What is eDiscovery?

During legal proceedings, it’s vital to gather the necessary evidence to prove that someone is either innocent or guilty. But it’s also about assembling key facts based on which litigators can decide on the most optimal course to take.

This process is referred to as eDiscovery. You can think of it as a way to research the matter at hand. At the same time, it’s also a structured process that allows the legal professionals to make quick yet procedurally correct decisions.

The objective is to get the facts right. In practice, a litigator would need them to make a strong case in court, but may not have the time to gather them manually. That’s what drives so many eDiscovery jobs – litigators are looking for ways to get some of that burden off their shoulders and outsource the additional work to a qualified eDiscovery and digital forensics expert.

Today, we will take you through what is eDiscovery, why it’s important, what the process involves, and how it all ties up with the field of digital forensics.

Working With Video Evidence: 8 Challenges in Law Enforcement

Just like any other area of digital forensics, working with video evidence comes with its own set of challenges. Knowing how to navigate these difficult waters can mean the difference between being able to solve a case or letting the guilty go free.

Since time is of the essence when you find yourself in the middle of a digital forensics process of a criminal investigation, learning as you go is not a viable option – you need to study these situations in advance so you will come prepared and ready to face them as they appear.

Unlike what the popular culture might have you believe, obtaining and analyzing video evidence is far from simple. For example, we can’t just zoom in on the picture and enhance its quality as they often do in the movies. It just doesn’t work like that.

To give you a glimpse into the unique challenges in video forensics, we’ve compiled a list of what you can expect during the digital video forensics process:

4 Hidden Issues With an Improvised In-House Digital Forensic Lab

When the need arises to upgrade your computer forensic hardware, your first instinct may tell you to just wing it as you start looking for shortcuts. After all, your law enforcement agency is probably getting tons of work already and you’ve found yourself in need of a shiny new digital forensic lab setup to solve these cases efficiently.

At first glance, there are several perceived benefits of building an improvised computer forensics lab. These include:

  • Cost savings
  • Convenience
  • Rapid implementation
  • No comprehensive guidance
  • No direction
  • