Digital Forensic Investigation
What is digital forensics?
This is one of the most recent forensic science fields that is objected towards recovery, deep investigation, and analysis of data and elements that are backtracked from devices that are involved in any form of cyber-crime. Digital forensics can be considered a synonym for computer forensics. In other words, it is a complete set of procedures for the identification, analysis, and documentation of digital evidence in a cybercrime field.
Why digital forensics?
With a sudden hike in the digital population of the globe, it is obvious to judge the increasing frequencies of cyber crimes as well. Cyber crimes share one common thing with real-life crime, i.e. The criminal always leaves some kind of clues. In this case, different types of “digital footprints” or traces are left as clues by the attackers. This specific property makes it easy for the victim enterprise or individual to trace it back to the criminal. Big firms that deal in digital data always remain active in updating the software and hardware for easy digital back-tracing. The results of forensics can also be easily used in legal prosecutions and procedures if needed.
Benefits of digital forensics
There are the majority of benefits that come along with conducting a digital scan for the victim and the process of digital forensics also supports gathering clues and stolen data. Apart from this major benefit of this scientific branch, there are various other benefits too. A few of them are listed below-
- Safeguarding Digital evidence- the procedures of this science make sure that the digital evidence is recorded before they become outdated or useless.
- Improved security stance- the process focuses on incrementing the security hygiene and finding and countering the tools used in committing the crime.
- Geolocating- the tracing also includes pinning the attack on the map, and pointing at the location from which it was conducted.
- Root cause analysis- identification of the exploitation point through which the attack was conducted can tell a lot about the crime. Forensics also includes identifying the potential intent of the attack.
- Other factors- the process also gathers information about the duration of infiltrations and the amount of data that is Exfiltrated by the attackers. It also determines the intermediaries of the attack.
Steps of digital forensics
Most of the time, the steps and process depend on the type of attack and intensity of the damage. Still, all the individual processes always have these steps in common. The 6 major steps of the process are as follows-
Step 1- As a first response, it is mixed with an incident response procedure and the digital forensic procedure is laid out.
Step 2- The professional search for the physical devices (hardware) that were used to conduct the attack. These hardware components are seized for gathering valuable information.
Step 3- After a safe evacuation of hardware, a team of professionals starts collecting the data relative to crime. There is a pre-defined process to handle the evidence so that it is not tempered and can be presented as proof. The evidence needs to be authentic and accessible.
Step 4- Data acquisition is conducted to retrieve the digital information from the previously retrieved hardware. In some cases, the authenticity of the evidence is compromised as data retrieval is more important. If not handled with proper procedure, this step may compromise data as well as the evidence.
Step 5- Deep data and evidence analysis are conducted to determine the accountability and intent of the attack. All that has been collected so far is examined closely. This is done according to the scope of the case.
Step 6- this can be considered the post-investigation stage of the complete process in which all the results of sets of multiple tests and research are documented in a way that they can become presentable in the court for the legal actions. This is then followed by a presentation and testifying in the legal processes.
Our Working Process
Consultation
Initial talks that happen between the client firm and the security experts for a discussion of the security status of the infra.
Proposal
Security experts draft a proposal of all the testing and patching services required by the client firm.
Scoping
Scope of the project (focus area, requirements, etc.) is determined by the complexity and need for security (web, mobile, cloud, etc.)
Engagement
Security experts initiate engagement activity with the methodology to make it secure by finding loopholes and patching them.
Need A Free Estimate?
Reach out to us with your Scope and Complexity and get a free estimate from our expert team and duration for the security assessment of your network or Application.
F.A.Q.
Each case of cybercrime is different, so it is tough to guarantee a successful recovery. But in most cases, there is always a good chance to recover the data lost and to catch the attacker who is responsible for the same.
The consequences of the same can be disastrous for the victim as the attacker will still have smooth access to the crucial data and thus damages can be un-imaginable. This also invites a loss of competitive edge over the criminal and legal prosecution as no evidence can be reported without it.
Any kind of hardware or software that can help in back tracing can be considered for digital forensics. Examples can be computers, smartphones, USBs, tapes, Servers, etc.