The Changing Dynamics of Digital Forensics

Cybersecurity has, in recent years, become a top priority for companies across the globe, regardless of the sector they belong to. This is because cyberattacks have become frequent. As per a 2023 survey – cybersecurity framework costs of companies have increased by 31%, trying to notify customers of cyber frauds. 

In keeping up with the rising cyber vulnerabilities, the market has been expanding for both cybersecurity as well as Digital Forensics. While cybersecurity remains essential to prevent breaches or loss of crucial data, it is Digital Forensics that is vital in the aftermath of an attack.

What makes Digital Forensics so important today is that by recognizing the threat and its source, immediate recourse can be taken. This mitigates the risk of damage in real-time when the attack on the system is ongoing.

Growth of Digital Forensics

Helping businesses locate the source of the cyberattacks and retrieve lost data, the Digital Forensics market is set to reach a massive valuation of 23.62 bn USD by 2030. This impressive valuation is expected to be the culmination of a robust growth projection of 11.2% CAGR between 2022 and 2030.   

Interestingly, digital crimes are rising parallelly with the rise of digital advancements. Thus, new-age technologies such as AI & ML, cloud technology, IoT, etc., have become an essential part of Digital Forensics. At the same time, forensic readiness of digital infrastructure has become a prime concern of businesses.

Given that digital infrastructure is integral to business in today’s market, in this blog we will discuss:

• The types of Digital Forensics
• The changing landscape of the domain
• The role emerging technologies are playing in the field
• How companies such as eProtect360 help businesses fortify digital infrastructure

The World of Digital Forensics- Know the Stakeholder, Techniques, etc.

Apart from helping companies and legal authorities identify cybercrime causes, Digital Forensics pinpoints system vulnerabilities, prompting cybersecurity fortification. Also, because it is incumbent upon companies to prevent data breaches, Digital Forensics, in case of ethical hacking, can improve compliance.

Before we take a deep dive into the evolving world of Digital Forensics, let us understand its key stakeholders while getting an overview of the investigation process.

Stakeholders: Among the primary industries seeking Digital Forensics is the government sector, including law enforcement bodies. Similarly, the BFSI, IT, and telecommunication sectors, among others, have increasingly shown interest in Digital Forensics. In these industries, much like the public sector, information security stays non-negotiable owing to the sensitive data they handle.

Process: The digital forensics process consists of these four core steps –

1. Collection: This phase involves gathering digital evidence from computers, hard drives, or phones.
2. Analysis: Investigators try to identify the timelines of the cyber offense as well as trace the perpetrator.
3. Reporting: Compiling the case’s finding, reports communicate the essentials of the case in an intelligible manner.

Key Components of Digital Forensics

Here are some of the major aspects of Digital Forensics that are essential for a thorough audit or investigation:

• Hardware Forensics: This examines devices such as computers, servers, and storage media in search of digital footprints. Analyzing hardware, experts look to recover deleted files, test storage structures, and identify hardware vulnerabilities that cause security breaches.
• Software Forensics: This method tests software applications and systems to examine code issues, analyze logs, and identify malicious software or unauthorized access.
• Network Forensics: Monitoring and analyzing network traffic, this forensics method tracks communication patterns, identifies potential threats, and reconstructs network. This form of investigation tries to recreate sequence of events leading to cyberattacks.
• Cloud Forensics: Recently, with the prevalence of cloud services, this forensics method has emerged as a critical part of cyber investigations. To conduct Cloud Forensics, investigators collate, and study digital evidence stored in remote servers. Here are some vital workings of Cloud Forensics:
  1. Network Traffic Mirroring: Using this technique, the investigators copy network data for later analysis.
  2. Packet Capture: This form of investigation uncovers details of individual packets of data flow in a cloud network, helping forensics experts reconstruct events.
  3. Flow Log Data: The set of information stored in these logs shows behavioral models of data flows. The models help in detecting anomalies in data flow.
  4. Hibernating Workloads: This technique can preserve a workflow’s state so that the work can be resumed once the investigation is done.
  5. Capturing IaaS OS and Data Drives: This forensics practice provides critical evidence for investigations.

Having discussed the popular forensics options in Digital Forensics, let’s see which industries have its most application.

Emerging Technologies in Digital Forensics

Here are some essential tools that can help experts conduct robust forensic investigation in the coming days:

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: One of the most advanced use cases of AI and ML is AI Vision and auto-tagging. These techniques empower digital forensics experts to analyse photos, large data sets, etc. More importantly, the method automatically tags relevant evidence, saving investigation time. This time-saving feature relies heavily on pattern recognition, enhancing the overall investigation. Some of the most relevant examples of these tools are in CCTV footage analysis and recognition of automotives.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Forensics: Cryptocurrency's rapid evolution has made it more and more challenging to combat money laundering, insider trading, and price exploitation. The advanced digital forensics tools detect artifacts on devices, track blockchain transfers, scan crypto-wallets, and identify fund destinations.

System Integration: This Digital Forensics tool allows evidence import from various tools. The merit of this kind of software stems from the fact that no single device can solve all the roadblocks. Thus, by integrating different solutions and their capabilities, this tool helps experts seamlessly analyze evidence.

Trends in Digital Forensics against Cybersecurity

Digital Forensics is increasingly becoming proactive to meet modern cybersecurity threats. The trend in the domain is to utilize advanced analytics, machine learning, and threat intelligence integration to conduct real-time threat detection. Towards this prompt safeguard against cybercrime, predictive analytics plays a major role. Fostering collaboration is also a vital aspect of Digital Forensics as cybersecurity professionals closely work with law enforcement officers. Want to implement a Digital Forensics infrastructure? In the next section of the blog, we will see how eProtect360 can help you.

Leveraging eProtect360 for Digital Forensics

In a growing market for Digital Forensics, eProtect360 leverages predictive analytics and advanced AI-powered tools for understanding cyberattacks. The company’s Digital Forensic solution also allows seamless system integration, proactively addressing cybersecurity threats in real-time detection. This solution has helped many companies implement a collaborative cybersecurity ecosystem. The software equipped with comprehensive reporting establishes easy communication between experts and legal counsels.

Final Thoughts

It suffices to say that for a safe digital landscape, Digital Forensics needs to continue to match the level of cybercrimes. In this effort, the use of emerging tech such as AI, blockchain, system integration, etc., that companies such as eProtect360 use, will be imperative. Want to know more about Digital Forensics? Contact us, today!

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