Introduction to Forensic Research Digital Forensics

Digital
forensics
Branch: BTI Computers
Semester/Year: X / 5th
Presented by:
C077- Mohammad Mubasshir
C176- Dhruvi Doshi
C177- Dipeesha Vartak
C186- Rushil Sheth
C195- Saanvi Misar
C196- Nitya Nivdunge

WhatisDigitalforensics?
Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science
encompassing the recovery, investigation,
examination, and analysis of material found in digital
devices, often in relation to mobile devices and
computer crime.
Importance :
Essential for investigating cybercrimes and
security breaches.
Assists in legal proceedings by providing digital
evidence.
Supports organizations in understanding and
mitigating security incidents.

DigitalForensicsProcess
Step 1 — Security & Anonymity
Securing Your Investigation Environment
Online Safety Considerations
Social Media Investigations
Choosing the Right Browser
Best Practices
Step 2 — Evidence Collection
Key Considerations for Collecting Evidence
Importance of an Audit Trail
Scraping Data from Social Media

DigitalForensics
Process
Step 3 — Timestamps &
Hash Values Healthcare
Importance of Hash Values
Challenges of Manual Hashing
Automating the Process
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Step 4— Documentation
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Importance of Documentation
Risks of Inaccurate Documentation
Saving Time for Critical Investigative Work
Automating Documentation

DigitalForensicsProcess
Step 5— Reporting
Importance of Reporting
Challenges in Reporting
Effective Reporting Strategies
Automating Report Generation
Step 6— Expert Witness
Role of an Expert Witness
Challenges of Being an Expert Witness
Preparing for Court
Mock Trials

Role in cybersecurity & law enforcement
Cybersecurity :
Incident Response – Identifies cyber threats (hacking, ransomware).
Data Recovery – Restores deleted/corrupted files; verifies integrity.
Network Security – Monitors unauthorized access, insider threats.
Fraud Detection – Tracks banking fraud, phishing, money laundering.
Law Enforcement :
Cyber Crime Investigations – Solves hacking, identity theft, cyberstalking.
Counterterrorism – Analyzes communications, GPS, encrypted data.
Court Evidence – Ensures legally admissible digital proof.
Child Protection – Tracks online predators, dark web crimes.

ComputerForensics
The process of collecting, analyzing, and preserving data
from computers, laptops, and storage devices.
Key Aspects:
Examining hard drives, USBs, and memory cards for
deleted or hidden files.
Recovering documents, emails, browsing history, and
logs.
Identifying malware, unauthorized access, and data
breaches.
Use Cases:
Cybercrime investigations (hacking, fraud, identity
theft).
Corporate security and employee misconduct
investigations.
Evidence collection for legal cases.

MobileForensics
Extraction and analysis of data from mobile devices like
smartphones, tablets, and wearables.
Key Aspects:
Recovering call logs, messages, contacts, and
multimedia files.
Analyzing installed applications, GPS locations, and
browsing history.
Bypassing passwords and encryption to access
hidden data.
Use Cases:
Criminal investigations (drug trafficking, cyberbullying,
terrorism).
Evidence recovery in missing person cases.
Identifying unauthorized data leaks from
organizations.

AudioandVideoForensics
The analysis and enhancement of audio and video
recordings to verify authenticity and extract useful
information for investigations.
Key Aspects:
Enhancing poor-quality audio to improve clarity.
Authenticating videos to detect tampering or
deepfake content.
Identifying speakers, background noises, and
environmental sounds.
Use Cases:
Crime scene investigations using surveillance footage.
Verifying evidence in court cases (e.g., voice
recordings in legal disputes).
Identifying suspects through facial and voice
recognition.

CloudForensics
Investigating data stored in cloud environments, including
virtual servers and remote storage.
Key Aspects:
Analyzing cloud logs, metadata, and access records.
Retrieving deleted or encrypted cloud-stored data.
Ensuring compliance with cybersecurity laws and
regulations.
Use Cases:
Investigating data leaks and unauthorized access in
cloud services.
Tracking cybercrimes involving cloud storage
platforms.
Ensuring data integrity in cloud-based business
operations.

