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What To Know Concerning Computer Forensics

By Shirley Hayes


Computers are being adopted at a very high rate in government, corporate, and personal processes worldwide, something that is leading to a new form of crime called cybercrime. For a crime to qualify as cybercrime, it must have been facilitated by the use of a computing device. To counter cybercrime, a new field of study called computer forensics has been formulated. This field is growing at a fast rate worldwide as cases of cybercrime continue to grow.

This field also goes by the name computer forensic science. Albemarle, NC, is home to some of the best experts in this field. Computer forensic science is a branch within the field of digital forensic science. As a field of study, it pertains to all evidence gathered from computing devices and digital storage media. Experts in this field aim to collect, analyze, and report on digital data in a way that is legally admissible. They use data that is stored digitally to prevent and detect crime.

In the current way of life, the application of computer forensic science is almost in all professions. The professions in which this science does not apply are countable. Law enforcement agencies are the earliest bodies to have used CF in their operations. These agencies also remain to be the heaviest user of this science, contributing enormously to developments observed in the field.

There are several different scenarios in which computers can be crime scenes. For instance, during a hacking or denial of service attack, the computer in question often becomes the crime scene. Computers can also be sources of useful evidence in the form of internet history, documents, and emails, which may be relevant in crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, and murder.

CF goes beyond finding documents, files, and documents on a computing device. An examination always exploits metadata to find several other pieces of information that can be very helpful in an investigation of crime. For instance, the examination will often reveal the date a document first appeared on a computing device. The examination also identifies when the document was last edited, last saved, and last printed. The user who carried out all these functions can also be identified.

Commercial organizations have in the recent past used CF in a number of cases to their own benefit. Some of the areas in which this science has been used by commercial organizations include intellectual property theft, industrial espionage, employment disputes, fraud investigations, and forgeries. Additional cases include bankruptcy investigations, regulatory compliance, and internet use and inappropriate emails in workplaces.

Investigation in this field employs several different techniques. These techniques include cross-drive analysis, stochastic forensics, steganography, live analysis, and deleted files. The correlation of information gathered from multiple hard drives is done under cross-drive analysis.

There six different steps making up the process of CF examination. The steps are readiness, evaluation, analysis, presentation, review, and collection. The steps are not listed in a chronological order. Most professionals overlook the readiness step, although it is equally important. The major issues faced in this field can be categorized broadly as technical, administrative, and legal.




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