Digital forensics is a cybersecurity area responsible for identifying, acquiring, analyzing, and documenting the presentation of digital evidence. Cyber threats are getting increasingly sophisticated; thus, skilled forensic professionals will always be in demand.
The aspects to be reviewed in this context on digital forensics encompass the forensic process, tools, and artifacts, including media analysis, network forensics, software analysis, embedded device forensics, and electronic discovery.
Each section will be accompanied by relevant examples and scenarios that will help the IT security professional in studying for their exams.
The Forensic Process: An Approach Element-wise
Forensic process involves stages which, when employed together, provide the investigator with a roadmap through the intricacies of the recovery of evidences from digital sources. The five significant steps are:
- Identification: This initial phase involves the identification of potential sources of relevant evidence; therefore, devices and custodians of data.
- Preservation: Once identified, the data should be preserved through protection of the crime scene and documentation of all the information relevant to the case.
- Collection: This is a phase that deals with the gathering of digital information that may have something to do with the investigation. This may involve imaging or copying data from devices.
- Analysis: The phase will entail the systematic search of the evidence by investigators to make conclusions about the incident.
- Reporting: Finally, the findings are documented in non-technical language that the non-technical can comprehend.
Real-World Application: An Investigation into a Data Breach
A corporate customer data breach has occurred. An organization would begin by attempting to identify all devices that could have had involvement in the breach from servers to employee’ laptops. Then they would begin to secure the scene by taking photos and documenting everything. After gathering all the evidence from these devices, they analyzed it to trace back the origin of the breach and who performed the attack. Finally, they compiled a report of the findings they gathered to present to the management and law enforcement agencies.
Computer Forensic Tools: The Indispensable Equipment for Investigation
Computer forensic tools are software applications and hardware used to perform an effective investigation. The generally used tools are:
- EnCase: It is an integrated tool suite that enables the investigator to collect, analyze, and report on digital evidence.
- FTK: Forensic Toolkit – this is a powerful tool for data analysis that assists in the recovery of deleted files, and analyzes file systems.
- Wireshark: a network protocol analyzer for capturing and inspecting packets traveling over a network.
Scenario: Using EnCase in a Corporate Investigation
This is applied within a corporate environment, usually where the suspicion would be that of an employee leaking sensitive information. Forensic analysts create an image using EnCase, directly from the suspect’s hard drive without changing even one bit of data. They then investigate the hard drive image for evidence of unauthorized transfers or communications of files.
Forensic Artifacts: Clues from Digital Evidence
Forensic artifacts are the pieces of evidence left behind by user activities on digital devices. These can include:
- Metadata of the files: Creation and modification dates may include some information about the files.
- Browser history: These logs can reveal something about the user’s behavior with respect to visited websites.
- Log files: The system logs can provide details about many actions taken on a device.
Example: Analyzing Browser History
They will, when appropriate-for example, when an employee has allegedly conducted some kind of inappropriate activity online-analyze browser history artifacts for evidence of what websites have been accessed during working hours. This can help build a pattern of behavior that can be used within an investigation.
Computer Forensics Media Analysis: Storage Devices
Forensic media analysis also takes a look at hard drives, USB drives, and cloud storage in an effort to recover data. The analysts are looking for files that are accessible as well as deleted content.
Scenario: Recovery of a Deleted File from a USB
Consider a scenario where an employee, prior to resignation from the company, deletes some very important project files from a USB drive. Here, privileged software is used by the forensic analyst to recover the deleted files and retain the crucial project information.
Network Forensics: Investigation of Network Traffic
Network forensics deals with tracking and analyzing network traffic in order to detect suspicious activities or intrusions. This constitutes packet sniffing and analysis of communication patterns.
Real-World Example: Detection of Unauthorized Access
An organization detects suspicious patterns in network traffic, which indicate unauthorized attempts to access. Network forensic analysts capture packet data using tools such as Wireshark to locate the source of this suspicious traffic and verify if sensitive data has been exposed.
Computer Forensic Software Analysis: Application Examination
Computer forensic software analysis involves evaluating applications for potential vulnerabilities or malicious activities. The analysts may review code statically or observe runtime behavior of software applications.
Application: Malware Behavior Analysis
Forensic analysts, in response to an outbreak of malware in an organization, conduct behavior-based analysis using sandbox environments. By observing the interactions of malware with system resources, mitigation strategies and recovery plans can be developed.
Embedded Device Forensics: Investigating IoT Devices
The embedded device forensics focuses on conducting data recoveries in IoT devices such as smart cameras and automation of homes. Since these devices operate on special architectures, specific techniques are often required.
Example: Forensic Analysis of Data from a Smart Camera
In a case of unauthorized surveillance, forensic analysts obtain recordings from the internal storage of the smart camera. They analyze this recording as part of evidence gathering against the suspect.
Electronic Discovery-eDiscovery: Legal Evidence Administration
The term eDiscovery refers to the process of identifying, collecting, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) related to a legal issue. This plays an important role in litigation where digital evidence has become vital.
Scenario: Preparation for Litigation
In preparation for litigation of theft of intellectual property, legal teams work in collaboration with forensic experts in collecting relevant emails, documents, and other ESI which may emanate from different sources within the network of an organization.
Conclusion
Digital forensics are a very important strand within cybersecurity, enlightening about cyber incidents through a structured investigation process. Understanding various components-from the forensic process and tools to specific kinds of analyses-is what will help an IT security professional in his proper preparations for the threats of digital environments.