The Little Geeni

The economy is struggling and jobs are hard to find. One field that is thriving is computer forensics which is, essentially, the discovery of data on electronic devices. A computer forensics analyst can have a lucrative and rewarding career involving many areas.

Many people think that just because you delete something off of your computer, or other device, that it’s gone forever. This is not true and more people are finding this out the hard way.

Minor cases that require the help of a computer forensics analyst include civil cases where an employer may want to monitor the daily activities of their employees to see how much company time is being wasted.

Email was the first thing introduced into office life that was later found to be a huge waste of time, while people are on the clock. It is still an extremely efficient and easy way to communicate in the work place but as more people own Blackberry’s and iPhone’s it has become a large scale issue among employers. Up to 50%, or more, of a work day can easily be wasted by emailing friends.

Another civil use for a computer forensics analyst includes spending too much time surfing the internet. Almost all companies have internet access that is supposed to be used for work purposes only. The fact of the matter is that a large percentage of internet time at work is actually for personal use.

If a company is suffering from these problems they call a digital forensics analyst. These professionals are able to come in and set up a program that can monitor one or all computers, on a server or within a company, and can pin point directly where the abuse is coming from. They can determine information such as who is logging in, what sites they are visiting and what kind of pictures or messages are being sent over email. All of this information is readily available to a trained professional.

As analyst’s gain more experience they typically move on to providing their services to law enforcement agencies. The police often use computer forensics to solve cases that involve computer or phone records. They may have an in house task force that is well trained in this area or they will outsource the work to forensics professionals that have a proven track record in solving cases.

During litigation a good computer forensics analyst will be able to give a thorough report on their findings and able to point out the relevance to the case. All pertinent information will be accessed and fully analyzed and when it’s time for their testimony they must be concise, clear and provide all information that will benefit the case. For this reason it is unlikely for the police, or any other agency, will hire an analyst without several years of experience in this realm.

A career as a computer forensics analyst is one of challenge and reward. You must have an eye for detail and a large amount of patience. It is very time consuming work, but as you become a seasoned professional you will be very satisfied as you are constantly gaining valuable knowledge.

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It was very difficult for an individual to recover his lost data. But now-a-days it is possible due to computer forensics experts. One can get all the related information about Computer forensics experts on Computers Classifieds.

Today the use and importance of computers have increased considerably. Whether you are responsible for the computers of a large corporation, a small business or even just your own personal computer, a danger of losing your stored data still exist. Data can be lost intentionally or accidentally. But to recover lost data gives a call for computer forensics experts. Computer forensics is where one can find the cause for his lost data. It investigates what exactly happened and who is responsible for the same. Its analysis leads to the investigation of computer’s operating system.

Computer forensic is a broader concept which is mainly related to the crimes happening in the computer world. Various laws have been imposed to check the crimes but they still exist and it becomes difficult to find the criminal due to lack of evidence. All these difficulties can be overcome with the help of computer forensics experts. Computer Forensic Experts are the people who provide electronic litigation support by investigating, identifying, preserving, analyzing, and presenting electronically stored information found in various devices such as computer networks, hard drives, external storage devices, PDA’s and cell phones.

The computer forensics experts should have a complete knowledge of the various data recovery software as well as the hardware. They should also possess the qualification and knowledge to carry out the required task. The computer forensics experts should be able to find out the criminal activities in computers such as unauthorized use of computers mainly stealing a username and password, accessing the victim’s computer via the internet, releasing a malicious computer program that is virus, harassment and stalking in cyberspace, e-mail Fraud, theft of company documents.

Computer Classifieds is the right place to post your requirements in specific words to get details of computer forensics experts from individual or Companies related to data recovery.

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Until a few years back, crime was associated with things such as burglaries, car theft, and so on but with the new age of computers and internet technology, crime has evolved. In fact, the issue of crime pertaining to computers has become such a serious problem, many colleges and universities now offer special computer forensics training.

With computer crime reaching all-time highs, working as a specialist in this field is a great career option. If this were something you find interesting, you would discover that you could look at any number of colleges and universities and find that computer forensics training is a part of the standard curriculum.

