Blog
The Future of Computer Forensics
By Steve Burgess A student asked me an interesting question today, regarding what I foresee in the field of computer forensics in the coming years: 5, 10, & 50. Having not thought about it before , my answers surprised me a bit. Mr. Burgess, I would like to thank...
Computer Forensics – Criminal vs Civil: What’s the Difference?
In the field of computer forensics, as in the field of law, procedures in civil cases differ somewhat from those in criminal cases. The collection of data and presentation of evidence may be held to different standards, the process of data collection and imaging can...
Data Recovery, Computer Forensics and E-Discovery Differ
What's the difference between data recovery, computer forensics and e-discovery? All three fields deal with data, and specifically digital data. It's all about electrons in the form of zeroes and ones. And it's all about taking information that may be hard to find and...
Real CSI Cases from Burgess Forensics #16 The Little Dame That Wouldn’t
The stories are true; the names and places have been changed to protect the potentially guilty. A dame, a rich guy, and an email account: what more do you need for a story? I was in my office one fine spring day in Marin studying the benefits of Eastern philosophy,...
Why Does Digital Forensics Matter To Me?
Your data is not private! In the privacy of our studies, offices, libraries, or wherever it is we have our computers, it may seem that we are alone, with no one looking over our shoulders. But every document we draft, every step through the Internet we take, is...
The Case for Electronic Discovery
Abstract Nearly all documents created in offices these days begin their lives on a computer, as a computer file. Computer files are quite dynamic in nature. They change over time as they are accessed. Computer files are not immortal, but the act of deleting a file...
The Five Stages of Data Loss
The computer crashes and what happens? Well, irritation at first. The darn thing is supposed to work, and you've got work to do. After fiddling with it for a bit and getting error message this, error message that — and what did I do that was an illegal instruction? Am...
Computer Hoaxes for the Beginner
Can you say, "hoax?" With the advent of email, one person can send millions of messages. With the help of willing accomplice friends, a single hoax chain letter can multiply into hundreds of millions. There are any number of hoaxes and well-meaning people can...
I think I’ve lost my data and I don’t know what to do…
There are a lot of reasons a computer can lose data. Some are more catastrophic than others. If the hard disk in the computer is making a clicking, grinding, or scraping sound, then it's time to turn off the computer, remove the hard disk, and sent it to a data...
Data Safety Tips
Emergency! The computer has failed: what now? Impact: Turn everything off for 5 minutes and let things stabilize. Once everything is turned back on, check files and applications for damage. Make sure there's a backup of the important files right away. Be alert for...