Data Acquisition Data acquisition is the process of copying data. For computer forensics, it’s the task of collecting digital evidence from electronic media. There are two types of data acquisition: static acquisitions and live acquisitions. Static Acquisitions: if you have preserved the original media, making a second static acquisition should produce the same results. The data on the original disk is not altered, no matter how many times an acquisition is done. Your goal when acquiring data for a static acquisition is to preserve the digital evidence. Many times, you have only one chance to create a reliable copy of disk evidence with a data acquisition tool. Live acquisition: The future of data acquisitions is shifting toward live acquisitions because of the use of disk encryption with newer operating systems (OSs). In addition to encryption concerns, collecting any data that’s active in a suspect’s computer RAM is becoming more important to digital investigations. The processes and data integrity requirements for static and live acquisitions are the same. The only shortcoming with live acquisitions is not being able to perform repeatable processes, which are critical for collecting digital evidence. Although these tools are generally dependable, you should still take steps to make sure you acquire an image that can be verified. In addition, failures can and do occur, so you should learn how to use several acquisition tools and methods. Storage Formats: The data a computer forensics acquisition tool collects is stored as an image file in one of three formats. Two formats are open source and the third is proprietary. Each vendor has unique features, so several different proprietary formats are available. Depending on the ... ... middle of paper ... ...s. This tool, the dcfldd command, works similarly to the dd command but has many features designed for computer forensics acquisitions. The following are important functions dcfldd offers that aren’t possible with dd: • Specify hexadecimal patterns or text for clearing disk space. • Log errors to an output file for analysis and review. • Use the hashing options MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512, with logging and the option of specifying the number of bytes to hash, such as specific blocks or sectors. • Refer to a status display indicating the acquisition’s progress in bytes. • Split data acquisitions into segmented volumes with numeric extensions (unlike dd’s limit of 99). • Verify the acquired data with the original disk or media data. References: • Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations, Edition: 3rd, Nelson, Phillips, and Steuart; 2010; Cengage;
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2012). Computer Forensics Tool Testing Handbook. Retrieved March 23, 2014 from http://www.cftt.nist.gov/CFTT-Booklet-Revised-02012012.pdf
Forensics investigations that require the analyzation and processing of digital evidence can be influenced both positively and negatively by a number of outside sources. In this paper, we will explore how physical security plays a role in forensics investigations activities. We will start by examining how physical and environmental security might impact the forensics investigation process. Next, we will discuss the role that physical and logical security zones play in supporting effective forensics activities. We will illustrate how centralized and decentralized physical and environmental security affects the forensics professional’s approach toward the investigation. Lastly, we will evaluate some potential areas of risk related to the physical security of our case study organization, Widget Factory, identified in Attachment 1.
Computers are also unique in the way they type and print out things. Document examiners can look over these and establish the similarities in the handwriting, and computer forensic specialists can extract logs and other data from most devices. As you can see
Today, we have lots of technology and all sorts of devices to help get to the bottom of figuring out if someone is guilty or not. These devices can find o...
There is a wide range of Linux forensic software available. There are single tools like file carvers, or there are comprehensive collections of tools. In the following, some of the most popular Linux forensic tools are described. The focus is put on The Sleuth Kit because it is organized according to the different filesystem layers. This provides an interesting insight on how forensics is done on filesystems.
“Advance in Forensics Provide Creative Tools for Solving Crimes.” www.ctcase.org. Np. n.d. Web. 17 March 2014.
Dykstra J., Damien R, Forensic collection of electronic evidence from Infrastructure as a Service Cloud Computing, 2012
Jost, Kenneth. "Examining Forensics." CQ Researcher Online. N.p., 17 July 2009. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. . How criminals can use photoshop to eliminate evidence
According to Rachel Boba, “Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and trends in crime and disorder” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime analysis).The information on these patterns can assist law enforcement agencies in the deployment of resources in a more effective manner; it can also help detectives to identify and catch suspects. Crime analysis also plays a role in improvising solutions to crime problems, and developing crime prevention strategies. There are various types of technology that is used in crime analysis. Crime analysis relies heavily on computer technology, and over the past fifteen years there has been a significant improvement in computer hardware and software that has led to tremendous developments in this field. One form of hardware that is used by Crime analysts to complete most of their work is Desktop personal computers, laptop computers are also used by crime analysts for fieldwork and presentations. Other forms of hardware that are used include color laser printers that can produce high-quality documents quickly, plotters which are printers that can produce large poster size color maps, scanners, and digital cameras, these specific types of hardware is mostly used by police departments when analyzing crime.
Abstract This paper discusses several implementations of modern technology in criminal investigations, and the ethical issues that accompany these techniques, focusing on the tradeoff between security and privacy. Specific topics include centralization of information, telecommunications, and general technology. Cases are cited for each topic, as well as a discussion of the ethical issues involved.
Forensic Analysis: Use of the identify relationships to look for outliers or unusual elements in the data.
In conclusion, computer crimes have increased in the recent past because of the proliferation of these devices due to technological advancements. This has in turn contributed to the emergence of computer forensics, which involves the use of various processes and tools to gather evidence that is admissible in a court. There are various types of computer forensic tools or programs with different features, costs, and areas of effectiveness. Similarly, there are various computer experts for various computer crime scenarios. Since these experts are only suitable for varying computer crime scenarios, the hourly costs of hiring them differ based on the specific details of the case.
On 5 October 2009, computer equipment from a network data closet was stolen from BCBST. The items stolen were 57 unencrypted hard drives which contained over 300,000 video recording and over one million audio recordings. According to Whitman & Mattord (2010), confidentiality, integrity, and availability makes up the C.I.A triangle which is the basis of Committee on National Security model for information security, an industrial standard, (Whitman & Mattord, 2010). Confidentiality can be a synonym for encryption but also means only the people with the correct permission can access the information. One of the major security issue is the hard drives were not encrypted. The hard drives should be encrypted to prevent people from reading the information the computer. Software can be purchased which will encrypt files on hard drive with such as Folder Lock, SensiGuard, Secure IT, and more. There are open source encrypting software which are free for use which could have been used. If the hard drives were not needed, the data should hav...
What did they do ? Before we talk about it any further, we have to know some definitions that we use in digital forensics and digital evidence, not only two of them but the others too. This chapter will explain about it . Before we talk about it any further, we have to know the definition of what we are talking about. In the introduction we already know what digital forensic and digital evidence shortly are. In this chapter, we will more explore what they are, and some state that we found when we search about digital forensic and digital evidence. Computer forensics is a broad field and applied to the handling of crimes related to information technology. The goal of computer forensic is to securing and analyzing digital
When electronic devices transfer information to another electronic device, the devices need to know when data flow is beginning and ending. This is done with signals for synchronization.i