Using
professional
forensic software
like Email
Investigation
Tools for
accurate
1. Cybercrime
2. Fraud Detection
3. Intellectual
Property Theft
Investigates hacking,
phishing, ransomware
attacks.
Analyses digital evidence
to trace attackers and
methods used.
Helps prosecute
cybercriminals and
prevent future incidents.
Uncovers evidence of
financial fraud and
fraudulent transactions.
Identifies individuals
involved and traces illicit
funds.
Effective in complex
schemes, including
digital currencies.
Analyzes evidence from
devices or the cloud.
Identifies unauthorized
access, copying, or
distribution.
Protects a company’s
assets.
Provides evidence for
legal action.

2. Fraud Detection
4. Counterterrorism
5. Crypto Crime
Extracts crypto data from
devices to trace suspicious
transactions.
Uses blockchain analysis to
track illicit funds.
Helps disrupt illegal activities
involving cryptocurrency.
Analyses data from suspects'
devices.
Uncovers networks and
movements.
Collects evidence from
phones and computers.
Reveals attack planning and
execution.
Prevents future incidents.

OverviewofDigitalForensicsInvestigation
Challenges
Digital forensics plays a vital role in cybersecurity and
crime investigations.
Involves identifying, collecting, preserving, validating,
analyzing, interpreting, and presenting digital evidence.
Cybercriminals continuously develop new techniques to
evade detection, creating significant challenges for
investigators.
Challenges are mainly categorized into:
Technical Challenges
Legal Challenges
Resource Challenges

TechnicalChallengesinDigitalForensics
Anti-Forensic Techniques: Cybercriminals use various methods to
obstruct investigations, including:
Encryption: Secures data, requiring complex decryption efforts.
Residual Data Wiping: Erases digital footprints to remove traces of
activity.
Data Hiding in Storage: Rootkits and hidden partitions make
evidence difficult to detect.
Covert Channels: Attackers manipulate network protocols to avoid
detection.
Tail Obfuscation: Changes file extensions and metadata to mislead
investigators.
Steganography: Embeds hidden data within other files, making
detection harder.

LegalandResourceChallengesinDigitalForensics
Legal Challenges:
Privacy laws restrict access to crucial data
for investigations.
Legal limitations on how evidence is
collected and used in court.
Investigators may discover evidence but
be unable to use it due to privacy
concerns.
Resource Challenges:
High Data Volume: Large amounts of
data extend investigation time.
Time Constraints: Limited time to extract
evidence from volatile memory before it is
overwritten.
Data Integrity: Ensuring data remains
unchanged during the investigation.
Damaged Data Sources: Corrupted or
inaccessible files make evidence retrieval
difficult.

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Obstacles:
Case Complexity:
Evidence is often scattered across
multiple devices, cloud storage, and
online platforms.
Requires automation and AI-based
forensic tools for efficiency.
Lack of Standardization:
Need for universally accepted forensic
methodologies and evidence-handling
standards.
Developing standardized formats and
schemas can improve forensic
investigations.
AdditionalObstaclesand
SolutionsinDigitalForensics
Solution 2:
Using professional
forensic software
like Email
Investigation Tools
for accurate
analysis.
Solution 1: Solution 3:
Implementing strict
national laws for
digital forensics
procedures.
Ensuring due
diligence at every
stage of the
investigation.

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DiskForensics(DataRecovery&Analysis)
Autopsy
Open-source GUI-based forensic tool
for analyzing hard drives and mobile
devices.
Example: A forensic investigator recovers
deleted images from a suspect’s hard
drive using Autopsy to analyze the disk
image and extract evidence.
EnCase
A widely used commercial tool
for digital investigations and
evidence collection
Example: Law enforcement retrieves
emails from a formatted laptop to
track down a cybercriminal.
FTK (Forensic Toolkit)
A commercial tool by Access Data
for deep disk analysis and data
recovery.
Example: A forensic expert analyzes an
encrypted USB drive and extracts
hidden financial records.

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Memory&RAMForensics
Volatility
Open-source framework for memory
analysis and extracting evidence
from RAM dumps.
Example: An analyst finds a hidden
malware process running in RAM that
doesn’t show up in task manager.
MemDump
Captures memory dumps for
forensic analysis.
Example: A cybersecurity team
extracts active session credentials
from RAM to check for unauthorized
logins.
Rekall
A memory forensic framework
used for investigating live and
captured memory images.
Example: Investigators detect a
malicious keylogger by analyzing a live
memory dump.

