Digital forensics involves evaluating digital material for legal purposes, such as assisting in investigations and offering testimony in court. Technicians require training in forensic procedure and technical skills, and must be familiar with evidence chain procedures and non-destructive testing techniques. They search for all evidence relevant to a case, including material that has been deleted or destroyed. Technicians must keep up with the latest developments in the field and may attend conferences and join professional organizations.
Digital forensics is the evaluation of digital material for legal purposes. A digital forensics technician can assist in criminal and civil investigations and can offer testimony in court on the type of evidence uncovered and its implications. Technicians can evaluate the contents of hard drives and other storage devices, and can also engage in tasks such as tracing a hacker’s footsteps, testing security measures, or recovering damaged digital data such as photographs on a memory card.
To work in this field, technicians need training in proper forensic procedure and technical skills. There are very strict rules on the control and retention of evidence put in place to protect the integrity of court cases. The technician must be familiar with evidence chain procedures, non-destructive testing techniques, evidence logging, and other matters in order for his or her evidence to be accepted in court. He must also learn how to extract digital evidence and how to evaluate systems that may be password protected, corrupted or otherwise difficult to access.
The sources of material for digital forensic technicians to consult can be quite varied. Officers can collect digital evidence in a scene that needs to be processed, and it is also possible to subpoena the evidence. The technician can go to the site to personally collect the evidence. He will check to confirm that all material is present and will reduce the risk of damage or sabotage. Experienced technicians also know what to look for on the spot and can identify a problem that a regular law enforcement officer isn’t trained to spot.
In digital forensics, technicians search for all evidence relevant to a case at hand. This includes any material that a suspect has attempted to destroy or conceal. Techniques are available to extract information that users have attempted to delete or destroy. The technician can also recover information that is inadvertently lost or damaged. If a hard drive is discovered in a house after a flood, for example, the technician may be able to access the data and place it in a secure format for further evaluation.
The work of digital forensics is an ever-evolving field. Technicians need to keep up with the latest developments so they can deliver the highest quality work to their employers. This may involve joining professional organizations, attending conferences, and reading research journals and other materials. Many employers will help cover professional development costs and sponsor technicians who have to travel to develop more skills.
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