These programs are designed to provide you with all the expertise needed so you could perform in-depth research and capture data to find computer hackers and other criminals. With this, these individuals could be successfully prosecuted. Computers play vital roles in businesses around the world and of every size and industry so learning how to protect companies, along with personal computers is vital. Computer forensics training is challenging but also exciting.

Once you earn your certification or degree, you would have the qualifications and skills to detect data hidden deep on hard drives, and even locate files that were deleted or encrypted. Best of all, all you would need to do your job is know the subtle hints to look for, little things left behind on the computer?s hard drive.

Using appropriate software programs and tools, your computer forensics training would take you far in a career that would be highly beneficial to companies in recovering vital information. When looking at the various colleges and universities offering computer forensics training, you would find they are much the same although slight differences exist. The completion time for earning your certification or degree would also vary, depending on the school of choice.

Regardless, once you begin your new career, you would find it to be rewarding. Yes, this type of career does require you to gain special knowledge and going through school is a commitment of time, but with computer crimes being such a serious issue, you can be sure your abilities would be needed. Depending on the level for which the computer forensics training is performed, requirements may differ greatly. While for some cases, knowledge of the Windows Operating System is enough, for others, very professional computer training is required.

Thus, only applicants with a BA in computer science may be accepted for computer forensics training. Some levels of training are less demanding, and knowledge of security systems and Windows administration experience may be enough. Some computer forensics training programs even provide toolkits at the completion of the courses for those who get certification.

Without doubt, career opportunities are varied and in excess so after going through computer forensics training, you would have your choice of where to work. In addition, the earning potential for such careers is exceptional. You would even have a choice of computer crime types. With your certificate and/or degree, you could work on a national or international level, protecting any number of corporations that need help with security problems specific to the computer and proprietary information.

Remember, building a career with your computer forensics training is exciting and you would have multiple avenues to consider. As you enter the world and begin to put your skills to work, you would feel gratified knowing you are doing something good. Just remember that while computer forensics is adventurous and a career that does make a difference in fighting crime, it typically involves long hours of work.

Having the opportunity to protect companies while putting criminals in jail, makes the time and money spent going through computer forensics training worth it.

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The field of computer forensics is growing exponentially and each day new jobs are opening up in this fascinating and challenging new area of forensics. The fact is, that computers are everywhere in our society and they continue to grow more complex. This means that a job in computer forensics will be anything but boring and dead end.

Also computer forensics happens to be one of the most lucrative areas of forensics and holds excellent opportunities for travel as well. If you love computers and solving computer puzzles and problems than a job in computer forensics may be the job that you are looking for.

Finding a school that teaches computer forensics should not be a problem, because more and more schools that teach forensics are adding it to their curriculum. However; you will want to make sure that the school that you select for your degree will be able to help you find somewhere to serve an internship as well.

What far too many people find that have chosen computer related careers is that they end up being stuck behind a desk doing monotonous uninteresting work that gives them no real satisfaction. However; this is not a problem that you will face in a career in computer forensics that brings new and exciting challenges with each new case.

Criminals that use computers to commit their crimes are continually growing more sophisticated and are continually working to stay one step ahead of the law and the the technology that is available. This means that not only will you be involved in solving actual crimes with computers but you can also be involved in developing new methods and technologies for others in the same field to implement in their work.

Also, more and more people that have chosen computer forensics as a career eventually find themselves doing lucrative consulting work for private businesses that need to be shown how not to become victimized.

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Fighting crime has recently reached new levels of sophistication. There has been a great push to come up with new and original methods of battling crime in order to fight the new territories crimes are covering. The best tool in the war on crime in the information age is Computer Forensics

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Computer Forensics is a exceedingly specialized type of computer product that when done appropriately can uncover data that has been lost (whether intentionally or deliberately) from the computer’s main memory The data remains but the computer can be told to ignore the existence of that particular data. Someone capable in Computer Forensics can pinpoint that lost (or misplaced) data and reinstate it. In some instances this becomes evidence and in other instances it can lead to more facts or the real evidence. Regardless, when it comes to computers, digital forensics is an important tool.

