Many of you have probably heard the term “Digital Forensics” at some point in the current digital age, but what does it actually mean? This vital field is one that is growing rapidly and helps to maintain the notion of justice for all.

What is currently known as “digital forensics” was previously known as “computer forensics” until the late 1990s. Law enforcement officials who also like computers served as the first computer techs. The FBI Computer Analysis and Response Team in the United States started operations in 1984. (CART). The UK’s Metropolitan Police established a computer crime squad under John Austen under the Fraud Squad a year later

E – Crime

Each act leaves a trace. Therefore, the question of what kind of touch is made and how the trace is left afterward emerges. The word “e-crime,” without which there would be no need for digital forensics, provides the answer to this question. Any crime that has an electronic component or uses electronics in some way while being committed is considered an e-crime. We therefore have a discipline that deals specifically with internet crimes.

There is now a crime. So, dealing primarily with electronic crime, digital forensic is called into action.

Digital Forensics:

Digital forensics is the process of gathering, analysing, and responding to threats and assaults using digital evidence stored on electronic devices. We could define it as the process of locating and analysing electronic data. In order to reconstruct historical occurrences, the forensic method collects, identifies, and validates digital information in order to preserve any evidence in its most accurate form while carrying out a structured inquiry.

No other area has the ability to analyse digital information and gather facts in a digital format like this science does. Digital investigators are essentially a form of online law enforcement.

Although digital forensics can be used in other situations as well, the context is most frequently for the use of data in a court of law. Digital forensics must adhere to strict criteria in order to withstand cross-examination in the hon’ble court because to their evidentiary nature.

Before moving forward, we must define what digital evidence actually is..

Any standard of proof information recorded or transferred in digital form that a party to a court action may utilise at trial is known as digital evidence or electronic evidence. To put it another way, digital evidence is data that has been stored or sent in binary format and can be used as evidence in court. It can be located, among other places, on the hard disc of a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a CD/DVD, and a flash card in a digital camera. Digital proof is frequently linked to online crimes including child pornography and credit card fraud. However, not just e-crime is increasingly prosecuted using digital evidence; other forms of crimes as well. For instance, crucial information about a suspect’s intent, location at the time of a crime, and contacts with other suspects may be found in their email or mobile phone files.

Section 79A of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 defines electronic form evidence as “any information of probative value that is either stored or transmitted in electronic form and includes computer evidence, digital audio, digital video, cell phones, digital fax machines”.

Digital evidence has several key qualities, like being as latent as DNA and fingerprints, travelling quickly across borders, being extremely delicate, and being time-sensitive. Due to this, extra care should be made to record, gather, maintain, and scrutinize this kind of information. The guidelines that should be followed when dealing with digital evidence include the following: actions taken to secure and collect the evidence shouldn’t alter it; those who examine the evidence should be trained to do so; and any actions related to the seizure, examination, storage, or transfer of the evidence should be thoroughly documented, preserved, and made available for review.

Digital forensics techniques are now used in the corporate world for e-discovery, corporate investigations, and cyber security. IT managers, security professionals, and legal teams can use digital forensics to gather and preserve evidence to analyse and defend against a cyber-attack, thwart an insider threat, or complete an internal investigation, just as law enforcement agencies look for used digital evidence to convict criminals.

The following skills are commonly present in digital forensics solutions:

• being able to collect data from a range of devices, such as traditional computers and systems, mobile devices, etc.;
• a thorough understanding of the actions and procedures carried out on hardware and operating systems;
• being able to conduct a thorough, forensically sound investigation
• feature for thorough reporting.

Law Enforcement Agencies

Forensic hardware and software are used by the law enforcement community to gather, sort, examine, and report on evidence from devices and networks. Investigators can locate evidence directly relevant to a criminal case with the aid of digital forensics. Additionally, it aids in fact-checking, document authentication, timeline creation, etc.

Our collective digital footprints are growing exponentially along with the quantity of digital tools and services. As they work to establish the case’s facts, investigators can look over and comprehend these digital fingerprints due to forensic technologies. Digital forensics have been used in numerous well-known criminal convictions.

Corporate

Every company will eventually need to carry out a digital inquiry. There is no way to prevent litigation, data breaches, fraud, insider threats, human resource concerns, and other cyber security challenges. E-Discovery concerns in litigation are more prevalent.

Digital forensics are used by DFIR teams to spot unusual activity on their networks, identify the source of the issue, control the incident, and take precautions to secure their infrastructure against future assaults.

Experienced security experts will likely already have a procedure workflow set to help them navigate the steps necessary to take to manage the issue when an event is discovered. A separate collection of all potential sources, including physical hard discs, recorded web browser and email history, file registry records, and even off-network endpoints, is usually the first step in this process. Devices other than conventional business endpoints like desktop and laptop computers can also be the topic of forensic examination. Mobile forensic skills are in high demand as the use of smartphones and tablets for professional purposes grows.

Virtually all actions performed on a device will leave behind a “artifact” that can be investigated via digital forensics. To guarantee that the investigation’s final result may be accepted as trustworthy, it is crucial to preserve all data and avoid any potential alteration.

Automotive World

A crucial aspect for many embedded systems is digital forensics. Computer systems in modern automobiles provide for communication, entertainment, and navigation. The majority of in-car systems are linked to the CAN (controller area network) bus, which is a special central network used for communication between the various ECU (electronic control unit) parts. These systems in question have the capacity to produce and preserve data that could be valuable for digital forensic analysis and be used in a variety of criminal or civil investigations, including those involving crashes, insurance claims, and criminal activity.

Numerous systems keep track of things like the times and locations at which a car’s lights are turned on, the doors that are opened and shut at particular locations, and even the location of the car when Bluetooth devices connect. There could be numerous locations where evidence could be stored, depending on the make and model of the car. The telematics and infotainment systems in cars retain a ton of information, including call records, contact lists, SMS messages, emails, images, videos, social network feeds, and the navigation history of all the places the car has visited. It can be challenging to preserve this evidence since there is no additional logging hardware (due to potential additional cost or weight) and because recorded data, such as recent locations, can be volatile.

Technical investigators utilise a reliable digital forensics tool to examine the evidence after gathering the information sources, solving the mystery of the issue’s root cause and determining who is to blame, what steps were taken, and what the impact is. It is critical right now that security responders accurately examine the incident using cutting-edge digital forensics techniques. Efficiency is an important aspect in a good DFIR solution since infosecurity professionals must deal with a large number of potential risks.

Justice is an important element to any civilized people, and as our world goes more and more digital, justice must find a way to occupy this realm as well. Digital forensic science provides that crucial way in.