Digital Forensics Explained

The field of computer forensics has experienced significant growth recently and those looking to get into the industry have significant opportunity for upward mobility. Focusing on the concepts investigators need to know to conduct a thorough investigation, Digital Forensics Explained provides an overall description of the forensic practice from a practitioner’s perspective. Starting with an overview, the text describes best practices based on the author’s decades of experience conducting investigations and working in information technology. It illustrates the forensic process, explains what it takes to be an investigator, and highlights emerging trends. Filled with helpful templates and contributions from seasoned experts in their respective fields, the book includes coverage of: Internet and email investigations Mobile forensics for cell phones, iPads, music players, and other small devices Cloud computing from an architecture perspective and its impact on digital forensics Anti-forensic techniques that may be employed to make a forensic exam more difficult to conduct Recoverability of information from damaged media The progression of a criminal case from start to finish Tools that are often used in an examination, including commercial, free, and open-source tools; computer and mobile tools; and things as simple as extension cords Social media and social engineering forensics Case documentation and presentation, including sample summary reports and a cover sheet for a cell phone investigation The text includes acquisition forms, a sequential process outline to guide your investigation, and a checklist of supplies you’ll need when responding to an incident. Providing you with the understanding and the tools to deal with suspects who find ways to make their digital activities hard to trace, the book also considers cultural implications, ethics, and the psychological effects that digital forensics investigations can have on investigators.

This book covers the full life cycle of conducting a mobile and computer digital forensic examination, including planning and performing an investigation as well as report writing and testifying. Case reviews in corporate, civil, and criminal situations are also described from both prosecution and defense perspectives. Digital Forensics Explained, Second Edition draws from years of experience in local, state, federal, and international environments and highlights the challenges inherent in deficient cyber security practices. Topics include the importance of following the scientific method and verification, legal and ethical issues, planning an investigation (including tools and techniques), incident response, case project management and authorization, social media and internet, cloud, anti-forensics, link and visual analysis, and psychological considerations. The book is a valuable resource for the academic environment, law enforcement, those in the legal profession, and those working in the cyber security field. Case reviews include cyber security breaches, anti-forensic challenges, child exploitation, and social media investigations. Greg Gogolin, PhD, CISSP, is a Professor of Information Security and Intelligence at Ferris State University and a licensed Professional Investigator. He has worked more than 100 cases in criminal, civil, and corporate environments.

The Definitive Guide to File System Analysis: Key Concepts and Hands-on Techniques Most digital evidence is stored within the computer's file system, but understanding how file systems work is one of the most technically challenging concepts for a digital investigator because there exists little documentation. Now, security expert Brian Carrier has written the definitive reference for everyone who wants to understand and be able to testify about how file system analysis is performed. Carrier begins with an overview of investigation and computer foundations and then gives an authoritative, comprehensive, and illustrated overview of contemporary volume and file systems: Crucial information for discovering hidden evidence, recovering deleted data, and validating your tools. Along the way, he describes data structures, analyzes example disk images, provides advanced investigation scenarios, and uses today's most valuable open source file system analysis tools—including tools he personally developed. Coverage includes Preserving the digital crime scene and duplicating hard disks for "dead analysis" Identifying hidden data on a disk's Host Protected Area (HPA) Reading source data: Direct versus BIOS access, dead versus live acquisition, error handling, and more Analyzing DOS, Apple, and GPT partitions; BSD disk labels; and Sun Volume Table of Contents using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Analyzing the contents of multiple disk volumes, such as RAID and disk spanning Analyzing FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, UFS1, and UFS2 file systems using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Finding evidence: File metadata, recovery of deleted files, data hiding locations, and more Using The Sleuth Kit (TSK), Autopsy Forensic Browser, and related open source tools When it comes to file system analysis, no other book offers this much detail or expertise. Whether you're a digital forensics specialist, incident response team member, law enforcement officer, corporate security specialist, or auditor, this book will become an indispensable resource for forensic investigations, no matter what analysis tools you use.

Digital forensics has recently gained a notable development and become the most demanding area in today’s information security requirement. This book investigates the areas of digital forensics, digital investigation and data analysis procedures as they apply to computer fraud and cybercrime, with the main objective of describing a variety of digital crimes and retrieving potential digital evidence. Big Data Analytics and Computing for Digital Forensic Investigations gives a contemporary view on the problems of information security. It presents the idea that protective mechanisms and software must be integrated along with forensic capabilities into existing forensic software using big data computing tools and techniques. Features Describes trends of digital forensics served for big data and the challenges of evidence acquisition Enables digital forensic investigators and law enforcement agencies to enhance their digital investigation capabilities with the application of data science analytics, algorithms and fusion technique This book is focused on helping professionals as well as researchers to get ready with next-generation security systems to mount the rising challenges of computer fraud and cybercrimes as well as with digital forensic investigations. Dr Suneeta Satpathy has more than ten years of teaching experience in different subjects of the Computer Science and Engineering discipline. She is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Bhubaneswar, affiliated with Biju Patnaik University and Technology, Odisha. Her research interests include computer forensics, cybersecurity, data fusion, data mining, big data analysis and decision mining. Dr Sachi Nandan Mohanty is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at ICFAI Tech, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, India. His research interests include data mining, big data analysis, cognitive science, fuzzy decision-making, brain–computer interface, cognition and computational intelligence.