Taking advantage of Computer Forensics makes crime-solving simpler and the world a better place. People use the internet all the time to type and investigate data.

Those objects become a matter of record. Messaging others on boards and forums leaves a trace. Searching for certain information leaves a trace.

The places offenders frequent on the web leaves a trace that someone skilled in Computer Forensics can find. Some criteria is found more effortlessly than others depending on the types of exertions that were taken to erase the record they left behind. In general, though, that data is more hard to bury than most people realize… especially to hide from the adept hands of someone trained to dig it out.

What Kind of Information can be Uncovered?

When it comes to fighting crime, there are many ways that Computer Forensics has proven to be effective. The data that is uncovered can be anything from surveillance to theft and several other crimes in between. Evidence of affairs, money laundering, smuggling, and other crimes has also been uncovered as a consequence of Computer Forensics.

The most critical point to remember about computer forensics when you find yourself in need of this vital service is that you needto make sure you find someone competent to handle the job if you want it done correctly and you want it done well. Not just anyone is qualified to do this type of work. For the other side of the crime fighting table, Computer Forensics can be used in order to discover evidence to exonerate the falsely accused, taking justice one step further and insuring that crime fighting endeavors are aimed in the right direction.

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Computer forensics, also called cyber forensics, is the application of computer investigation and analysis techniques to gather evidence suitable for presentation in a court of law. The goal of computer forensics is to perform a structured investigation while maintaining a documented chain of evidence to find out exactly what happened on a computer and who was responsible for it. A computer can be the target of the crime, it can be the instrument of the crime, or it can serve as an evidence repository storing valuable information about the crime. Moreover the hard disk is the core carrier of all important information. In some sense, hard disk is a very precise micro-computer. Only with the normal running of the micro-computer, can we access to the OS,

If the hard drive which is corrupt / impossible to image, can you get the testimony from it? Do you want to know the solutions? SalvationDATA – the world’s famous data recovery solution provider is right here for you.

The reasons which cause data loss

1. Logical Malfunctions:
• Accidental Disk Format
• File Deletion
• Partition loss or corruption
• Lost or Missing files and folders
• Re-formatted or re-partitioned drive

2. Physically Malfunctions:
• PCB malfunction
• Motor/bearing failure
• Parking element failure
• Platter surface scratch
• Head Problem
• FW problem
• Circuit problem

For the logical data loss, you can use many data recovery program, such as Final Data, GetDataBack, EasyRecovery and etc. However, there is no company who provides overall solution for both logical and physical data loss, except SalvationDATA Technology LLC.

How SalvationDATA can assist you to solve the problems:
1. To the Logical Disk Crash problems, Data Compass has built in DCEXP software which is used for logical data recovery.

The main features of DCEXP:

1. Adopt “Layered Scan Technology”, maximally save time from data recovery;
2. Fast and effectively extract specified user files;
3. Imaging: during the data recovery, it allows users to image data fully from the source drive, partition, or any LBA area. As a target, it can reach far to files, or disk. There are also some handy functions like fast clockwise, fast reverse, exact clockwise and exact reverse for example. Meanwhile, it can also allow recovering data fast and effectively from any bit of data via “Bitmap Technology”;
4. Reflect real-time situation of data imaging, which provide direct views for the whole drive data recovery progress rate;
5. Real-time fast statistics of the imaging task;
6. Maintain high success rate of restoring recoverable data by file correction algorithm.

2. To the Physically Bad Hard Disk problems:
PCBA malfunction: (including PCBA damaged, ROM damaged or other chip damaged), we usually changed the PCBA with identical donor hard drive.

Motor/bearing failure: You can exchange the platters and head stack to the hard drive which has good motor/bearing by using HD HPE PRO. You just need to find the identical donor hard drive.

Parking element failure: Exchange the failed head stack with a donor hard drive by using HD HPE PRO.

