Digital Forensics —

If ordinary forensics is the application of science in solving crimes, digital forensics uses data retrieval and analysis for the same purpose. As well as digital information from hardware such as computers, smartphones, and all manner of IoT devices, this also encompasses the many volumes of open data that can be derived from social media platforms, messengers, the Dark Web, blockchains, and other sources.

There has long been strong interconnection between offline actions and their counterparts in cyberspace. Forensics has therefore been at work in the digital realm for well over 20 years, with the International Organization on Computer Evidence founded in 1995, followed by the FBI’s Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in 2000.

Typically, the majority of digital forensic work has been carried out by centralized departments. However, such units have become increasingly overwhelmed by the huge amount of incoming tasks. This observation is also consistent with the report that digital evidence now plays a role in more than 90% of criminal investigations.

 

The central objective of digital forensics is to provide law enforcement with the insights and evidence needed to successfully proceed with a criminal investigation. However, the sources of data that feed into this process are many, varied, and vast. In such a climate, forensic analysts require a modern, inclusive approach towards the inspection of digital information.

A large part of digital forensics concerns data extracted from devices—the physical artifacts collected in the course of a criminal investigation, such as computers, smartphones, USB sticks, external hard drives, and so on. Forensic experts then thoroughly draw out all data using specialized extraction tools before the analysts get busy, combing through the information for all manner of patterns, leads, and insights.  

This process has long been a staple of digital forensics, but to consider hardware as the be-all and end-all of data sources would seriously limit the investigative scope. Placing hardware-based and online data into two separate camps is not just unnecessary; it is erroneous, and could even be counterproductive.

OSINT tools and techniques can significantly broaden the horizons of digital forensics. With automated open data processing tools, analysts can combine device data with the oceans of information available in the online realm. This can greatly enrich the evolution of a case, and provide investigators with leads that would be otherwise inconceivable.

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