HomeGuide To Digital Forensics
Guide To Digital Forensics

Guide To Digital Forensics

Computer forensics or digital forensics is a term in computer science to acquire authorized evidence found in digital media or computers storage. With digital forensic investigation, the investigator can find what occurred to the digital media similar to emails, hard disk, logs, computer system, and the network itself. In many case, forensic investigation can produce how the crime could happened and the way we will shield ourselves against it subsequent time.

Some the reason why we have to conduct a forensic investigation: 1. To gather evidences in order that it may be used in court to solve authorized cases. 2. To investigate our network strength, and to fill the security gap with patches and fixes. 3. To get well deleted information or any information within the event of hardware or software failure

In computer forensics, a very powerful issues that should be remembered when conducting the investigation are:

1. The original proof must not be altered in anyways, and to do conduct the method, forensic investigator should make a bit-stream image. Bit-stream image is a bit by bit copy of the unique storage medium and actual copy of the unique media. The distinction between a bit-stream image and normal copy of the original storage is bit-stream image is the slack area within the storage. You will not find any slack space info on a duplicate media.

2. All forensic processes should comply with the authorized laws in corresponding nation where the crimes happened. Every nation has different regulation suit in IT field. Some take IT guidelines very severely, for example: United Kingdom, Australia.

3. All forensic processes can solely be performed after the investigator has the search warrant.

Forensic investigators would normally wanting at the timeline of how the crimes occurred in timely manner. With that, we will produce the crime scene about how, when, what and why crimes may happened. In a giant company, it is recommended to create a Digital Forensic Staff or First Responder Workforce, in order that the company may nonetheless preserve the evidence till the forensic investigator come to the crime scene.

First Response rules are: 1. By no means ought to anyone, apart from Forensic Analyst, to make any makes an attempt to recuperate data from any computer system or device that holds digital information. 2. Any attempt to retrieve the data by individual stated in number 1, should be averted because it could compromise the integrity of the proof, during which turned inadmissible in legal court.

Based on that rules, it has already defined the essential roles of having a First Responder Group in a company. The unqualified individual can solely secure the perimeter in order that no one can contact the crime scene till Forensic Analyst has come (This may be finished by taking picture of the crime scene. They will additionally make notes in regards to the scene and who were present at that time.

Steps must be taken when a digital crimes occurred in an expert method: 1. Secure the crime scene until the forensic analyst arrive.

2. Forensic Analyst must request for the search warrant from local authorities or firm'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 photos has been taken.

4. If the computer remains to be powered on, don't turned off the computer. As an alternative, used a forensic tools such as Helix to get some information that may solely be found when the computer continues to be powered on, resembling information on RAM, and registries. Such instruments has it is particular operate as to not write something back to the system so the integrity stay intake.

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

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

7. Securing the proof should be accompanied by legal officer resembling police as a formality.

8. Back within the lab, Forensic Analyst take the evidence to create bit-stream image, as unique evidence should not be used. Usually, Forensic Analyst will create 2-5 bit-stream image in case 1 image is corrupted. Of course Chain of Custody nonetheless used in this situation to keep data of the evidence.

9. Hash of the original evidence 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 result in completely different hash, which makes the evidences found become inadmissible in court.

10. Forensic Analyst starts to find proof within the bit-stream image by carefully wanting on the corresponding location is dependent upon what sort of crime has happened. For example: Short-term Internet Recordsdata, Slack Space, Deleted File, Steganography files.