Platter surface scratch: Bad sectors are a common problem we faced during traditional imaging. It will cause system death, HD irresponsive, even directly destroyed during image process. Data Compass possesses the super solving ability for bad sectors. Data Compass intelligent bad sector leap function and Dynamic Balanced Enhanced Read technology can help you retrieve the data from partially damaged bad sectors which can’t be copied/imaged by other tools. And also Data Compass has the professional solution – High Efficiency Power Supply System towards the problems which caused by serious physical bad sectors. When the head reads the bad sectors areas, the hard disk’s control section will automatically increase the electric output of the head power supply and extract the utmost data.

Head Problem:

1) The head stack is totally damaged: You should swap the head stack with a donor hard drive by using HD HPE PRO.

2) Unstable/weak head stack: Data Compass High Efficiency Power Supply System also can give you a big help on this part. It can enhance the head’s read and write ability to the utmost limit of the design, in order to get the data. You don’t need to risk swapping the head stack for this kind of disks, cutting the cost remarkably.

With new built-in technique of image by head, it can create image from the good heads without using bad ones. After that, we can replace with good compatible head stack and read the unreached area which belongs to the range of bad head. Thus, it can make best use of the Head Resource.

FW problem:

HD Doctor Suite can help you repair the damaged firmware or the firmware module disorder. Now our HD Doctor Suite can support the IBM/Hitachi, Seagate, Maxtor and Western Digital hard drives.

Data Compass simulates a “SA” of HD and boot the source disk and access the user data; in other words, you don’t need to repair the SA first when there are firmware corruption. Now this technology only supports the IBM/Hitachi hard drives. We will add Seagate, Maxtor, WD and other manufacturer hard drives inside this device in the future.

Also we use the Hot Swap PCBA Technology to deal with some firmware problem; however, it can’t be used to all the hard drives. Both HD Doctor Suite and Data Compass have the function – hot swap PCB (Please refer the case study: http://www.salvationdata.com/downloads/pdf/dccase-quick-data-recovery-using-HOT-SWAP-trick.pdf)

Circuit problem: You can judge the problem by the circuit monitor of the HD Doctor Suite.

We also headache to encounter the criminals lock their drive by password and we can not even access his system. HD Doctor Suite can thoroughly and effectively solve this kind of problem.

Data Compass also has the Safe Write Protect System: Write Blocking; to protect the intactness of source data; to prevent the accidental mistaken operation.

SalvationDATA can be the good assistant on your Computer Forensics work.

For more details, please contact us at:

SalvationDATA America Continent Dept.
Web: http://www.diskdatarecoverytools.com/
Add: 601 Research Institute of Computer Application, Chinese Academy of Science Chengdu Branch, Sichuan, 610041 China
Direct Phone: (0086) 28 68599758
Fax: (0086) 28 68107757
Email:usinfo@salvationdata.com

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Computer Forensics

The field of computer forensics was developed primarily by law enforcement personnel for investigating drug and financial crimes. It employs strict protocols to gather information contained on a wide variety of electronic devices, using forensic procedures to locate deleted files and hidden information.

Computer forensics tasks include capturing all the information contained on a specific electronic device by using either a forensic copy technique or by making an image of all or a portion of the device. A forensic copy provides an exact duplicate of the hard drive or storage device. None of the metadata, including the last accessed date,is changed from the original. However, the copy is a liveversion, so accessing the data on the copy, even only to see what is there,can change this sensitive metadata.

By contrast, making a forensic image of the required information puts a protective electronic wrapper around the entire collection. The collection can be viewed with special software, and the documents can be opened, extracted from the collection, and examined without changing the files or their metadata.

Other forensic tasks include locating and accessing deleted files, finding partial files, tracking Internet history, cracking passwords, and detecting information located in the slack or unallocated space. Slack space is the area at the end of a specific cluster on a hard drive that contains no data; unallocated space contains the remnants of files that have been deleted but not erased from the device, as deleting simply removes the pointer to the location of a specific file on a hard drive, not the file itself.

Electronic Discovery

Electronic discovery has its roots in the field of civil litigation support and deals with organizing electronic files using their attached metadata. Because of the large volume encountered, these files are usually incorporated into a litigation retrieval system to allow review and production in an easy methodology. Legal data management principles are used, including redaction rules and production methodologies.

