Computer Forensic Science

Computer Forensic Science

            I have been researching forensic science since our first day of blogging and I've never realized forensic science and it's uses in the cyber world. It is in any way or form of criminal activity on the internet for example but not limited to, hacking or phishing. According to Kharb, Rai, and Tomar:

Computer forensic is a science of acquiring, preserving, retrieving and presenting data that has been processed electronically and stored on computer media and according to Department Of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),computer forensic includes formalized and approved methodology to collect, analyze and present data in a court of law [2].

Unlike the other forensic specialties I have blogged about, these computer forensic scientists unfortunately don't get outside on the field often. So the forensic scientists can actually use the data they analyze for not just criminal justice, but also civil proceedings such as lawsuits in court.

Why Computer Forensic Science?
            It's simple, there are threats online just as there are in real life. They might not be as life threatening as a murderer ending one's life, but it is life threatening in a sense that one can steal your identity or all of your financial savings. Kharb, Rai, and Tomar emphasize the use stating:

Computer forensic is needed due to the complex nature of electronic media. Traditional forensic science technique will not work in recovering and compiling computer based evidence. There is tremendous amount of fraud being committed using computers. Everyday thousands of computer users are bombarded with tons of bogus email. There is always someone on the internet typing to find a new victim to commit a crime against. There are fake websites, phony on line auctions, credit card fraud and a host of other crimes. The percentage of fraud is going up and people are losing thousands of dollars to cyber thieves.

Huge companies put their stock data or sensitive information like payroll and new project plans up on computers. Although these companies may have the best network security, there are people who are willing to work day and night to break through that security to steal this sensitive information (Kharb, Rai, and Tomar 1). We need the use of computer forensics to stop these criminal events of theft, blackmail, and so on to save the "cyber society".

Techniques of Computer Forensic Science

            The few forensic techniques that I want to talk about are over emails, internet, and password cracking. Company used computers or networks can be analyzed for data sent and received for misconduct of the companies' policies (Kharb, Rai, and Tomar 1). Computer forensics can also find data that has been dumped from the computer memory in past work sessions. With the internet, not everything online is secure or completely private and can be easily obtained. Kharb, Rai, and Tomar state:

Even after data has been deleted, much information remains available for discovery of the Windows swap file. Windows swap files are dynamically created during the web session & then erased. These same files are then left behind as a large erased file in unallocated spaces. Unless specifically defragmented and written over, these erased swap files can be retrieved and archived for analysis.

The last technique is password cracking and computer forensic scientists use programs to decipher encrypted code and create numerous possible passwords to penetrate files.

Conclusion

            There are many different types of crimes in the world and with our world evolving and technology always growing, comes the growth of cyber crimes. Thus the need for Computer forensic scientists to keep order within the "cyber world".

Works Cited

Kharb, Latika, Balwant Rai, and Pradeep Tomar. "New vision of computer forensic science: need of cyber crime law." The Internet Journal of Law, Healthcare and Ethics 3 May 2007. Science In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.