A Practical Guide to Computer Forensics Investigations introduces the newest technologies along with detailed information on how the evidence contained on these devices should be analyzed. Packed with practical, hands-on activities, students will learn unique subjects from chapters including Mac Forensics, Mobile Forensics, Cyberbullying, and Child Endangerment. This well-developed book will prepare students for the rapidly-growing field of computer forensics for a career with law enforcement, accounting firms, banks and credit card companies, private investigation companies, or government agencies.
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO DIGITAL FORENSICS—NOW THOROUGHLY UPDATED WITH NEW TECHNIQUES, TOOLS, AND SOLUTIONS Complete, practical coverage of both technical and investigative skills Thoroughly covers modern devices, networks, and the Internet Addresses online and lab investigations, documentation, admissibility, and more Aligns closely with the NSA Knowledge Units and the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework As digital crime soars, so does the need for experts who can recover and evaluate evidence for successful prosecution. Now, Dr. Darren Hayes has thoroughly updated his definitive guide to digital forensics investigations, reflecting current best practices for securely seizing, extracting and analyzing digital evidence, protecting the integrity of the chain of custody, effectively documenting investigations, and scrupulously adhering to the law, so that your evidence is admissible in court. Every chapter of this new Second Edition is revised to reflect newer technologies, the latest challenges, technical solutions, and recent court decisions. Hayes has added detailed coverage of wearable technologies, IoT forensics, 5G communications, vehicle forensics, and mobile app examinations; advances in incident response; and new iPhone and Android device examination techniques. Through practical activities, realistic examples, and fascinating case studies, you'll build hands-on mastery—and prepare to succeed in one of today's fastest-growing fields. LEARN HOW TO Understand what digital forensics examiners do, the evidence they work with, and the opportunities available to them Explore how modern device features affect evidence gathering, and use diverse tools to investigate them Establish a certified forensics lab and implement best practices for managing and processing evidence Gather data online to investigate today's complex crimes Uncover indicators of compromise and master best practices for incident response Investigate financial fraud with digital evidence Use digital photographic evidence, including metadata and social media images Investigate wearable technologies and other “Internet of Things” devices Learn new ways to extract a full fi le system image from many iPhones Capture extensive data and real-time intelligence from popular apps Follow strict rules to make evidence admissible, even after recent Supreme Court decisions
Use this hands-on, introductory guide to understand and implement digital forensics to investigate computer crime using Windows, the most widely used operating system. This book provides you with the necessary skills to identify an intruder's footprints and to gather the necessary digital evidence in a forensically sound manner to prosecute in a court of law. Directed toward users with no experience in the digital forensics field, this book provides guidelines and best practices when conducting investigations as well as teaching you how to use a variety of tools to investigate computer crime. You will be prepared to handle problems such as law violations, industrial espionage, and use of company resources for private use. Digital Forensics Basics is written as a series of tutorials with each task demonstrating how to use a specific computer forensics tool or technique. Practical information is provided and users can read a task and then implement it directly on their devices. Some theoretical information is presented to define terms used in each technique and for users with varying IT skills. What You’ll Learn Assemble computer forensics lab requirements, including workstations, tools, and more Document the digital crime scene, including preparing a sample chain of custody form Differentiate between law enforcement agency and corporate investigationsGather intelligence using OSINT sources Acquire and analyze digital evidence Conduct in-depth forensic analysis of Windows operating systems covering Windows 10–specific feature forensicsUtilize anti-forensic techniques, including steganography, data destruction techniques, encryption, and anonymity techniques Who This Book Is For Police and other law enforcement personnel, judges (with no technical background), corporate and nonprofit management, IT specialists and computer security professionals, incident response team members, IT military and intelligence services officers, system administrators, e-business security professionals, and banking and insurance professionals
Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation builds on the success of the Handbook of Computer Crime Investigation, bringing together renowned experts in all areas of digital forensics and investigation to provide the consummate resource for practitioners in the field. It is also designed as an accompanying text to Digital Evidence and Computer Crime. This unique collection details how to conduct digital investigations in both criminal and civil contexts, and how to locate and utilize digital evidence on computers, networks, and embedded systems. Specifically, the Investigative Methodology section of the Handbook provides expert guidance in the three main areas of practice: Forensic Analysis, Electronic Discovery, and Intrusion Investigation. The Technology section is extended and updated to reflect the state of the art in each area of specialization. The main areas of focus in the Technology section are forensic analysis of Windows, Unix, Macintosh, and embedded systems (including cellular telephones and other mobile devices), and investigations involving networks (including enterprise environments and mobile telecommunications technology). This handbook is an essential technical reference and on-the-job guide that IT professionals, forensic practitioners, law enforcement, and attorneys will rely on when confronted with computer related crime and digital evidence of any kind. *Provides methodologies proven in practice for conducting digital investigations of all kinds*Demonstrates how to locate and interpret a wide variety of digital evidence, and how it can be useful in investigations *Presents tools in the context of the investigative process, including EnCase, FTK, ProDiscover, foremost, XACT, Network Miner, Splunk, flow-tools, and many other specialized utilities and analysis platforms*Case examples in every chapter give readers a practical understanding of the technical, logistical, and legal challenges that arise in real investigations
Updated with the latest advances from the field, GUIDE TO COMPUTER FORENSICS AND INVESTIGATIONS, Fifth Edition combines all-encompassing topic coverage and authoritative information from seasoned experts to deliver the most comprehensive forensics resource available. This proven author team's wide ranging areas of expertise mirror the breadth of coverage provided in the book, which focuses on techniques and practices for gathering and analyzing evidence used to solve crimes involving computers. Providing clear instruction on the tools and techniques of the trade, it introduces readers to every step of the computer forensics investigation-from lab set-up to testifying in court. It also details step-by-step guidance on how to use current forensics software. Appropriate for learners new to the field, it is also an excellent refresher and technology update for professionals in law enforcement, investigations, or computer security. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
This work introduces the reader to the world of digital forensics in a practical and accessible manner. The text was written to fulfill a need for a book that introduces forensic methodology and sound forensic thinking, combined with hands-on examples for common tasks in a computer forensic examination. The author has several years of experience as a computer forensics examiner and is now working as a university-level lecturer. Guide to Digital Forensics: A Concise and Practical Introduction is intended for students that are looking for an introduction to computer forensics and can also be used as a collection of instructions for practitioners. The aim is to describe and explain the steps taken during a forensic examination, with the intent of making the reader aware of the constraints and considerations that apply during a fo rensic examination in law enforcement and in the private sector. Upon reading this book, the reader should have a proper overview of the field of digital forensics, starting them on the journey of becoming a computer forensics expert.