Electronic discovery tasks usually begin after the files are captured. File metadata is used to organize and cull the collections. Documents can be examined in their native file format or converted to TIF or PDF images to allow for redaction and easy production.

Common Capabilities, Different Philosophies

Computer forensics and electronic discovery methodologies share some common capabilities. One is the ability to produce an inventory of the collection, allowing reviewers to quickly see what is present. Another is the ability to determine a common time zone to standardize date and time stamps across a collection. Without this standardization, an e-mail response may appear to have been created before the original e-mail.

Computer Forensics Computer, Discovery, Electronic, Forensics

Copyright (c) 2008 Steve Burgess

Computer forensics practices and procedures can diverge significantly depending upon whether the investigation is criminal or civil litigation. Standards for data collection evidence can be different, as can the process of data collection and imaging. Furthermore, the consequences of the case may have dramatically different impacts.

A couple of quick definitions may be in order. Criminal law deals with offenses against the state – the prosecution of a person accused of breaking a law. These offenses may include crimes perpetrated against an individual. “The People”, in the form of a state representative (for instance, the District Attorney) makes formal charges and the accused must then face the government’s full resources. Guilty outcomes can result in fines, probation, incarceration, or even death.

Civil law covers everything else, such as violations of contracts and lawsuits between two or more parties. The prevailing party often is entitled to payment, property or services from the loser. Imprisonment is not at issue in civil cases. As a result, the standard for evidence is not as high in civil cases as in criminal cases.

For the law enforcement computer forensics specialist, a certain amount of extra care should be taken in collecting data and producing results, for the standard of proof is higher. There are advantages on the data collection end, however. For once a court has authorized a search warrant, an officer (and possibly several) with badge and gun can go seize the defendant’s computer by surprise and by force. Once the computer has been seized and imaged, all data is accessible and may result in additional charges being brought against the defendant.

By contrast, in a civil case, there tends to be a lot of negotiation over what computers and what data can be inspected, as well as where and when. There is not likely to be any seizing of computers, and quite a long time may take place between the time the request to inspect a computer is made and the time the computer is made available to be inspected. It is common for one party to have access to a very limited area of data from the other party’s computer. During this time, a defendant may take the opportunity to attempt to hide or destroy data. The author has had several cases wherein the computer needed for analysis was destroyed before the plaintiff had the opportunity to inspect. Such attempts at hiding data are often discovered by the digital forensic sleuth, who may in turn present evidence of such further wrongdoing in expert witness testimony.

Opportunities for learning techniques and interacting with other professionals may differ as well. While some computer forensic software suites and training, such as Access FTK, EnCase, or SMART Forensics are available to most who can pay, others, such as iLook are available only to law enforcement and military personnel. While many support and professional organizations and groups are available to all, some, such as the High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA) are not open to professionals who provide for criminal defense (with a few minor exceptions).

Police, Homeland Security, and other law enforcement personnel’s goal is to generate a body of evidence significant enough (presuming such evidence exists) to find the criminal defendant guilty. The standard for information presented to the court and jury in such a case is fairly high. From the time digital data or hardware is seized and acquired, Rules of Evidence must be kept in mind (Cornell University has the complete and voluminous code on its website). Law enforcement personnel must follow accepted procedures or evidence could be thrown out. Acquisition of data and discovery in criminal cases often must follow sometimes strict and differing procedures depending upon whether the jurisdiction is federal, state, or municipality and at times depending upon a judge’s preferences.

The expert in a civil case may not analyze all of the data on a computer at a very deep level Initial efforts may rather be a kind of fact-finding mission, intended to determine the value of digging deeper and at greater expense. As such, the initial presentation of data may be fairly informal, and be just enough to induce the parties to settle the case. On the other hand, the data found may be so minimal the line of inquiry into electronic evidence is dropped.

Although we use many of the same tools, computer forensic professionals in private practice and those in law enforcement are held to different standards, have access to different resources, and their work results in substantially different outcomes between the criminal and civil cases to which they contribute.

