Key developments: DIGITAL DEVICES
The time when only nerds or geeks were interested in computers is long gone. Advances in computer usability have led to the development of digital devices which are no longer the sole preserve of the white-coated “high priests” of computing (once known as the programmers and operators) but have become accessible to everyone capable of holding a mouse or using a keyboard.
The IBM PC, with its standardized low-cost hardware, simple Microsoft Disc Operating System (PC-DOS or MS-DOS), and the backing of the world’s largest computer manufacturer resulted in a host of imitators and compatible machines targeted mainly at business.
Most recently, a new development in wired telecommunications has driven down the cost of high-performance internetworking to the point where it has become affordable for domestic users. Broadband xDSL technology, in the form, mainly, of ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), offers a high-speed digital connection using existing telephone wiring. It offers an always-on connection.
for those who want it, and allows consumers to receive more complex, “richer” content, in the form of video and other media, than was previously possible using slow dial-up connections. The increased speed also means that it has become properly possible for someone to work at home as efficiently as they could in an office. The network connection to their home computer is not as fast as the one they would have in the corporate network, but the speed is sufficient for them to access core corporate services such as email.
Technology and culture:-
Although much technology evolution has been driven by the desire for lower power, higher capacity, or greater efficiency, the emergence of consumer-oriented technologies such as Apple’s iPod, mobile phones, and similar personal devices has resulted in a merging between technology and fashion.
In many cases, particularly among the younger members of society, it is no longer enough to have a device, but it is now necessary to have the “right” device.
In the same way that people express their common interests and membership of a particular cultural group through clothing and make-up, design features of personal technology can be view as an expression of membership of such a group.
Closed vs. open systems:
To start with, we can consider all digital devices to fall into one of two main categories: closed or open, depending on how they have been used in the past.
Closed systems: From the point of view of a forensic examiner, a close system is any system that has never been connect to the Internet. This means that it has only ever existed as an isolated entity within a controlled and known environment. Any machines to which it has been connect have been close systems themselves, thus creating a closed network; another form of a closed system. In effect, then, a closed system may consist of multiple smaller systems all of which satisfy the definition of a closed system.
Open systems: An open system, by contrast, is any system, no matter how large or small, which has, at some time, had some sort of connection to the Internet. This connection may have been direct (e.g. through connection to a public wireless network at a coffee shop) or indirect (e.g. through the use of a USB memory device that had previously been used in an Internet-connected system). No matter what the form of the connection and how many steps removed, any association with the Internet converts a closed system into an open system.
Device Handling & Examination Principles:
Any Crime Scene Investigator, Scenes of Crime Officer, solicitor, barrister, or judge will confirm that the establishment of continuity of evidence can be a crucial issue in a criminal trial.
If doubt can be cast over the history of any item of evidence, allowing the suggestion that it has tamper with during an undocument period in its life, then the value of that item as reliable evidence is diminish. In extreme cases, it can be so compromise as to be rule inadmissible – causing a case to collapse.
This is particularly true of digital devices as, unlike some other forensic sciences, we cannot “split” them into separate samples for testing using different processes by independent parties. The act of cutting a digital device into pieces tends to stop it from working at all.
These principles are:
Principle 1:
No action taken by law enforcement agencies or their agents should change data held on a computer or storage media which may subsequently be relied upon in court
Principle 2:
In circumstances where a person finds it necessary to access original data hold on a computer or on storage media.
that person must be competent to do so and be able to give evidence explaining the relevance and the implications of their actions.
Principle 3:
An audit trail or other record of all processes applied to computer-based electronic evidence should create and preserve. An independent third party should be able to examine those processes and achieve the same result.
Principle 4:
The person in charge of the investigation (the case officer) has overall responsibility for ensuring that the law and these principles are adhere to.
Crime scenes:
At the time of seizure, it is best to consider the environment to be a crime scene and approach it using conventional crime scene procedures. Care should be consider to minimize disturbance of any items in the vicinity.
Threats and risks:
Throughout the description of the seizure process, above, there has been constant mention of the fact that almost any interaction with a device being seized can cause changes to the state of that device. This is a real risk. If the state of the system, when it comes to being examined, can be shown to have changed during or after the seizure.
then the integrity of all data on that device can be challenge, effectively accusing someone involved in handling the device of tampering with it.
Device identification:
From the discussion above, it may sound as if it is easy to identify digital devices. Most people have a very clear mental picture of a PC as a beige or black box with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor attached to it. Similarly, mobile phones, media players, etc. seem to be easily identifiable devices.
However, the truth is that the onward march of Moore’s law means that the “chips” at the heart of all devices are getting smaller and more powerful all the time. As a result, more features can be packed into smaller packages.
Malware:
A final area to consider in this section is that of Malware. Malware is simply define as software with a malicious purpose. Typically it comprises the family of programs known as Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses. A virus, in the digital world, is any program that is capable of replicating itself from one system to another, through some carrier medium, without direct human action.
Its propagation is, therefore, UK facilitated by AK because an unknown and unauthorized person deliberately created it, but the action of an authorized person may be required to enable its distribution. In the 1980s, viruses were transfer mainly through the use of floppy discs being swap between machines.
Article By: Sayan Chatterjee
If you are Interested In Machine Learning You Can Check Machine Learning Internship Program
Also Check Other Technical And Non Technical Internship Programs
