Book Image

Learn Computer Forensics

By : William Oettinger
Book Image

Learn Computer Forensics

By: William Oettinger

Overview of this book

A computer forensics investigator must possess a variety of skills, including the ability to answer legal questions, gather and document evidence, and prepare for an investigation. This book will help you get up and running with using digital forensic tools and techniques to investigate cybercrimes successfully. Starting with an overview of forensics and all the open source and commercial tools needed to get the job done, you'll learn core forensic practices for searching databases and analyzing data over networks, personal devices, and web applications. You'll then learn how to acquire valuable information from different places, such as filesystems, e-mails, browser histories, and search queries, and capture data remotely. As you advance, this book will guide you through implementing forensic techniques on multiple platforms, such as Windows, Linux, and macOS, to demonstrate how to recover valuable information as evidence. Finally, you'll get to grips with presenting your findings efficiently in judicial or administrative proceedings. By the end of this book, you'll have developed a clear understanding of how to acquire, analyze, and present digital evidence like a proficient computer forensics investigator.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
1
Section 1: Acquiring Evidence
6
Section 2: Investigation
12
Section 3: Reporting

Understanding the types of proceedings

There are a variety of proceedings where you may be called to testify or to present evidence. We will discuss some of the more common proceedings that you may encounter (The following are US-based proceedings; your jurisdiction may differ.):

  • Grand jury: A grand jury is a panel of citizens empowered to investigate potential criminal conduct and to determine whether the conduct requires criminal charges. A grand jury will have subpoena powers that could include compelling testimony or requesting physical evidence.
  • Arraignment: This is the formal reading of a criminal complaint. The accused is present and informed of the charges.  At this hearing, the accused will plead guilty/not guilty.
  • Detention hearing: This is a proceeding before a judge to determine whether the accused is to be detained/released while the matter is progressing in the criminal justice system.
  • Evidentiary hearing: This is a hearing...