Ankur Chandrakant, a recognised Cyber Security and Forensic Expert with a deep understanding of Blockchain, NFT, Crypto, and Metaverse, explains Cyber Forensics. “Cyber Forensics is the act of obtaining and documenting proof from a computer or computing device in a manner that can be presented to a court using investigation and analytical procedures.” Computer Forensics is another name for Cyber Forensics. Cyber forensics’ goal is to figure out who is to blame for what happened on the computer while recording the facts and conducting a thorough investigation. The investigators convert the storage media of the device under investigation into a digital copy, and the investigation is carried out on the digital copy while ensuring that the device under investigation is not infected accidentally.
Ankur talked about the need for cyber forensics. “Forensics is required for criminal investigations and law enforcement. There are situations when the computer system is the crime scene, such as hacking and denial of service (DOS) assaults.” The computer system will include evidence of the crime. Proofs might include surfing history, emails, papers, and so forth. These computer proofs can be used as evidence in a court of law to sort out claims or defend innocent persons from prosecution.
He also discussed the benefits of cyber forensics. To gain a thorough knowledge of the circumstance, similar sorts of data and relevant data from multiple source systems can be compared. Cyber forensics may be used to make relevant data trending over a period.
To detect and select specific hazards for future research, the complete data may be examined. The effectiveness of the control environment and policies may be evaluated by identifying the characteristics that break the rules. It’s utilised to establish identifying tendencies that the company’s employees, consultants, and forensic analysts are unaware of.
Ankur talked about the types of Cyber Forensics. He said, “Computer forensic exams come in a variety of forms. Each one focuses on a different component of information technology.” The following are some of the most common types are database forensics, email forensics, malware forensics, Memory forensics, Mobile forensics, network forensics. Database forensics is examining information in databases, including both data and related metadata. Email forensics is basically email recovery and analysis, as well as other data stored in email platforms, such as calendars and contacts. Malware forensics is sifting through code in search of harmful programmes and examining their payload. Trojan horses, ransomware, and different viruses are examples of such programmes. Memory forensics is information from a computer’s random access memory (RAM) and cache are collected. Mobile forensics is examining mobile devices in order to get and analyse information such as contacts, incoming and outgoing text messages, photographs, and video files. Network forensics is monitoring network traffic with technologies like a firewall or intrusion detection system to look for proof.
Ankur also talked about the process involved in cyber forensics. “Cyber forensics takes a methodical approach, sorting data in a point-by-point manner.” Generating a digital duplicate of the system under examination – this method entails creating a clone of the device’s data in order to prevent any damage to the original system, which might cause file mixing up or even the loss of crucial data. Authentication and verification Investigators strive to check each aspect of the system once the above process is complete to ensure that the duplicated data is true and is exactly as it exists in the original device. Ensure the copied data is forensically acceptable – it is possible to change the format of data when copying it from a device, resulting in variations in the operating systems of the investigators and the one from which the data were copied. To avoid this, investigators make certain that the format remains the same and that the data is forensically sound. Recovering deleted files–criminal minds think of every way to erase their footprint from the crime scene, and in this case, they frequently delete some files that might hint at their involvement in the crime, so retrieving and recovering deleted files becomes an added task for investigators, which is done using very advanced software. Employing keywords to discover necessary data — investigators utilise high-speed software to get information relevant to the case at hand by using keywords that find a place in the case file. Creating a technical report – the final stage is to write a technical report that is concise and easy to comprehend, regardless of the reader’s background. The purpose of this report is to describe the crime, offenders, and those who are not guilty.
About the future scope of cyber forensics, Ankur said, “Cybercrime is on the rise, and we need cyber forensics to help us investigate these crimes. Cybercrime is a threat not just to the organisation, but also to people’s lives by pushing narcotics, terrorism, prostitution, and other illegal activities online. As a result, combating cybercrime is critical.”
He concluded, “People will rely on computers for security, and they will be broken. People who can prevent this from happening and think like these hackers will be needed in the world. As a result, the demand for security specialists will continue to grow, and cyber forensics is a discipline that will never go out of style.”
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