Creating sterile media 

Sterile media is also a concept that was emphasized when I first trained. Now, there is a discussion regarding whether sterile media is still needed in today's forensic environment. The decision to use sterile media to store the forensic data will be based on the acquisition and the type of examination you will use. Sterile media can be used before the start of the forensic process and at the end of the forensic process. There are multiple reasons to use sterile media, which we will now discuss. When digital forensics was first starting, we did not have the capability to create a forensic image; we were forced to create a forensic copy to perform our examination on. Remember, we talked about a forensic copy in Chapter 2, The Forensic Analysis Process, and defined a forensic copy as follows:

"A straight bit-for-bit copy of the source to the destination. This is not common in today's environment; ensure that your destination...