C.E.R.B.E.R.U.S.™ v3 — Forensic Read-Only Data Preservation and Evidence Integrity System: A Cryptographically Verifiable Framework for Source-Corpus Preservation, Provenance Reconstruction, Survivor Determination, Structural Validation and Reproducible Archival Verification Subtitle: Final Forensic Preservation & Cryptographic Verification Release

CERBERUS v3 —Forensic Read-Only Publication Package CERBERUS v3 is a cryptographically verifiable, forensic-grade, read-only archival and publication package designed to preserve, document, and independently verify a defined corpus of source data and associated evidentiary artifacts without altering the authoritative source materials. This deposition constitutes the final publication artifact of the CERBERUS v3 forensic preservation and verification workflow. It consolidates the authoritative survivor corpus identified through the CERBERUS v3 forensic pipeline together with the supporting metadata and verification evidence required to establish the package's integrity, provenance, structural consistency, cryptographic identity, and preservation status. The release is designed as a sealed evidence-preservation container rather than as a reconstructed, transformed, or silently deduplicated representation of the underlying source corpus. Its principal objective is to preserve a deterministically identifiable research artifact whose binary identity can be independently authenticated through cryptographic verification. 1. Scope and Evidentiary Basis The CERBERUS v3 forensic workflow incorporates multiple layers of evidence evaluation and archival verification, including: SHA-256 cryptographic identity verification; survivor-universe reconstruction; duplicate and SHA-equivalence-class analysis; archive-role and provenance assessment; preservation-risk assessment; archive inventory and structural inspection; canonicality and representative-selection analysis; deterministic forensic adjudication; final payload verification; ZIP structural validation; ZIP CRC verification; member-name uniqueness verification; path-security inspection; encryption-state inspection; metadata and archive-member inspection; and independent deep hashing of authoritative payload members. The final publication package contains 34 authoritative payload members and 5 supporting/metadata members, resulting in a total of 39 ZIP members. The 34 authoritative payload members resolve into 14 SHA-256 equivalence classes. These equivalence classes represent cryptographically identical payload content occurring across distinct archive members. The equivalence structure is intentionally preserved as part of the forensic record rather than being silently collapsed, thereby allowing subsequent researchers and auditors to distinguish between: binary content identity → filename/path identity → archive provenance → evidentiary context. Accordingly, cryptographic equivalence does not by itself erase the archival or forensic significance of distinct member identities. 2. Authoritative Release Identity The authoritative publication artifact is: CERBERUS_V3_FINAL_FORENSIC_READ_ONLY_PACKAGE.zip The sealed artifact was verified against the following authoritative binary identity: Size: 7,785,773,219 bytes Approximate size: 7.25 GiB / 7.79 GB SHA-256: 8bb96656f068efaa4f3f14641b7a801314a2c6a3566994f01fb790b8bc48d2eb ZIP members: 39 Authoritative payload members: 34 Supporting/metadata members: 5 SHA-256 equivalence classes: 14 The authoritative artifact identity was confirmed by matching the live sealed ZIP against the expected byte size and SHA-256 digest. 3. Final Structural and Integrity Verification The final authoritative ZIP underwent a read-only deep forensic verification. The following properties were verified: ZIP member count: 39 Unique member names: PASS Absolute paths: 0 Path traversal indicators: 0 Null-byte filenames: 0 Encrypted members: 0 Directory members: 0 Full ZIP CRC verification: PASS Authoritative payload deep-hash verification: 34/34 PASS SHA-256 equivalence-class analysis: 14 classes SHA-equivalence-class verification: PASS Authoritative ZIP size verification: PASS Authoritative ZIP SHA-256 verification: PASS These checks establish the verified structural and cryptographic state of the published artifact as represented by this release. 4. Preservation-First and Non-Mutation Principle CERBERUS v3 follows a preservation-first, non-destructive, read-only forensic methodology. The authoritative publication ZIP was not rebuilt, recompressed, rewritten, repaired, renamed, moved, overwritten, regenerated, or otherwise modified after final sealing for purposes of publication. The final verification record specifically establishes: ZIP rebuilt: NO ZIP copied: NO ZIP extracted: NO ZIP recompressed: NO ZIP overwritten: NO ZIP renamed: NO ZIP moved: NO ZIP deleted: NO Source modified: NO The resulting publication artifact therefore preserves the verified binary identity of the sealed archive. The designation “Read-Only” describes the intended preservation and evidentiary status of the release. It does not prevent legitimate users from downloading, inspecting, citing, hashing, analyzing, or independently reproducing verification procedures against the published artifact. 5. Cryptographic Verification Model The SHA-256 digest functions as a deterministic binary identity reference for the sealed publication artifact. Authoritative SHA-256: 8bb96656f068efaa4f3f14641b7a801314a2c6a3566994f01fb790b8bc48d2eb Authoritative size: 7,785,773,219 bytes A future copy claiming to represent the same sealed CERBERUS v3 publication artifact should reproduce both the stated byte size and SHA-256 digest. A different digest indicates that the compared binary object is not byte-for-byte identical to the sealed publication artifact and should therefore be treated as a distinct or altered artifact until independently investigated. Cryptographic verification establishes binary identity; it does not, by itself, establish the substantive accuracy, completeness, legality, or methodological validity of every underlying source dataset. Those properties remain subject to the provenance and documentation of the original sources. 6. Evidence Preservation and Provenance CERBERUS v3 separates several logically distinct evidentiary layers: Source Identity → Forensic Evidence → Survivor Determination → Cryptographic Equivalence → Canonicality Assessment → Publication Sealing → Independent Verification This separation is intended to reduce the risk of: silent data mutation; accidental deduplication; provenance loss; undocumented transformation; archive-role ambiguity; representative-selection ambiguity; and loss of contextual evidence associated with otherwise identical binary content. Where two or more archive members possess identical SHA-256 content but differ in filename, path, archive location, or provenance context, CERBERUS v3 preserves the distinction between content equivalence and forensic identity. The resulting equivalence classes therefore form part of the published evidentiary record. 