Hello reader. I welcome you to a book of knowledge. When Vladimir Katalov offered me an opportunity to write a foreword for their book, I was surprised and also humbled. I have never written a foreword to a book, much less participated in the authoring of a book. I accepted Vladimir’s offer. So here goes.

In the field of digital forensics, there is an overwhelming amount of information to learn and comprehend. Many years ago a highly respected colleague said to me: No man is an island. What did he mean by this statement? From my perspective, this means that you cannot know it all. We as examiners and practitioners in the digital forensics field must learn to impart knowledge responsibly, and share so that we can all learn. In essence, a collective digital forensics knowledge hive, where the answers to our challenges lie within the knowledge hive. This book then is a part of this hive. It is important also not to focus only on the analysis tool, but also on the understanding of the devices and technologies and the methodology used to successfully get the data. This book will also help you understand the underlying technology and methodology.

In the end, I leave you to carry on your journey in this book. I hope you enjoy reading and learning from it as much as I have.

Shafik G. Punja

Police Officer, Digital Forensics Team