The field of Computer Forensics is fast becoming a popular option for individuals who are technologically savvy and analytical minded. The marriage of crime solving using evidence within computer and technology systems, broadly speaking, is known as computer forensics. Since computers and technology have become ubiquitous in our society both for personal and business use; traces of crimes committed are increasingly found by examining data within these devices. This not only includes a computer hard drive; but also includes other devices such as blackberry’s, cell phones, and similar PDA devices. Any device that stores information such as emails, text messages, or internet usage can contain clues about someone suspected of committing a crime.

Common Uses of Computer Forensics

Anytime you hear the word “white collar” crime, you can bet that a Computer Forensics Analyst is heavily involved in investigating the case. These highly trained professionals may be employed by the business where the suspect works, conducting investigations based on red flags raised within the companies human resources group. In addition, local and federal law enforcement agencies employ Computer Forensics Analysts to conduct research and gather evidence to be used in a court of law.

One common use of computer forensics is to track and prosecute child pornography offenders. If an individual is suspected of consuming or producing child pornography, their computer equipment may be seized by local authorities and examined by these trained professionals. The Forensics Analyst will perform tasks such as examining the hard drive, looking for sexually explicit materials or searching through historical data on web sites visited or created by the suspect. A cell phone may be seized and examined to determine if the suspect was attempting to contact under age victims. Due to the now common utilization of such technology, there are usually many clues to be gleaned from such investigations.

Another common use for computer forensics is the investigation of the various types of cyber crimes committed. Since the internet is still in its early stages, the vulnerability to crime is great. While there have been several improvements to security; the fact remains that cyber crime is still a major concern. Identity Theft and Phishing scams in which highly sensitive personal and financial information is taken from innocent people through a variety of tactics, continues to be a priority for law enforcement. Tracing these activities back through sometimes sophisticated schemes is the primary goal. In some cases, federal agencies must operate on an international level, which can be more complicated and requires involvement by the FBI.

Violent Crimes, including homicide are another area in which computer forensics has proven to make or break cases with compelling evidence. Again, the examination of communications or other data stored on any technological device can provide clues to the character, state of mind, and communication patterns of a suspect. In earlier days, the examination of phone records was an important aspect of a violent crimes investigation. Now, with the use of the internet, texting, and email, there is a wider selection of data to pull from when conducting an investigation.

The above examples are just a few of the many uses of computer forensics. Any crime committed or any investigation conducted where the use of technology is involved is potentially within the spectrum of computer forensics. The field is increasingly becoming a central part of criminal investigations, and trained professionals who are both tech savvy and analytical with formal training, are being sought out for these positions.

Many individuals from across the world, of a variety of ages use a computer on a daily basis, either at work or at home. Unfortunately, this increased usage and the widespread availability of the internet has led to a higher number of criminal cases involving computers. Today, the police can analyse computers seized in the course of investigations to access files and crucial information that could help towards their criminal investigations, in a process known as a digital forensic investigation.

Digital forensics, also known as computer or mobile phone forensics, is a science based discipline that aims to aid criminal investigations by uncovering vital information and files within computers. There are independent organisations in the UK that can aid the investigation process; their tailored services can assist the discovery of criminal activities such as, intellectual property theft, money laundering, indecent images, hacking and drug dealing.

Typical services offered by Digital forensics companies also include, deleted data recovery, e-discovery, mobile phone forensics, cell site analysis and secure data destruction. Although many businesses have an in-house IT team, due to the volatile nature of digital evidence, it is important to commission an experienced forensic team that follows ACPO guidelines and is ISO9001 certified, that can analyse digital information without damaging it.

These digital forensic organisations work closely with the police and other clients and inform them of any evidence that they uncover. This plays an extremely important role in linking a defendant to a crime, potentially aiding the prosecution. Working alongside the police, digital evidence can help to prosecute a range of individuals who have misused computer technology; such individuals may include pedophiles, hackers, fraudsters and terrorists.

