According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, “Digital forensics is the field of forensic science that is concerned with retrieving, storing, and analyzing electronic data that can be useful in criminal investigations. This includes information from computers, hard drives, mobile phones, and other data storage devices.”
Forensic teams face new challenges in the digital evolution based on the ever-growing threat landscape. The endpoint is now everywhere, no longer contained in a typical office. The endpoint is now elastic, meaning it’s always moving. Employees are remote and highly mobile, which creates new challenges for forensic teams performing incident response services, investigations with potential threats internal or external to an organization, and methods used to perform forensics and eDiscovery.
Digital forensics was not spared during the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). How data is identified, acquired, processed, analyzed, and stored for evidence by law enforcers has evolved, with COVID-19 speeding up this evolution.
The following are some fundamental changes expected in the digital forensics space:
Cloud Computing
There will be a paradigm shift in the forensic models and frameworks used to conduct digital investigations to meet the requirements and standards demanded in cloud forensics. Due to the nature and characteristics of cloud computing, there will be challenges with log access, physical accessibility, the chain of custody and privacy. According to Computer Reseller News, businesses are expecting to spend nearly 30% more on cloud technology in 2022 and beyond compared to 2021.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) constitutes objects or things that are seamlessly connected and possess more capabilities than simply sensing, processing or actuating the data from their immediate environments. With the sophisticated nature of IoT architecture, digital investigators face myriad challenges in IoT-related investigations using existing investigation methodologies and, hence, demand a separate, dedicated forensic framework.
Remote digital forensics
In remote digital forensics, investigators will face the added challenge of ensuring the legal integrity of digital evidence throughout the remote examination process. Conventionally digital forensics investigations have concentrated on onsite data retrievals and analyses.
Emergence of new technology
New technology has created a transformation in the field of digital forensics. The shift in emerging technology with artificial intelligence and robotics, drones, and cloud system and applications offers new frameworks, tools and procedures to continually develop robust forensics offerings while maintaining the integrity and validation of data collected for analysis and in criminal proceedings.
What should digital forensics investigators do?
When establishing and organizing a forensics capability, it’s important for digital forensics investigators to remember to look out for:
- The need for and sponsorship of a forensics program
- Establishing a forensics framework for the information system lifecycle
- Establishing and regularly updating policies and guidelines
- Defining roles and responsibilities
- Tool usage and associated methodologies
- Staffing or hiring a forensics firm
For transformation in the digital forensics space, the data is the driving factor in all actions, and robust data collection methods are still the standards. No matter what kind of technology is encountered, forensics must be collected using industry standards and practices for data collection, examination, analysis, reporting and concrete recommendations based on the findings.
As we look to the future, two things are sure to happen: technology will continue to evolve, creating new digital forensic challenges, and the increase in cybercrime will also increase the need for talented forensic practitioners in this career field.