Key Terminology and Scope

Key terminology and scope form the foundation of computer and cyber forensics, providing a shared language for professionals to describe processes, evidence, and investigations accurately. These terms ensure clarity when handling digital evidence in legal, corporate, or incident response contexts, preventing misunderstandings that could compromise cases.

Core Definitions in Digital Forensics

Understanding these essentials sets the stage for all forensic work. They describe the what, how, and why of investigations.

1. Digital Evidence: Any data stored or transmitted in binary form that holds probative value, such as files, logs, emails, or metadata, usable in court or internal reviews.

2. Computer Forensics: The process of preserving, identifying, extracting, and documenting computer-based evidence to reconstruct events scientifically and legally.

3. Cyber Forensics: A broader term encompassing forensics across networks, cloud, mobiles, and IoT, focusing on cybercrime traces like intrusions or data exfiltration.

4. Chain of Custody: A documented trail tracking evidence handling from collection to presentation, ensuring integrity and admissibility by logging who, what, when, and how.

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These terms emphasize preservation over alteration, a principle that guides every step.

Key Processes and Methodologies

Processes outline the structured workflow investigators follow. Each builds on the last for reliable outcomes.

This workflow, often called the evidence lifecycle, ensures repeatability and court acceptance.

Specialized Forensics Domains

Modern investigations span devices and environments. These terms highlight scope expansions.

1. Memory Forensics (RAM Forensics): Analyzing volatile RAM dumps for running processes, malware, or keys before shutdown wipes them.

2. Network Forensics: Capturing and dissecting traffic (PCAPs) for intrusion paths, C2 communications, or exfiltration.

3. Cloud Forensics: Extracting logs and artifacts from multi-tenant clouds like AWS or Azure, tackling jurisdiction and volatility challenges.

4. Mobile Forensics: Recovering data from smartphones, including app artifacts, geolocation, and encrypted chats.

5. File System Forensics: Parsing structures (NTFS, ext4) for deleted files, slack space, or metadata like timestamps.

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Note: These domains adapt traditional methods to new tech, keeping pace with crimes in hybrid environments.

Evidence Artifacts and Challenges

Artifacts are the "clues" left behind. Recognizing them sharpens investigative focus.

​Challenges include encryption, volatility, and volume—terabytes demand triage skills. Yet, redundancy across logs and backups often counters these.

Scope: What Forensics Covers (and Limits)

The scope defines boundaries. Forensics proves "what happened," not always "who" without correlation.

It applies to:

Cybercrimes: Hacking, ransomware, phishing.

Internal probes: IP theft, policy violations.

eDiscovery: Civil litigation data collection.

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Limits: Not real-time prevention (that's security ops); requires legal authority for access. Ethical use prioritizes privacy and admissibility.

​In practice, scope aligns with frameworks like NIST or ISO 27037, standardizing global work.