Computer forensics is the application of investigation and analysis techniques to gather and preserve evidence from a particular computing device in a way that is 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 computing device and who was responsible for it.

Computer forensics can play a vital role in an organization’s recovery from a cyber-attack. By properly following forensics processes carefully in the aftermath of an attack, recovery can begin to play out. In accordance with digital forensic analysis methodology, three processes are essential, which include preparation, identification, and analysis. It is during these processes that a post-mortem analysis occurs including file system, event logs, and recovery of deleted files.

A lot of the research and work has gone into the discipline of digital forensics over the last decade, which has been shared with the greater community. This has enabled a greater understanding of how to identify as well as how to recover digital artifacts that may have been deleted or damaged due to malicious activity. As the field of digital forensics continues to mature, so to do the methods and processes used in order to help organizations recover from cyber-attacks, which will continue to evolve as attacks continue to grow in sophistication and severity. So the question is, Are your staff equipped with skills of gathering evidence from a computer? Sponsor your staff today for a course in computer forensics in order to make the evidence collection process easy.