Deivison Franco, Daniel Müller, Cleber Soares and Joas Santos
The Internet and other computer resources have also become a means for criminal activities. Regardless of the types of crimes investigated, law enforcement officers seize a large quantity of equipment and media from crime scene containing evidence for investigation. After a forensic examination of the evidence, a forensic report is issued by computer forensic examiners. To recovery and analyze the evidence seized with higher accuracy, a well-structured computer forensic lab is essential.
In this article, we present the basic elements of a standard computer forensic lab as well as the tools associated with it, not only in terms of functionalities and aims but also in terms of hardware and software. For the software part, we present commercial and free solutions.
INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Computer forensics deals with computer-based evidence investigation, and consists of preparation, identification, preservation, and analysis of data stored, transmitted, or produced by a computer system or computer network, and of issuing a forensic report. In other words, computer forensics is a process of identifying, preserving, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence in a manner that is legally acceptable via the application of computer technology to the investigation of computer-based crime.
Computer forensics is becoming so common that computer forensic laboratories are not only found in law enforcement agencies, but also in private companies, research centers, and universities. Furthermore, private forensic investigation is done by many specialized private companies, and universities offer computer forensic courses.
The main goal in computer....
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