Just some of the sectors that digital forensics can benefit are legal, law enforcement, the corporate sector, criminal defense, legal aid and the public sector. Dependent upon a client’s requirements the procedures that are implemented can be adapted.

For further digital forensic investigation information, these organisations have a range of case studies and resources available on their website. Those seeking computer forensics services can contact a member of their team by filling out their online contact form or by calling one of their experienced members of staff.

Computer forensics is an exciting and important field that puts those who seek such careers with great chances as it’s a job that always on high demand. More often than not, those who hold this career have received the right amount of training and obtained sufficient training through degree programs and so on. If you’re one who’s interested in learning about this field but don’t have the time, finances or such to learn it thoroughly, you can actually learn it on your own.

Before plunging in the big stuff, learn the basics first. Hit the books in your local library or go online and see what computer forensics is all about. Once you get the fundamentals of it all, only then can you fully make use of all that’s to come your way. With a stable internet connection, you would need to download a computer forensics software that has got the full works of it all and at zero cost too. if you’re unsure about what to download, you could check the Open Source Forensics online too.

Play around with the software and download instructions if you need them. It would work best if you create a virtual machine and apply your knowledge to that, trying different methods and using different tools. You can use the virtual machine to test out all that you’ve learn too.

Once you think you understand it all, look for an online training programs and take your skills to the next level. There are quite a number available for free but what you can learn from it is limited. If you can afford to spend a little, look into packages you can buy and you’d be able to learn a lot more from there. Besides that, you can also learn it from books and magazines, so spend some time at your local library.

A computer forensics specialist is a person who is an expert in recovering lost technological data without disrupting or tampering with the device. It takes a whole lot of skills and patience to get back deleted or corrupted data from hard drives, cell phones, and computers and so on. What a specialist does is put his knowledge to work and apply his skills into revering what is necessary to help the police department in solving cyber crimes and such. If you’ve always found such work to be exciting or appealing, then here’s a simple guide on how to become a computer forensics specialist.

First, get an education. You would need to obtain you degree in computer forensics and work your way on from there. You could also just get a degree in accounting or computer science and learn your hands on skills through working in the field and picking up tips along the way. If you want, once you’ve gotten your degree, you could obtain a certificate in computer forensics to increase the chances of job opportunity.

Next, once you step into the working world, don’t go for the big things straight away but start small and gain all the experience you can. Seek jobs at law enforcement sectors such as police departments and those alike as they’ve got a huge computer database that require your specialty to keep it well organized. Once you think you’re ready to venture out for bigger things, look up your national computer forensics industry and start your career there. With enough confidence, you could start your own company and provide service to the government to help solve cyber crimes and so on.

All in all, you can make it big if you try. Don’t chase your big dreams right away as you would always need to start from some ground work. You may think that the small jobs are too small for you, but the hands on experience gives you great exposure and will increase your confidence in your own work as well. So go on out and start your journey to your career.

Computer forensics is a growing career field. Professionals in this field specialize in the investigation, recovery, analysis, and reporting of data obtained from digital sources. Typically the information they find is used in investigations, whether it is for law enforcement or the private sector. These professionals can attempt to determine the source of an unauthorized computer system or network intrusion, recover data from erased or encrypted files, and recover deleted e-mails and passwords.

While most commonly associated with police work, computer forensics is also increasingly used by businesses. Computer data is increasingly important for companies of all sizes. The risks are great as computers and networks containing highly sensitive and confidential information that are susceptible to intrusion. The theft of data can cause millions of dollars in losses and can be very damaging to a company’s reputation. Although companies cumulatively spend billions of dollars a year for greater computer security, the success rate of attacks has not diminished.

Computer forensics examiners need a wide range of technical skills and knowledge including network security, protocols, software, routing, computer file formats, cryptology, reverse software engineering, diagnostic techniques, and password cracking. In addition to technical skills, professionals in this field must have good oral and written communication skills, understand and comply with investigation procedures, work under tight deadlines, and be detail oriented. They must also be able to write detailed reports and may provide testimony in court in criminal cases.

