What is Digital Forensics? How to Get a Job and Use in Investigations – Techbytes

In the last two decades, the worldwide use of digital devices has increased significantly. Due to their advanced processing power, storage, and memory, such devices have become increasingly popular and now can carry enormous quantities of both private and personal business information. However, they are prone to compromised attacks to steal or damage the information in them, and such activities have become so common.

In the United States, there are strict laws regarding cyber-attacks that aimed to curb such crimes, which have become much common in this digital century. There are several laws relating to cybercrimes in the federal constitution, such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Electronic Communications Protection Act, etc. When an attack is reported, a computer forensic expert is bound to do the evaluation and help get the ways that the attackers used.

What is Digital Forensic?

Digital forensic is a forensic science that deals with identifying, evaluating, preserving, examining, and analyzing digital data employing scientific and validated procedures to be used both within and outside the courts.

As the world moves to the computerization of most processes, whether at home, business or office, scientists need to handle cases reported as part of computer crimes; in this case, digital forensics is necessary.

Descriptive roles of a digital forensic examiner

Investigating cyber-crimes should be done by a trained person, as highlighted by the National Institute of Justice. The duties of a forensic officer revolve around cybercrime; the following are some;

1. Identify an access point in the network used by the intruder
2. Recognize which user accounts the intruder used
3. Identify unauthorized access network period
4. Try to locate the intruder’s location as per the logins.
5. Development of a forensic report that includes a piece of detailed investigative information.
6. Preserving the facts across the whole cyber-attack.

How to Get a Job in Digital Forensics?

You will find jobs in many locations, including state agencies, such as police and investigation offices, as a computer forensics specialist. Private companies often hire automated forensic examiners to manage their information systems protection and also contract private investigators and law firms with digital investigators.

These related digital forensic jobs include information security analyst, forensic computer analyst, computer forensics technician, information systems security analyst, Computer Forensics Investigator, and many others. When looking for a forensic job, you will find out that many possible employers prefer you to have a bachelor of science, informatics, criminology, or other similar subjects.

The advantage of getting a bachelor's degree is that it will make you stand out from the competition and be more enticing to recruit.

How digital forensic works

When you face a security breach and you suspect information theft or compromise, you will need a digital forensic examiner to come for your help. A full investigation into digital forensics will help the company learn more about cyber-crime and what happened on your system/network. Experts from the digital forensics department will explore the web and digital test objects, such as security incident logs and network traffic.

To ensure that the digital evidence is legitimate in a court of law, the experts must process the data in several ways to provide proof that it does not get manipulated. In digital forensic science, some procedures are followed in a scenario of a suspected cyber-attack.

Procedures followed in digital forensic investigation

To provide closure on a cyber-attack, digital forensics experts will examine the network and investigate digital objects such as security log files, system events, and methods used to access the system. There are five processes to follow when evaluating such attacks;

1. Identification

Before gathering digital data, preliminary information about the cybercrime case is collected during the identification process. This move is to determine the nature of the inquiry and the aims and objectives to be reached. The research shall be driven and analyzed by specifying what type of evidence must be obtained and the equipment used to attack. The tools used to attack may include laptops, mobile phones, network devices etc., and the investigator may pose questions like what time the attack happened? Did you see someone suspicious? And should obtain any other possible evidence.

2. Collection and Preservation

Preservation of data aims to preserve digital evidence from change. In each step of digital proof processing, sh. This step may involve capturing scene visual images and log all relevant documentation information and the acquisition of it. At this stage, the data is separated, protected and stored in this process.

3. Analysis

To examine the possible evidence effectively, protocols for retrieving, preserving, and storing evidence in suitable databases must be in place. The captured data and digital objects must be processed and put together to tell a complete tale about what occurred when the cyber-attack took place. Forensic experts employ instruments and methods to explore the occurrence and establish a schedule of events. The analysis stage is where investigators rebuild data specimens and make inferences based on facts. However, multiple exam iterations may be essential to support a particular crime theory.

4. Documentation and Reporting

This stage revolves around gathering and archiving all information relating to the cybercrime involved. A good report for digital forensics is prepared and contains only the most relevant and crucial details necessary to reach a correct conclusion. These results are compiled in technical documents and are helpful during the presentation stage.

5. Presentation

Presentation is the last stage in the forensic investigation process that involves submitting the report based on the results. The forensic examiners must interpret the results obtained without prejudice or bias. Have chronological dates and current events. Create a supplementary appendix that includes additional material, data, or facts.

The forensic investigator will have to ensure that the study is detailed when summarizing the final results. Other accredited forensic interviewers may be needed to check the results in a more sensitive situation. The report presented by the forensic Investigators will detail everything that transpired during the intrusion and present it in a manner that is understandable to people from all walks of life.