The Field Of Computer Forensics

By Shirley Hayes


The adoption of various kinds of computers in personal, corporate, and government processes is leading to a new form of crime referred to as cybercrime. Cybercrime is any kind of crime facilitated by computers. Cybercrime is growing at a very fast rate, something that is making it necessary to formulate strategies for combating this new threat. In a bid to combat cybercrime, a new field of study known as computer forensics (CF) has emerged worldwide.

Computer forensic science is the other name that is used to refer to this field. This science makes one of several other subfields that comprised in digital forensic science. In Albemarle, NC, there are several professionals whose area of expertise is CF. CF is a separate field of study that specializes in the analysis, reporting, and collection of data stored on digital media. The entire profession revolves around computers and digital storage media. Experts prevent and detect criminal activities by using data kept on digital media.

Computer forensic science continues to find more use in new professions. Almost every profession finds CF useful in one way or another. Law enforcement agencies are some examples of bodies that pioneered this field. These agencies make heavy use of this field in various operations. They also stand at the forefront in the major breakthroughs that have been made in CF.

Modern computers are increasingly becoming active crime scenes through the action of criminals and law enforcement officers. A computing device can become a crime scene when it was the target of a denial of service or hacking attack. Computers are also important sources of information in criminal investigations. It may hold information about internet history, emails, and documents, which can be useful in a crime such as a murder.

The scope of CF goes well beyond retrieving emails and files from computers. It involves analyzing metadata to collect more useful information from these documents. Information contained in metadata can be used to know the exact date a file first appeared on a computer. It is also possible to know the last date of access, printing, editing, and saving. The user who carried all the aforementioned activities can also be known through metadata.

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.

Investigators in this field employ a wide range of techniques in their investigations. Some of these techniques include cross-drive analysis, live analysis, deleted files, stochastic forensics, and steganography. Cross-drive analysis is a technique that correlates information derived from several hard drives.

CF examination is a single process that is comprised of six separate steps. These steps include readiness, presentation, review, collection, evaluation, and analysis. The list above is not in a chronological order. Although very crucial, the readiness step is often overlooked. Legal, administrative, and technical are the three broad categories of issues that prevail in this field.




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