with EDC keynote speaker David Blatner

April 2019 by Duff Johnson
Article


Author of over 15 books and a guru to generations of graphic designers, David Blatner is a legend in digital publishing. He’s also the keynote speaker opening the 2nd day … Read more

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April 2019 by PDF Association staff
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The sessions at #EDCSEATTLE2019 may be interesting and relevant, but you still have to convince your boss to let you … Read more

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April 2019 by PDF Association staff
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The educational sessions at #EDC2019 will be led by a wide range of experts from a variety of sectors. From … Read more

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April 2019 by Duff Johnson
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When I’m not working for the PDF Association I still do some consulting in the document management space. Some recent … Read more

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March 2019 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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There are numerous tools on the market, including freeware, with which users can create PDFs. But are the results of … Read more

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March 2019 by David Blatner
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This year, the Electronic Document Conference (EDC) is being held in the same city and only days after CreativePro Week … Read more

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March 2019 by Duff Johnson
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On February 25, 2019, researchers from Ruhr University Bochum  and Hackmanit GmbH published pdf-insecurity.org, a detailed explanation of several vulnerabilities they … Read more

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February 2019 by PDF Association staff
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The Electronic Document Conference is a do-not-miss event for developers,  product managers and technical users creating and leveraging electronic document … Read more

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February 2019 by PDF Association staff
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The PDF Association, the meeting place of the PDF industry, decided to create the Electronic Document Conference for a simple … Read more

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February 2019 by Dietrich von Seggern (callas software GmbH)
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When working with support cases the ones that are related to Overprint in PDF are likely to surprise customers. It … Read more

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February 2019 by Elodie Tellier
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In cooperation with our member ORPALIS the PDF Association is organizing the first PDF Day France. As all lectures will … Read more

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