Digital Forensics – an Emerging Industry

The phenomenal power of computers can be abused in many ways. Terrorists use them to store their plans and information as well as email each other and coordinate their movements. Financial con-artists execute dubious transactions, shuffling a lot of money from one place to another or illegally transferring funds from other people’s accounts. This misappropriation of funds has become a major challenge for law-enforcement officials. A major use of information technology is found in industrial espionage and stealing information from the computers of business competitors. Theft of intellectual property residing on computer hard disks like industrial designs, future plans or strategy papers is quite common. Computer crime costs companies not only their hard-earned money but also spoils their reputation in the market place. <br><br>Benefiting from the anonymity of cyber-space, deviants can start sending threatening or abuse emails, post modified pornographic pictures of office colleagues and neighbours on the Internet or indulge in cyber-stalking. Child pornography and its availability in cyber-space are a very serious affair. Many office-goers use their computers to sexually harass colleagues through obscene messages and pictures. Another crime that is becoming common is identity theft of any individual by hacking into computers where these personal details are stored. These are different types of crimes than what normal law-enforcement officials have been used to. As a result, they find themselves clueless in solving these cases. This is where the field of digital forensics comes in. It is an area that has taken a concrete shape only in the last decade or so and is rapidly emerging as a sunrise sector all over the world as information technology spreads to cover every area of human endeavour. Digital forensics is one of the fastest growing sectors of the information technology industry and offers bright career prospects. <br><br>According to estimates, in the next two years, the turnover of the digital forensics industry is going to be USD 630 million in the US alone. By 2011, this figure is going to be almost USD 2 billion. These are quite impressive figures. Sensing this growth, many digital forensics companies have opened shop in recent years and computer forensics technicians are in great demand because of the specialised nature of the job. These personnel have to be well aware of the inner dynamics of a computer and how it functions and stores information. A training course in digital forensics usually includes topics like an introduction to the field and overview, basics of how digital data is stored by information technology devices, the tools used in the trade to investigate various scenarios and how to analyse the evidence and data that have been gathered after a painstaking investigation. <br><br>Digital forensics is closely related to the field of data recovery as both investigate the same digital devices like hard disks using almost identical tools, software and procedures. Even the physical infrastructure is the same, including a clean room where hard disks can be safely disassembled and exposed to air. The only difference is that in the case of forensics, all investigation has to be done in a way that can stand scrutiny in a court of law and conforms to the law of evidence. No wonder then that most of the leading names in data recovery also provide their services for cases that cannot be solved without digital forensics. <br><br>Fields Data Recovery One of the most well-known names in the field of digital forensics in many countries around the world is the UK-based Fields Data Recovery. The company boasts of a team of highly qualified technicians and cutting-edge infrastructure that can unravel any kind of cyber crime and collect evidence that can prove the client’s case in the court. This evidence frequently includes deleted data files, emails, computer logs, spreadsheets and so on, all containing incriminating data. Fields is an expert in lifting “digital fingerprints” from a computer which are the tell-tale signs of who all accessed the computer and did what activity. Working in the area since 1997, the company has developed special expertise in recovering deleted files which ensures that enough evidence is available to the prosecution in a court. Fields’ client list includes many law companies and solicitors, banks and brokerage houses, Fortune 500 companies, police and the defence forces that come to seek expertise in cases of espionage, fraud, identity theft, terrorist activity and Internet abuse.