A resource to help forensic investigators locate, analyze, and understand digital evidence found on modern Linux systems after a crime, security incident or cyber attack. Practical Linux Forensics dives into the technical details of analyzing postmortem forensic images of Linux systems which have been misused, abused, or the target of malicious attacks. It helps forensic investigators locate and analyze digital evidence found on Linux desktops, servers, and IoT devices. Throughout the book, you learn how to identify digital artifacts which may be of interest to an investigation, draw logical conclusions, and reconstruct past activity from incidents. You’ll learn how Linux works from a digital forensics and investigation perspective, and how to interpret evidence from Linux environments. The techniques shown are intended to be independent of the forensic analysis platforms and tools used. Learn how to: Extract evidence from storage devices and analyze partition tables, volume managers, popular Linux filesystems (Ext4, Btrfs, and Xfs), and encryption Investigate evidence from Linux logs, including traditional syslog, the systemd journal, kernel and audit logs, and logs from daemons and applications Reconstruct the Linux startup process, from boot loaders (UEFI and Grub) and kernel initialization, to systemd unit files and targets leading up to a graphical login Perform analysis of power, temperature, and the physical environment of a Linux machine, and find evidence of sleep, hibernation, shutdowns, reboots, and crashes Examine installed software, including distro installers, package formats, and package management systems from Debian, Fedora, SUSE, Arch, and other distros Perform analysis of time and Locale settings, internationalization including language and keyboard settings, and geolocation on a Linux system Reconstruct user login sessions (shell, X11 and Wayland), desktops (Gnome, KDE, and others) and analyze keyrings, wallets, trash cans, clipboards, thumbnails, recent files and other desktop artifacts Analyze network configuration, including interfaces, addresses, network managers, DNS, wireless artifacts (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WWAN), VPNs (including WireGuard), firewalls, and proxy settings Identify traces of attached peripheral devices (PCI, USB, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth) including external storage, cameras, and mobiles, and reconstruct printing and scanning activity
Become an effective cyber forensics investigator and gain a collection of practical, efficient techniques to get the job done. Diving straight into a discussion of anti-forensic techniques, this book shows you the many ways to effectively detect them. Now that you know what you are looking for, you’ll shift your focus to network forensics, where you cover the various tools available to make your network forensics process less complicated. Following this, you will work with cloud and mobile forensic techniques by considering the concept of forensics as a service (FaSS), giving you cutting-edge skills that will future-proof your career. Building on this, you will learn the process of breaking down malware attacks, web attacks, and email scams with case studies to give you a clearer view of the techniques to be followed. Another tricky technique is SSD forensics, so the author covers this in detail to give you the alternative analysis techniques you’ll need. To keep you up to speed on contemporary forensics, Practical Cyber Forensics includes a chapter on Bitcoin forensics, where key crypto-currency forensic techniques will be shared. Finally, you will see how to prepare accurate investigative reports. What You Will LearnCarry out forensic investigation on Windows, Linux, and macOS systems Detect and counter anti-forensic techniques Deploy network, cloud, and mobile forensics Investigate web and malware attacks Write efficient investigative reports Who This Book Is For Intermediate infosec professionals looking for a practical approach to investigative cyber forensics techniques.
Now extensively updated, this authoritative, intensely practical guide to digital forensics draws upon the author's wide-ranging experience in law enforcement, including his pioneering work as a forensics examiner in both criminal and civil investigations. Writing for students and other readers at all levels of experience, Dr. Darren Hayes presents comprehensive, modern best practices for capturing and analyzing evidence, protecting the chain of custody, documenting investigations, and more -- all designed for application in actual crime scenes. In this edition, Hayes tightly aligns his coverage with widely-respected government curricula, including NSA Knowledge Units; and with key professional certifications such as AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE). A Practical Guide to Digital Forensics Investigations, Second Edition presents more hands-on activities and case studies than any book of its kind, including short questions, essay questions, and discussion questions in every chapter. It addresses issues ranging from device hardware and software to law, privacy and ethics; scientific and government protocols to techniques for investigation and reporting. Reflecting his deep specialized knowledge, this edition offers unsurpassed coverage of mobile forensics, including a full chapter on mobile apps. It also adds new discussions of capturing investigatory data from today's ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) devices; as well as digital forensics techniques for incident response and related cybersecurity tasks. Throughout, Hayes presents detailed chapters on crucial topics that competitive books gloss over, including Mac forensics and investigating child endangerment.
