Networking Basics

Very rarely in your career will you have to investigate a single computer that has not connected to a network. When I say “computer,” this includes mobile devices. Desktops, laptops, and mobile devices are designed to share information through a network we refer to as the “Internet.” There are legitimate uses for such devices as well as illegitimate uses. For example, users of these devices have been known to record audio and video of themselves committing criminal acts. These same users will also use the Internet to research activities they plan on executing in the future; these activities will include criminal acts.

There may also come a time when you are called to investigate a crime where a device has been the target of a crime: a server may have been hacked, a user’s mobile device may have been compromised, or a user’s online storage may have been compromised. These acts require you to understand how devices communicate...