The Basics of Digital Forensics

Your computer will betray you. This is a lesson that many CEO’s, criminals, politicians, and ordinary citizens have learned the hard way. You are leaving a trail, albeit a digital one; it’s a trail nonetheless. Like a coating of fresh snow, these 1s and 0s capture our “footprints” as we go about our daily life. Cell phone records, ATM transactions, web searches, e-mails, and text messages are a few of the footprints we leave. As a society, our heavy use of technology means that we are literally drowning in electronically stored information. And the tide keeps rolling in. Don’t believe me? Check out these numbers from the research company IDC: