A Reflection on Digital Forensics

A Reflection on Digital Forensics

Mobile Forensics

Mobile forensics is a subtype of digital forensics used to retrieve data from an electronic device. The primary focus of mobile forensics is to recover essential evidence from electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile forensics is a necessary discipline in the extraction of critical pieces of evidence for use in the litigation process of cases filed before the courts because mobile phones store an array of information as people use this information to send, receive, or search information online (Jones & Winster, 2017). Based on this reasoning, mobile devices are more likely to store a significant quantity of communication, including but not limited to phone records, text messages, online search history, and as well as an individual’s location data over a few weeks or months.

Mobile forensics applies to my career in information technology in various ways. For instance, mobile forensics can be adapted to track criminals and victims of crime. Law enforcement officers have been identified to be individuals working under time constraints. In incidences like kidnapping or runaway situations, passing every second pushes the victim into more danger. Therefore, mobile forensics can use smartphone GPS data to track the location of criminals and victims. Also, crucial evidence from mobile devices such as images, text messages, videos, emails, and audio tapes can bring criminal offenses to book (Jones & Winster, 2017). Finally, mobile forensics helps reimage the crime scene by retrieving accurate data on how the crime unfolded. For example, in instances where high-profile bombing cases have occurred, investigators can use cell phone images and videos to understand what transpired.

Forensics Tools

Forensic tools have grown in significance due to the high number of cases of criminal activity reported in society. After arriving at the crime scene, investigators often take notes and photographs for future evaluation to try and understand what occurred. While there are many forensic tools in use, I will enumerate a few commonly used tools in investigating crime scenes as far as information technology is concerned. The Autopsy and the Sleuth kit are the first widely used forensics tools that analyze forensic images contained within hard drives or those extracted from smartphones (Jones & Winster, 2017). Besides this, ProDiscover Forensics is the other tool used by forensic scientists to locate all the data on a computer disk. This tool can protect evidence and create quality reports that can be utilized for legal procedures. Other standard forensic tools are Caine, Google Takeover Convertor, paladin, and Encase.

Network Forensics

Network forensics is a crucial aspect of the digital forensics umbrella that is concerned with investigating the evidence left behind on a network after the completion of a cyber-attack incident. Network forensics provides clues related to the weaknesses that necessitated the occurrence of the breach. Network forensics requires the recovery of data related to emails, web surfing activities, IM conversations, and file transfers that had initially occurred between network equipment. The broad users of the knowledge in network forensics are law enforcement officers, the military, and businesses and industries. Law enforcement officers use the data collected through network forensics to prosecute offenders (Jones & Winster, 2017). Besides this, the military’s expertise in network forensics guarantees the continuity of services by distracting any criminal activity (Jones & Winster, 2017). Thirdly, businesses and industries use network forensics to ensure that they can provide required services and products to the end user by preventing any cyber-attacks.

As an expert in information technology, I will be obligated to the following six processes of network forensics. The first stage is identification, where I will evaluate the incident based on the available network pointers. The second stage of safeguarding would involve preserving and securing the data to prevent any form of data tempering from happening. The third step of network forensics is known as accumulation, which entails preparing a detailed report of the crime scene by duplicating the collected evidence (Jones & Winster, 2017). Fourthly, I would engage in observation where I visibly track all the data concerning metadata. The last two steps are investigation and documentation. Under investigation, I would be involved in concluding the shred of evidence collected, and documentation would entail the drafting of the reports and presentation of the shreds of evidence before the court.

References

Jones, G. M., & Winster, S. G. (2017). Forensics analysis on smartphones using mobile forensics tools. International Journal of Computational Intelligence Research, 13(8), 1859-1869.

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For this assignment, you are asked to prepare a reflection paper. Now that you have finished all the required unit resources for this course reflect on three of the major concepts discussed in the readings and write about those concepts. You should pick one concept related to mobile forensics, one related to forensics tools, and one related to network forensics. How do those concepts relate to the subject of digital forensics as a whole? How have those concepts affected digital forensics in the past? How will the concepts affect digital forensics in the future? Will these concepts affect you in your career? Why, or why not?
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on the material that you have read and to expand on your reading.
The writing that you submit must meet the following requirements:
 at least two pages in length,
 include your thoughts about the major concepts that you select,
 explain how the concepts impact digital forensics and
 explain how the concepts apply to your career.
References are not required for this assignment, but if outside sources are used, please adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.