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Computer Forensics is the scientific study of computers or computer related data in relation to an investigation by a law enforcement agency for use in a court of law. While this technology may be as old as computers themselves, the advances in technology are constantly revising this science.

In the technological old days, computer forensics was mostly related to data dumps, printing out every keystroke that had been logged on a computer in a series of eight digits, all of them zeroes and ones. Literally cases of paper would be used for the printing of the materials. Systems analysts would then have to convert all of the data into hex and then translate the value into whatever the actual keystroke was. In this way, it was possible to go over all of the data and figure out at what point the computer and the corresponding program crashed. Like computers and technology, Computer forensics has evolved by leaps and bounds since those days of old.

While all computer language still ultimately boils down to ones and zeroes or binary and then hex, the means by which programs are created, run and utilized has changed drastically. This new science has done well to keep up with the task at hand. Now hard drives can be wiped clean. However, without an unconditional format (and in rare cases, even with the unconditional switch) the data can still be retrieved. It takes an expert in computer forensics however. It takes someone who is familiar with the technology of the computer to reconstruct all of the data that has been wiped off of the hard drive.

Computer forensics can be used to track emails, instant messaging and just about any other form of computer related communications. This can be necessary, especially in the world today. Experts have even advanced the technology to the point that they can track data real time, or while it is actually being sent and received. This is a mind-numbing task when you think about the billions of communications going on around the globe at any given time, but the science of computer forensics is constantly advancing every bit as quickly or sometimes even faster than the technology they are responsible for investigating.

It is an interesting aspect of technology that is often overlooked. Computer forensics have been used to solve many crimes and should be considered a viable tool in many ways and the study of this subject is constantly growing along with technology.

Computer Forensics Computer, Crime, Forensics, Solving

In the global village called the internet, not everyone plays nice. You always hear of the word “hack”. It is mostly used in relation to invading of computers. Most of these are not entirely true but computer network systems do get hacked. If and when it does happen, it usually involves something sinister.

Even employees of companies do engage in snooping or to use our favorite word, hacking. The birth of the internet has led to more of this. Anyone can be anything online. This is why fraud, phishing, and identity theft happen.

The computer has become an important part of everyday life. Sending letters have been entirely changed by emails. Communications have been dominated by instant and text messaging. Portable storage devices that were an exclusive preserve of Information Technology professionals are now used by the general public.

I think you are already getting the idea of why computer forensics are needed. In the event that hacking does occur, the computer forensic will do the following:

1. Like any other investigation, the computer forensic must handle the area as a crime scene. He or she will take digital photographs and secure documentary evidence. This will include printouts, notes and disks in the scene.

If you are the one who hired the computer forensic expert, you should leave everything to them. The computer system should be left as is whether it is turned on or off.

If the computer was left on, the analyst will gather all the information that he or she can from the running applications. The computer will then be shutdown in a way that the data will not be lost. Doing a standard shutdown or pulling the plug is not an option. Both of these methods may cause the loss or damage of the data in the computer system.

2. The forensic investigator must then document the configuration of the system as you would document a crime scene. This should include the order of hard drives, modem, LAN, storage subsystems, cable connections, and wireless networking hardware. The analyst may make a diagram to go along with the digital photographs. They will also take portable storage devices within the area that may contain substantial evidence.

3. The computer forensic expert must take all the evidence to the lab. This is because the analyst should not examine the evidence in the same hardware. People who engage in cyber crimes are also aware that important data can be retrieved to convict them. Countermeasures, viruses and booby traps may be installed in the system to damage electronic evidence.

Analysts take the hard drive in their lab instead to make an exact duplicate of its contents. This process is called Imaging. Analysts have their own tools to make sure that the data is copied completely and accurately.

The duplicate will then be verified by an algorithm. The data is then examined and analyzed. The analyst makes a report of his or her findings and the process that was taken during the investigation starting from the acquisition of the data. This evidence will be presented in court if prosecution is necessary.

The computer forensic plays many roles and duties in the criminal justice field. It is hard to cover all of them in this short article. I encourage you to do more reading if you are interested in this field. You can do this by visiting websites that cover the profession in more detail.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the links should be clickable.

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