Digital Triage Forensics: Processing the Digital Crime Scene provides the tools, training, and techniques in Digital Triage Forensics (DTF), a procedural model for the investigation of digital crime scenes including both traditional crime scenes and the more complex battlefield crime scenes. The DTF is used by the U.S. Army and other traditional police agencies for current digital forensic applications. The tools, training, and techniques from this practice are being brought to the public in this book for the first time. Now corporations, law enforcement, and consultants can benefit from the unique perspectives of the experts who coined Digital Triage Forensics. The text covers the collection of digital media and data from cellular devices and SIM cards. It also presents outlines of pre- and post- blast investigations. This book is divided into six chapters that present an overview of the age of warfare, key concepts of digital triage and battlefield forensics, and methods of conducting pre/post-blast investigations. The first chapter considers how improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have changed from basic booby traps to the primary attack method of the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also covers the emergence of a sustainable vehicle for prosecuting enemy combatants under the Rule of Law in Iraq as U.S. airmen, marines, sailors, and soldiers perform roles outside their normal military duties and responsibilities. The remaining chapters detail the benefits of DTF model, the roles and responsibilities of the weapons intelligence team (WIT), and the challenges and issues of collecting digital media in battlefield situations. Moreover, data collection and processing as well as debates on the changing role of digital forensics investigators are explored. This book will be helpful to forensic scientists, investigators, and military personnel, as well as to students and beginners in forensics. Includes coverage on collecting digital media Outlines pre- and post-blast investigations Features content on collecting data from cellular devices and SIM cards

To reduce the risk of digital forensic evidence being called into question in judicial proceedings, it is important to have a rigorous methodology and set of procedures for conducting digital forensic investigations and examinations. Digital forensic investigation in the cloud computing environment, however, is in infancy due to the comparatively recent prevalence of cloud computing. Cloud Storage Forensics presents the first evidence-based cloud forensic framework. Using three popular cloud storage services and one private cloud storage service as case studies, the authors show you how their framework can be used to undertake research into the data remnants on both cloud storage servers and client devices when a user undertakes a variety of methods to store, upload, and access data in the cloud. By determining the data remnants on client devices, you gain a better understanding of the types of terrestrial artifacts that are likely to remain at the Identification stage of an investigation. Once it is determined that a cloud storage service account has potential evidence of relevance to an investigation, you can communicate this to legal liaison points within service providers to enable them to respond and secure evidence in a timely manner. Learn to use the methodology and tools from the first evidenced-based cloud forensic framework Case studies provide detailed tools for analysis of cloud storage devices using popular cloud storage services Includes coverage of the legal implications of cloud storage forensic investigations Discussion of the future evolution of cloud storage and its impact on digital forensics

A practical guide to deploying digital forensic techniques in response to cyber security incidents About This Book Learn incident response fundamentals and create an effective incident response framework Master forensics investigation utilizing digital investigative techniques Contains real-life scenarios that effectively use threat intelligence and modeling techniques Who This Book Is For This book is targeted at Information Security professionals, forensics practitioners, and students with knowledge and experience in the use of software applications and basic command-line experience. It will also help professionals who are new to the incident response/digital forensics role within their organization. What You Will Learn Create and deploy incident response capabilities within your organization Build a solid foundation for acquiring and handling suitable evidence for later analysis Analyze collected evidence and determine the root cause of a security incident Learn to integrate digital forensic techniques and procedures into the overall incident response process Integrate threat intelligence in digital evidence analysis Prepare written documentation for use internally or with external parties such as regulators or law enforcement agencies In Detail Digital Forensics and Incident Response will guide you through the entire spectrum of tasks associated with incident response, starting with preparatory activities associated with creating an incident response plan and creating a digital forensics capability within your own organization. You will then begin a detailed examination of digital forensic techniques including acquiring evidence, examining volatile memory, hard drive assessment, and network-based evidence. You will also explore the role that threat intelligence plays in the incident response process. Finally, a detailed section on preparing reports will help you prepare a written report for use either internally or in a courtroom. By the end of the book, you will have mastered forensic techniques and incident response and you will have a solid foundation on which to increase your ability to investigate such incidents in your organization. Style and approach The book covers practical scenarios and examples in an enterprise setting to give you an understanding of how digital forensics integrates with the overall response to cyber security incidents. You will also learn the proper use of tools and techniques to investigate common cyber security incidents such as malware infestation, memory analysis, disk analysis, and network analysis.

Uncover a digital trail of e-evidence by using the helpful, easy-to-understand information in Computer Forensics For Dummies! Professional and armchair investigators alike can learn the basics of computer forensics, from digging out electronic evidence to solving the case. You won’t need a computer science degree to master e-discovery. Find and filter data in mobile devices, e-mail, and other Web-based technologies. You’ll learn all about e-mail and Web-based forensics, mobile forensics, passwords and encryption, and other e-evidence found through VoIP, voicemail, legacy mainframes, and databases. You’ll discover how to use the latest forensic software, tools, and equipment to find the answers that you’re looking for in record time. When you understand how data is stored, encrypted, and recovered, you’ll be able to protect your personal privacy as well. By the time you finish reading this book, you’ll know how to: Prepare for and conduct computer forensics investigations Find and filter data Protect personal privacy Transfer evidence without contaminating it Anticipate legal loopholes and opponents’ methods Handle passwords and encrypted data Work with the courts and win the case Plus, Computer Forensics for Dummies includes lists of things that everyone interested in computer forensics should know, do, and build. Discover how to get qualified for a career in computer forensics, what to do to be a great investigator and expert witness, and how to build a forensics lab or toolkit. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.