Sunday, October 2, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CF has been employed by commercial organizations in the recent past for meet organizational goals. Commercial organizations use this field in various cases, including intellectual property theft, fraud investigations, forgeries, industrial espionage, and employment disputes. Some additional cases that are handled using CF are bankruptcy investigations, internet use in workplaces, inappropriate emails in workplaces, and regulatory compliance.

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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