7. Reproducibility and Independent Verification The release is designed to permit independent verification by researchers, auditors, archivists, institutions, and other qualified reviewers. An independent verifier may: obtain the published CERBERUS v3 ZIP; calculate its SHA-256 digest; compare the resulting digest with the authoritative release digest; verify the byte size; inspect the ZIP member inventory; verify ZIP CRC integrity; inspect member names and path-security properties; examine the supporting forensic metadata; independently hash the authoritative payload members; and reconstruct or validate the documented SHA-256 equivalence classes. The verification model is therefore based on cryptographic evidence, documented metadata, archive structure, and reproducible computational checks, rather than on an undocumented trust assumption regarding the publication process. 8. Forensic Treatment of Duplicate and Equivalent Content CERBERUS v3 does not equate duplicate binary content with identical forensic identity. The final authoritative corpus contains 34 payload members distributed across 14 SHA-256 equivalence classes. This distinction is deliberate. Two members may be byte-for-byte identical while still possessing different: filenames; directory paths; archive provenance; source-container relationships; acquisition contexts; or evidentiary roles. Accordingly, the release preserves both the cryptographic equivalence relationship and the member-level archival identity. This approach enables subsequent researchers to distinguish between: “these files contain identical bytes” and “these archival objects have identical forensic provenance.” Those propositions are not necessarily equivalent. 9. Archival and Research Significance CERBERUS v3 is structured as a forensic data-preservation and evidentiary-integrity framework rather than merely as a conventional compressed-data distribution. Its principal methodological contribution within this release is the explicit separation of: preservation → verification → provenance → equivalence → canonicality → sealing → reproducibility. The publication artifact is therefore intended to provide a stable reference point for future research, archival review, methodological replication, and independent integrity verification. The package should be understood primarily as an evidence-preservation and integrity artifact. It does not, by virtue of being cryptographically sealed, imply that every underlying source dataset is intrinsically correct, complete, current, or free from source-level methodological limitations. 10. Data Integrity and Interpretation Statement The publication package should be treated as a cryptographically sealed research artifact representing the specific corpus and preservation state documented by this release. The integrity claim applies to the identity and preservation state of the published artifact itself. It should not be interpreted as a blanket certification of: the accuracy of every underlying source; the completeness of every dataset; the correctness of external source methodologies; the absence of historical source revisions; the legal status or licensing terms of third-party materials; or the substantive validity of conclusions independently drawn from the underlying datasets. Researchers using the contents should therefore evaluate source-specific provenance, licensing, temporal coverage, methodological documentation, revision history, and known limitations where applicable. 11. Publication Status This Zenodo deposition constitutes the public archival publication of the CERBERUS v3 Final Forensic Read-Only Publication Package. The release is intended to support: scholarly research; digital preservation; forensic reproducibility; archival verification; provenance analysis; institutional review; independent audit; methodological replication; evidence-integrity assessment; and long-term research citation. The published artifact provides a fixed cryptographic reference for the specific release state represented by this deposition. 12. Final Release and Version Identity CERBERUS v3 — Final Forensic Read-Only Publication Package The designation “Final” refers specifically to the release state of the CERBERUS v3 forensic publication workflow represented by this sealed artifact. It identifies the authoritative publication package for this release and does not constitute a claim that the underlying source datasets can never be updated, corrected, superseded, or independently re-evaluated. Intermediate working files, temporary computations, mutable processing environments, unsuccessful upload attempts, and non-published working artifacts are not themselves authoritative publication artifacts unless explicitly incorporated into the published release. For purposes of release identification, the authoritative reference is the published Zenodo record, its associated published file state, and the SHA-256 digest specified in this description. 13. Release Governance Following final sealing, the authoritative CERBERUS v3 publication artifact is intended to remain unchanged. Any subsequent modification, transformation, recompression, reconstruction, replacement, or materially different corpus should be treated as a new artifact or subsequent release, with its own release identity and independent cryptographic verification. This principle preserves a clear distinction between: historical release identity and future research development. A future CERBERUS release may therefore evolve independently without retroactively changing the binary identity of the present v3 publication artifact. 14. Attribution Author: Bidyut Mazumdar Research designation: Independent Interdisciplinary Researcher–Scholar Founder: FAIR + D Canon (India, 2025) Copyright © 2026 Bidyut Mazumdar. All rights reserved, subject to the license and rights statement specified for this deposition. 15. Final Integrity Statement This deposition provides a rigorously documented, cryptographically identifiable, structurally verified, and preservation-oriented record of the CERBERUS v3 forensic publication artifact. The central release identity is: CERBERUS v3 — Final Forensic Read-Only Publication Package 39 ZIP members | 34 authoritative payloads | 5 supporting members | 14 SHA-256 equivalence classes 7,785,773,219 bytes SHA-256: 8bb96656f068efaa4f3f14641b7a801314a2c6a3566994f01fb790b8bc48d2eb The release is intended to provide a durable and independently verifiable archival reference for the specific corpus, evidence chain, cryptographic identities, structural properties, and preservation state represented by this deposition. It establishes a clear separation between what was preserved, how its identity was verified, how equivalence was determined, and what future researchers may independently conclude from the preserved materials. This distinction is fundamental to the evidentiary and archival purpose of CERBERUS v3.