By Peter Sanders


Forensic is a general term defined as the application of scientific procedures to criminal law. It incorporates the activities of collecting, keeping and analyzing evidential information to aid in a certain particular investigation in order to provide solutions or probably provide a useful lead in the entire process. The role of forensic computer examiner has today become very important in criminal cases investigations.

Scientific investigation involves using computing skills and high end technological procedures to obtain imperative information that may be used for judicial proceedings in a judicial court. The main purpose of analyzing data found in media devices is to build up on a case for or against an accused party with a main aim of convincing trial court judges that a particular piece of information presented to it is indeed true or false.

The usual duties computer forensic experts are expected to perform are divided into three stages. The first and initial stage is the acquirement of a device. The relevant device is initially acquired or a copy made from an image. The device is later made secure and protected from unauthorized access.

The second duty of an scientific investigator after acquiring the device is extracting data found on the device and sorting it out differentiating the relevant and the irrelevant information. Analysis of the data follows while at the same time scrutinizing the information with an aim of filling certain particular puzzles. Reporting is later made by the particular examiner or analyst in such a clear way that will be easy to be comprehended by a common person. Reporting can be done by presentations which should be by any means acceptable in a judicial court.

A virtual systems investigation is yet another concept of the wider computer forensics. In this view, a virtual machine, software functioning similarly to a computing device, is investigated and its data compiled in an understandable manner. Additionally, mobile devices can be used to track down exact locations of criminals or analyze call logs while in the media concept storage devices such as hard disks can provide an important avenue of concluding on a particular case.

Forensic process for computing devices involves clear techniques that can be used to extract data from devices. Cross drive analysis is such one technique where information found on several storage devices may be linked up and a correlation created. Live analysis is yet another technique that may be used which involves obtaining data from within an operating system. Moreover deleted files technique is used to recover deleted files that are suspected to be containing evidence. Operating systems do not entirely erase files thereby easing the retrieval process.

A typical computer forensic process incorporates three distinct stages namely the acquirement of the gadgets, analysis, and scrutiny of data extracted and finally reporting on the findings and conclusions. In the first stage, a media device is acquired or seized from its current handlers or imaged and a similar copy produced. In the second stage, information is obtained through various methodologies and later comprehensive searches are conducted to fill in gaps that may occur. Finally, an examiner writes down a clear report that generally can easily be understood by anyone.

In conclusion, the general tasks of a typical computer forensic examiner is acquiring relevant gadgets, analyzing and scrutinizing information and later presenting the data in a manner that can be understood by a layman. Examiners services are of great use to private investigative firms and state departments for crime control. Ultimately computer science skills are mandatory for any successful examiner.




About the Author:



Axact

Money Making

I am passionate about educating university students about money and careers, and have been doing so since 2007. I see the same confusion and mistakes being replicated every year. The way I help is through Save the Student. I'm always on the look out for new contributors, so get in touch if you're wanting to get involved! Aside from the site, my main interests are travelling, writing, photography, webdesign, sailing, football and cycling.

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