dott. Franco Corbelli

I build fast, append-only backup tools that survive ransomware — and forensic imaging tools that hold up in court

Developer from Italy  ·  ⚙️ Systems programmer  ·  🗜 Compression enthusiast  ·  🔍 Digital forensics

I'm an Italian developer interested in making data last forever — safely, efficiently, and without trusting the cloud with your secrets.

My focus areas:

I also happen to love 🐱 Ragdoll and Norwegian Forest Cats.

ZPAQ-based compression and backup tool — ransomware-resistant by design

Built on Dr. Matt Mahoney's ZPAQ technology, zpaqfranz adds:

• 🔒 Append-only incremental backups → previous backups are never overwritten
• ☁️ Efficient cloud transfers via rsync --append or internal append mechanism
• ♾️ Immutable history → all versions kept forever unless explicitly deleted
• 🧩 Cross-platform → Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Solaris and many more...

Open-source cross-platform GUI for zpaqfranz

Makes ZPAQ technology accessible to everyone — no command line needed.

• 🖥️ Portable GUI for Windows, macOS, Linux
• ⚡ Compile once, run almost identically everywhere
• 🎯 Designed for non-experts

Most backup tools overwrite old data. That's a ransomware's best friend.

My approach is different:

Traditional backup:  v1 → v2 → v3   (v1 and v2 are GONE)
zpaqfranz:           v1 + v2 + v3   (ALL versions kept FOREVER)

Core principles:

• ✅ Never overwrite — always append
• ✅ Incremental — only changes are transferred
• ✅ Verifiable — checksums on everything
• ✅ Cloud-compatible — works with any storage that supports append

zpaqfranz includes dedicated extensions for computer forensics and legal evidence handling, following Italian and international standards.

• 📀 Bit-perfect image acquisition — full sector-by-sector copies of drives and media
• 🔐 SHA-256 hashing — the standard required by Italian law (Legge 48/2008) for evidence integrity
• 📋 Automatic acquisition reports — timestamped logs ready for court submission
• 🔗 Chain of custody support — every operation is logged and verifiable

Italian law (Legge 48/2008, ratifying the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime) mandates that digital evidence must be acquired without alteration and its integrity verified with a cryptographic hash. SHA-256 is the accepted standard in Italian courts and law enforcement.

Acquire image  →  Compute SHA-256  →  Store in ZPAQ archive  →  Hash never changes
     ↓                  ↓                      ↓                       ↓
  Bit-perfect       Court-admissible       Append-only              Tamper-proof

This makes zpaqfranz a practical tool not just for IT professionals, but also for CTU (Consulenti Tecnici d'Ufficio), lawyers, and law enforcement dealing with digital evidence in Italy.

 

The ZPAQ compression technology was created by Dr. Matt Mahoney. All major credit for the underlying technology goes to him.