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NetworkForensics
Wireshark
Captures and analyzes network
packets to detect suspicious
activity.
Example: A security expert captures
packets and detects a suspicious data
transfer to an unknown IP. Xplico
Open-source tool for
reconstructing network sessions.
Example: Forensic analysts
reconstruct a suspect’s email
conversations from captured
network traffic.
NetworkMiner
Extracts files, credentials, and
other artifacts from network
traffic.
Example: An investigator extracts
login credentials sent over an
unencrypted network.

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MobileForensics
Cellebrite UFED
Commercial tool for extracting data
from mobile devices, even if deleted.
Example: Police retrieve deleted text
messages from a locked phone in a
cyberbullying case. MOBILedit Forensic
Express
Extracts and examines data from
mobile devices.
Example: Investigators recover call
logs and media files from a broken
smartphone.
Magnet AXIOM
Analyzes mobile, cloud, and
computer data for investigations
Example: A forensic expert extracts
and analyzes WhatsApp conversations
from a suspect’s device.

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CloudForensics
AWS CloudTrail
Logs user activity and API calls in
AWS environments.
Example: A security analyst traces
unauthorized access to an AWS
database storing user data. X1 Social Discovery
Extracts and preserves social
media and cloud data for
investigations.
Example: A forensic team collects
evidence from a suspect’s Facebook
and Instagram accounts
Google Vault
Helps extract data from Google
Workspace accounts.
Example: Investigators retrieve
deleted emails from a corporate G
Suite account.

AIIntegration
Automates data sorting, keyword searches, and pattern
recognition.
Speeds up analysis of large data sets— terabytes in hours.
Identifies hidden connections and anomalies quickly.
Limitations: biases in training data, possible
misinterpretation of context.
Need for a balance between AI use and human judgment.
Emphasis on ethical considerations and accuracy in
analysis.

Traditional methods struggle with cloud-based evidence.
Difficulties in accessing data on distributed, remote servers.
Need to navigate international privacy and data protection
laws.
Adaptation of tools for live cloud environments.
Essential skills: virtual machine forensics, cloud data
analysis.
Ensuring compliance with complex regulations.
CloudandRemote
DataChallenges

IoTForensics
IoT devices as new evidence sources (smartwatches, home
assistants, vehicles).
Extracting data is challenging due to proprietary systems.
Limited storage on devices requires specific forensic techniques.
Importance of understanding the device’s operational context.
Growing demand for specialization in IoT forensics.
Potential to uncover critical insights through non-traditional
devices.

Encryption secures data but complicates forensic investigations.
End-to-end encryption increases legal access challenges.
Techniques: metadata analysis, lawful intercept
technologies.
Need for awareness of evolving cryptographic methods.
Balancing investigative needs with legal and ethical boundaries.
Staying updated with legislation impacting encrypted data
access.
AdvancementsinEncryption

Conclusion
In conclusion, we learned that digital forensics
is a powerful tool for investigating crimes and
protecting data.
We explored different types, key tools, and the
step-by-step investigation process.
While there are challenges, new trends show a
promising future for this field.
Overall, digital forensics plays a crucial role in
solving cases and keeping digital spaces safe.

Contribution
Name Roll No. Topic
Mohammad Mubasshir C077 Types of Digital Foresnics
Dhruvi Doshi C176 Tools Used in Digital Forensics
Dipeesha Vartak C177
Rushil Sheth C186
Saanvi Misar C195 Challenges in Digital Forensics
Nitya Nivdunge C196 Introduction, Evolution, Case Studies
Future & uses cases in Digital Forensics
Investigation process

references
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exploring-future-digital-forensics-challenges-eric-l-waldrep-ixkff/
https://www.cognyte.com/blog/digital-forensics-investigations/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/202302/the-capture-of-serial-killer-dennis-
rader-btk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)
https://www.jaroeducation.com/blog/digital-forensics-tools-and-techniques/
https://www.bluevoyant.com/knowledge-center/get-started-with-these-9-open-source-tools
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cyber-forensics-tools/

Introduction to Forensic Research Digital Forensics

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