Tuesday, 27 September 2016

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.

Another name for this field of study is computer forensic science. Some of the best specialists in this field are located in Albemarle, NC. Computer forensic science is one of the branches that make up the field of digital forensic science. It is a science that pertains to the evidence that is found on digital storage media and computers. The field entails the practice of collecting, analyzing, and reporting on digital data in a legally admissible manner. It makes use of digitally stored data to detect and prevent crime.

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.

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.

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.

The process of CF examination has been categorized into six main processes. These processes are readiness, evaluation, collection, analysis, presentation, and review. The readiness stage is a very crucial stage, but it is often overlooked by experts in this field. CF, like other fields, is also faced by several issues, which can be categorized as legal, administrative, and technical.




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