Professionals in this field can have different job titles such as computer forensics “investigator”, “examiner”, “analyst”, “Forensic Scientist” or other similar titles. The job title is dependent on their job responsibilities and area of expertise. The average salary for a computer forensic examiner is about $75,000 a year.

Computer forensics professionals are increasingly in demand. Computer crimes have increased dramatically over the past decade and have become one of the most targeted ways to commit crime. Tens of millions of dollars are lost each year from information stolen from a computer. This has lead to growth in the field of the forensic study of computers

To get a career in the field of forensic study of computers, you typically need a Bachelor’s degree in computer forensics or related degree such as computer engineering or information systems security with additional training. Master’s degrees, Ph.D.s, and certificate programs are also available for this field.

Forensic computer investigators need a broad range of technical skills and knowledge including computer software, network security, protocols, routing, computer file formats, cryptology, reverse software engineering, diagnostic techniques, and password cracking. In addition to technical skills, experts in the forensic study of computers must have good oral and written communication skills, work under tight deadlines, be detail oriented, and understand and comply with investigation procedures. Professionals in this field have to write detailed reports and may provide testimony in court in criminal cases.

Aspiring computer forensics professionals may specialize in a particular area. For example, if a person specializes in financial crimes, additional coursework in finance and accounting may be required. Some employers are willing to accept industry related experience and equivalent knowledge in place of a forensic study degree.

Many people associate computer forensics with criminal investigations. However, it can have applications far beyond just law enforcement. Professionals in this field may work for corporations, other governmental agencies, or be self-employed as a consultant. They can recover data in the event of a hardware or software failure. They may also analyze computer systems after unauthorized intrusion to a system. By utilizing forensic computer skills, they can determine how an attacker gained access and what action was performed or information was obtained.

Experts in the forensic study of computers may also be used to gather evidence against an employee a company or organization suspects is engaging in authorized activities on its computer network. Their findings may be used as a basis for termination of the employee. Files thought to be deleted can often be retrieved through forensic methods.

Computer forensics professionals may also conduct tests on corporate and government networks. These tests can be used for the purpose of detecting system vulnerabilities, debugging, performance optimization, or reverse engineering. Professionals in this field can also detect and close computer system security holes. They may also specialize in sub branches forensic computer studies in fields such as databases, firewalls, networks, and mobile devices.

Each year, federal government agencies are required to test their computer systems for security vulnerabilities and do contingency planning in the event of an attack or outage. Computer forensics professionals are employed by nearly every major governmental agency including the Department of Defense, the United States Military, Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency, Internal Revenue Services, and Securities and Exchange Commission among others to conduct these tests and perform other work.

An example of a computer forensics job would be working at the National Transportation Safety Board retrieving and examining the “black box” recordings on an airplane following a crash. In the private sector, there are employment opportunities in corporate security departments, e-discovery firms, private investigative firms, and in self-employment as a consultant.

Few companies today think they are underspending on IT. There are many, however, which are overspending… and still not achieving a reasonable level of information protection.

According to the IT Policy and Compliance Group (IT PCG), organisations now rank the loss of confidentiality and integrity as the top two business risks, followed by loss of availability.

The ITPCG has ongoing benchmarks measuring three key performance results:

1. Loss or theft of customer data

2. Incidence and extent of business downtime from IT failures and disruptions

3. Deficiencies in IT that must be corrected to pass audit

The best results are experienced by only 13 percent of organisations. Annually, these companies endure less than three losses or thefts of sensitive information, less than six hours of business downtime and less than three deficiencies to correct to pass audit. Those are the best results.

The bulk of companies are experiencing results that are considerably worse – nearly seven in 10 organisations suffer data loss or theft rates ranging from three to 15 each year, between seven and 79 hours of business downtime and between three and 15 compliance deficiencies in IT that must be corrected. This is the ‘normative’ group.

