Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science that deals with the recovery, investigation, examination, and analysis of material found in digital devices. It involves identifying, acquiring, processing, analyzing, and reporting on data stored electronically. Digital forensics is commonly used in both criminal law and private investigation, and it is associated with criminal law, where evidence is collected to support or oppose a hypothesis before the courts. The main goal of digital forensics is to extract data from electronic evidence, process it into actionable intelligence, and present the findings for prosecution.
Digital forensics is concerned with the identification, preservation, examination, and analysis of digital evidence, using scientifically accepted and validated processes, to be used in and outside of a court of law. It is used to investigate a wide range of crimes, including cybercrime, child pornography, credit card fraud, and other types of crimes. Digital image forensics is a branch of digital forensics that deals with the examination and verification of an images authenticity and content.
Digital forensics experts are also hired by the private sector as part of cybersecurity and information security teams to identify the cause of data breaches, data leaks, cyber attacks, and other cyber threats. The process of digital forensics involves several phases, including evidence assessment, evidence acquisition, evidence examination, and evidence reporting. The evidence is collected following proper search authority, chain of custody, validation with mathematics, use of validated tools, repeatability, reporting, and possibly expert testimony.
