Computer Forensic Experts
Computer forensics is the process of preserving, identifying, extracting
and documenting valuable electronic data. The term was first used in 1991 in
a training session of the International Association of Computer Specialists
(IACIS). Computer forensics has been used in law enforcement and military
applications for a long time now, to gather evidence from electronic
sources. Today, it is being increasingly used even in the corporate sector.
The increasing volumes of electronic data being created, stored and
transferred each day is the main reason for this.
Every second,
thousands of pages of electronic data are being transferred across the
world. In the process, the data could be lost or altered. Computer forensics
involves the retrieval of this lost data using special software tools and
techniques. It is used to identify valuable data from personal computers or
other electronic data storage devices. It is also used to identify the
leakage of sensitive data from the computer, or any inherent weaknesses in
the system.
When documents are created electronically, they are stored in temporary
files. Even when they are deleted or updated, some remnants still remain on
the hard disk and can be recovered using special tools.
Computer forensics involves the creation of a backup of all the data in the
computer. This data is a mirror image of the entire hard disk, and contains
even temporary, deleted or altered files. The forensic expert creates a
digital fingerprint of the original hard drive to ensure that it is not
tampered with while retrieving data. Data is retrieved from the mirror file
rather than the original file, so as to not alter date stamps or other
useful data. The retrieval process also reveals historical information about
the file, such as when it was deleted or altered. The retrieved information
can be converted into any required format. There are thus three stages in
data recovery: acquire, analyze and report.
There are many companies that provide computer forensic services. There are
also many software tools with several useful options such as cloning and
disk imaging, file preview, picture gallery, etc. that enable faster and
more accurate forensic recoveries.
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