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 forensic examination environment 

A term that has been pounded into my head since I first went to training with IACIS is the Forensically Sound Examination Environment. While it sounds complicated, it is a relatively simple concept:

  • The digital forensic examiner controls the working environment of the digital forensic examination.  
  • No actions will occur unless the digital forensic examiner intends the action to occur. 
  • When the action has been completed, the examiner will reasonably know what the expected outcome is.

This concept does not merely apply to a physical location, but anywhere we complete a digital forensic examination or perform actions to support the digital forensic investigation. This could be a lab, office, or in the field where the digital evidence has been collected. 

The Forensically Sound Examination Environment is a mindset of the digital forensic examiner. You want to be methodical and thorough as...