Nearly two in 10 organisations – 19 percent – are experiencing the worst outcomes, the highest data losses or thefts, the most downtime from IT failures and the largest problems with regulatory compliance. They experience more than 15 losses or data thefts each year, 80+ hours of business downtime from IT failures and more than 15 IT deficiencies that must be corrected to pass audit.

Interestingly, the financial outcomes being experienced by organisations are directly related to the outcomes being managed within IT.

And while those numbers might make security and compliance sound like an IT issue, the potential exposure to financial loss – and in almost every case, the suffering of actual financial loss – means that this is a whole-of-business issue… and a critical one at that.

The IT PCG says that for businesses with annual revenues of $50 million, having IT practices in the worst group costs them $1.5 million a year; having normative practices costs them $240,000 and having best practices costs them $20,500. Similarly, for businesses with $500 million in annual revenue, worst practices cost them $19 million, normative practices cost $3.3 million and best practices cost $211,000. Every year.

No business can afford to be in the worst category; there are clear advantages to being in the best category despite the initial costs of compliance.

And there are excellent financial returns for IT integrity – companies that are compliant avoid overspending on audit fees and expenses to sustain audit results each year – organisations with the best results can cut their audit fees and expenses by between 35 and 52 percent.

The good news is that the opportunity to reduce risks and costs while improving results is a level playing field – highly regulated industries have no advantage over those with less regulated environments and big businesses have no advantage over small businesses.

Organisations with the worst results and highest losses from the use of IT are actually spending the same amounts on information security as the firms with the lowest risks and best outcomes. It’s not about how much you spend; it’s about allocating that spend to deliver practices that gain better results.

There are three sectors of the Federal Government that are vitally concerned with Computer Network Defense and the Intelligence Community adds an additional level of security because of the classified nature of community activities.

As a result, contractors that provide Computer Network Defense (CND) services are held to even higher standards than the usual high requirements of vendors for Cyber Security projects.

The concept of Computer Network Defense includes a broad menu of services that provide an infrastructure against cyber attacks from domestic and international sources. While each agency has specific Cyber Security needs and protection of classified data and information, a general roadmap can be developed and used as a template for individual users.

General Objectives:

In general, contractors that perform Computer Network Defense Services are tasked to meet four objectives.

· Recommending architectures, software and hardware
· Implementing the government approved solution
· Performing operations and maintenance of the CND program
· Insuring that security requirements for classified material are met ( a higher level of security requirement)

The contractor is also required to make regular formal reports and/or briefings detailing status and accomplishments in the various CND functional areas.

Specific CND duties include, but are not limited to:

Deployment:

Deployment requires the contractor to develop all hardware and software required to establish a state of the art Cyber Security Defensive network that will improve defenses, ensure that the systems operate properly and monitor activities on a day to day basis. It is important that the entire deployment effort coordinates with the agency security office to ensure that the protection of classified data is not compromised. Deployment usually includes:

· Deploy, maintaining, and monitor and harden agency’s perimeter defenses on all classified and unclassified networks
· Deploying, operating, maintain, monitor, and harden agency’s intrusion detection capability on all classified and unclassified networks
· Operating, maintain, monitor and harden agency’s Domain Name Servers(DNS) on all classified and unclassified networks

Manage Assist and Support:

Additional support is often required in the form of identification of new products/technology that enhance the security of the network. Since Cyber Security is in a rapid development phase, new products and technology are constantly emerging. Some of this technology is good and some is not useful. Qualified decisions are required to pick the best applicable technology.

