Data acquisition and preservation are critical processes in digital forensics, ensuring that digital evidence is collected in a forensically sound manner and preserved to maintain its integrity and admissibility in legal proceedings. Here are techniques commonly used for data acquisition and preservation:
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Disk Imaging:
- Disk imaging involves creating a forensic copy or image of an entire storage device, including all sectors and data structures, such as the boot sector, file system, and unallocated space.
- Techniques:
- Physical imaging: Creating a bit-by-bit copy of the entire storage device, including unused sectors and slack space.
- Logical imaging: Extracting only allocated files and directories from the storage device, excluding unallocated space and free clusters.
- Tools: Popular disk imaging tools include FTK Imager, EnCase Forensic, dd (Unix/Linux command), and dc3dd (enhanced version of dd).
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Memory Imaging:
- Memory imaging involves capturing a snapshot or dump of the volatile memory (RAM) of a computer or digital device to preserve volatile data, such as running processes, network connections, and encryption keys.
- Techniques:
- Live memory acquisition: Capturing a memory dump from a running system using specialized software or hardware tools.
- Cold boot memory acquisition: Extracting memory contents by rebooting the system into a forensic environment or using hardware-based techniques.
- Tools: Common memory imaging tools include Volatility, DumpIt, WinPmem, and Magnet RAM Capture.
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Network Traffic Capture:
- Network traffic capture involves capturing and preserving data packets transmitted over a network to analyze network-based attacks, intrusions, and data exfiltration.
- Techniques:
- Packet sniffing: Capturing network packets using packet sniffers or network monitoring tools installed on a network device or deployed in-line with network traffic.
- Network forensics appliances: Using dedicated network forensics appliances or intrusion detection systems (IDS/IPS) to capture, analyze, and store network traffic.
- Tools: Wireshark, tcpdump, Snort, Suricata, Zeek (formerly known as Bro).
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Mobile Device Acquisition:
- Mobile device acquisition involves extracting data from smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices to collect evidence of user activity, communications, and installed applications.
- Techniques:
- Logical acquisition: Extracting data from accessible areas of the device's file system via software-based methods, such as backup files or forensic tools.
- Physical acquisition: Extracting low-level data directly from the device's memory or storage chips using specialized hardware tools or techniques.
- Tools: Cellebrite UFED, Oxygen Forensic Detective, Magnet AXIOM, XRY.
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Cloud Data Preservation:
- Cloud data preservation involves collecting and preserving data stored in cloud services and online accounts to gather evidence of user activities, communications, and file storage.
- Techniques:
- Data export: Exporting data from cloud services using built-in export features or third-party tools provided by the service provider.
- Legal preservation requests: Submitting preservation requests or legal process to cloud service providers to prevent data deletion or modification.
- Tools: Varied depending on the cloud service provider and their data export capabilities.
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Write Protection and Chain of Custody:
- Write protection ensures that original evidence is not altered or modified during the acquisition process by using hardware or software write-blocking devices.
- Chain of custody documentation tracks the movement and handling of digital evidence from the point of collection to the courtroom, ensuring its integrity and admissibility.
- Techniques: Using hardware write blockers, read-only cables, or software write-blocking mechanisms to prevent write access to storage devices during acquisition.
By employing these techniques for data acquisition and preservation, digital forensic practitioners can ensure that digital evidence is collected in a forensically sound manner, preserving its integrity and admissibility for use in legal proceedings, incident response efforts, and cybersecurity investigations.
