HomeGuide To Digital Forensics
Guide To Digital Forensics

Guide To Digital Forensics

Computer forensics or digital forensics is a time period in computer science to acquire authorized proof present in digital media or computers storage. With digital forensic investigation, the investigator can find what occurred to the digital media comparable to emails, hard disk, logs, computer system, and the network itself. In many case, forensic investigation can produce how the crime could occurred and how we can shield ourselves towards it subsequent time.

Some the reason why we need to conduct a forensic investigation: 1. To gather evidences in order that it may be used in courtroom to unravel legal cases. 2. To research our network energy, and to fill the safety gap with patches and fixes. 3. To recuperate deleted recordsdata or any information in the event of hardware or software failure

In computer forensics, the most important things that must be remembered when conducting the investigation are:

1. The unique proof should not be altered in in any case, and to do conduct the method, forensic investigator must make a bit-stream image. Bit-stream image is a little by little copy of the original storage medium and litigation precise copy of the unique media. The difference between a bit-stream image and normal copy of the original storage is bit-stream image is the slack house within the storage. You will not find any slack house data on a duplicate media.

2. All forensic processes should observe the legal legal guidelines in corresponding country where the crimes happened. Each nation has totally different legislation suit in IT field. Some take IT rules very seriously, for example: United Kingdom, Australia.

3. All forensic processes can only be carried out after the investigator has the search warrant.

Forensic investigators would usually trying at the timeline of how the crimes happened in well timed manner. With that, we are able to produce the crime scene about how, when, what and why crimes could happened. In a giant company, it's advised to create a Digital Forensic Team or First Responder Team, in order that the corporate might still protect the proof until the forensic investigator come to the crime scene.

First Response guidelines are: 1. Under no circumstances should anybody, excluding Forensic Analyst, to make any makes an attempt to get well information from any computer system or device that holds digital information. 2. Any try to retrieve the info by individual stated in number 1, must be avoided because it could compromise the integrity of the evidence, through which grew to become inadmissible in authorized court.

Based mostly on that guidelines, it has already defined the essential roles of getting a First Responder Workforce in a company. The unqualified particular person can only safe the perimeter so that no one can contact the crime scene till Forensic Analyst has come (This can be performed by taking photograph of the crime scene. They can additionally make notes concerning the scene and who were current at that time.

Steps must be taken when a digital crimes occurred in knowledgeable way: 1. Safe the crime scene until the forensic analyst arrive.

2. Forensic Analyst must request for the search warrant from local authorities or company's management.

3. Forensic Analyst make take an image of the crime scene in case of if there is no such thing as a any images has been taken.

4. If the computer remains to be powered on, do not turned off the computer. As an alternative, used a forensic instruments comparable to Helix to get some info that may solely be discovered when the computer is still powered on, reminiscent of information on RAM, and registries. Such instruments has it's special perform as to not write something back to the system so the integrity stay intake.

5. As soon as all live proof is collected, Forensic Analyst cant turned off the computer and take harddisk back to forensic lab.

6. All of the evidences have to be documented, by which chain of custody is used. Chain of Custody keep data on the evidence, reminiscent of: who has the proof for the last time.

7. Securing the proof have to be accompanied by authorized officer resembling police as a formality.

8. Back in the lab, Forensic Analyst take the evidence to create bit-stream image, as unique proof should not be used. Usually, Forensic Analyst will create 2-5 bit-stream image in case 1 image is corrupted. In fact Chain of Custody nonetheless used on this situation to maintain information of the evidence.

9. Hash of the unique proof and bit-stream image is created. This acts as a proof that unique proof and the bit-stream image is the precise copy. So any alteration on the bit image will lead to totally different hash, which makes the evidences found become inadmissible in court.

10. Forensic Analyst begins to seek out evidence within the bit-stream image by rigorously trying at the corresponding location will depend on what sort of crime has happened. For example: Temporary Internet Recordsdata, Slack Space, Deleted File, Steganography files.