Summary

We saw that digital forensics is still a relatively new field, although forensic science has been around for a very long time, as far back as the early 1900s. Although digital forensics may have only been on the scene since the early 2000s, as a science, we have certain best practices, procedures, standards, and frameworks, such as those created by the ACPO, SWGDE, and NIST, to adhere to. These maintain the accuracy and the integrity of both the findings and the actual evidence when carrying out investigations, whether as an amateur or professional digital forensic investigator.

Some of the commercial tools mentioned were Belkasoft EC X, FTK, and EnCase Forensics. Many of the open source tools available are made for Linux-based distributions and can be downloaded individually, but many are readily available within certain forensic and security OSs or distributions. Some of these distros are DEFT Linux, CAINE, CSI Linux, and of course, Kali Linux; all of these are freely...