A sample of additional support includes:

· Working closely with engineering and operations for the installation and configuration management of CND devices on agency’s networks
· Performing software and hardware vulnerability scans on all classified and unclassified networks and systems
· Managing, and monitoring the enterprise anti-virus program
· Providing assistance and guidance in the development of system and network security plans
· Managing and monitoring the system and network audit log reviews for all networks and systems

Testing and Reporting:

Continuous testing of the system is the best way to identify and preclude future cyber attacks on a regular basis. Based upon testing, decisions can be made to improve the performance of the Cyber Security network. Included in this process are the following steps:

· Identifying anomalous activity in an audit log immediately to the government manager
· Performing network and system security plan compliance testing
· Reporting noncompliance with system and network security plans immediately to the government manager
· Executing software, hardware, and configuration vulnerability scans on all agency systems and networks
· Working closely with agency’s security office in the development, implementation, and management of agency’s system security program
· Managing, and monitoring the removable media access control program on all agency systems and networks

Compliance and As Needed Support:

The critical nature of Computer Network Defense means that standards and regulation must be met and complied with to insure success of the program. This includes:

· Supporting the Information Assurance Vulnerability Alert (IAVA) and Information Condition programs; developing and maintaining agency’s information systems security officer professional development program
· Reviewing updated developments on all applicable standards and regulation to ensure that the network is in compliance
· Providing as needed incident response support for, hacker attacks, cyber-terrorist attacks, and virus, worm, Trojan horse, and other malicious code incidents
· Develop, install, manage, and maintain the PKI infrastructure on all agency networks and systems

Documentation and Technical Representation:

In order to establish a program that future users can comply with and benefit from, complete and accurate documentation is required. In addition compliance with Intelligence Community Standard Operating Requirements, particularly as regards security of classified information is mandatory. This process includes:

· Documentation of practices, policies, requirements, training, Standard Operating Procedures, and configuration management processes
· Representation at agency meetings, conferences, and seminars as directed by the Government
· Responding to agency, DoD, and Intelligence Community requirements as directed by the Government
· Providing additional technical support to the other branches/clients of Mission Assurance as required

Establishing a viable and compliant Computer Network Defense is a major undertaking and requires skill and effort. This is particularly true when dealing with the Intelligence Community agencies and dealing with classified information. This requires experience professional engineers with the required security clearances in addition to CND required certifications.

When your computer system performs in very slow performance, your convenience in working at your computer will be completely gone. Instead, you will feel very annoyed and frustrated in waiting your computer to respond your command. Actually, you do not need to get mad to handle this problem. When this problem occurs, you can try to fix it by doing some considerations. Just read this article to know more about fixing slow computer problem.

The first thing that you need to do is backing up all your data. Usually, your computer will be slower if you store too much data on it. Even if it is not the main cause of the slow performance, you still have to back up your data. Therefore, if something bad happen to your computer within the fixing process, you can still have your data with you. Simply back it up to your external hard disk. Or, you can also store your files on DVDs or CDs, but it needs more complicated steps to do.

Then, the second thing to do is removing your old programs from your computer system. Removing some old program could speed up the performance of your computer in significance level. Just sort some programs that are no longer used and remove them from the Control Panel. Here, you can find Add or Remove Programs that will allow you to select some programs that you are going to remove.

The third thing to do is removing the temporary files clutter. When you are using you computer for internet connection, there will be some temporary files and cookies stored on your computer. Removing those file will create bigger space in your computer memory and it will be helpful to increase the speed of your computer. Simply choose clear cache and cookies from the Options in your browser.

As the fourth steps to do, you can defrag your disk drive. This action will be very helpful to organize scattering individual components of the programs or files stored in your computer. When the scattered component has been organized well, your computer will have more speed in its performance. To defrag your hard disk, you can simply choose Accessories in the Start menu and find System Tools that contains Disk Defragmenter option.

If your computer still in slow performance, you can try to do registry cleaning. This is a kind of software that will go through your windows registry and removes or repairs registry-related issues that make your computer respond in slower way. Then, you should also check whether your computer system is infected by viruses or not. Virus is also one of the main common causes of slow computer performance, so you have to make sure that your computer is always updated.

By doing those simple action, you can easily fix your computer from slow performance. By having computer set with fast response and performance, you can save more time to finish your job and get more convenience in working at your computer.