Digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) is the process of identifying, preserving, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence in a way that is legally admissible. It is often used in the context of cybersecurity and cybercrime investigations, but it can also be applied in other areas, such as civil and criminal cases involving electronic evidence.
DFIR typically involves several steps:
Identification: This involves identifying the incident, determining the scope of the impact, and identifying the systems and data that may be affected.
Preservation: This involves preserving the evidence in a way that maintains its integrity and authenticity. This might involve making copies of data, capturing network traffic, or taking images of affected systems.
Analysis: This involves analyzing the evidence to determine what happened and who was involved. This might involve examining logs, analyzing network traffic, or examining the contents of files and email messages.
Presentation: This involves presenting the results of the investigation in a way that is understandable and legally admissible. This might involve preparing reports, creating diagrams or timeline, or giving testimony in court.
Here is an example of how DFIR might be used:
A company suspects that one of its employees has been stealing sensitive data and selling it to a competitor. The company's IT department performs an investigation and discovers that the employee has been accessing the data and transferring it to a personal email account. The IT department captures a copy of the data, examines the employee's email and computer logs, and prepares a report detailing the findings. The report is then presented to the company's legal team, who use it to build a case against the employee.
Another example:
A government agency receives a tip that a group of hackers has been targeting a specific organization. The agency launches an investigation and discovers that the hackers have been using a new strain of malware to gain access to the organization's systems. The agency captures a sample of the malware and analyzes it to understand how it works and how it was delivered. The agency then prepares a report detailing the findings and shares the report with the affected organization, as well as with other government agencies and law enforcement organizations to help prevent future attacks
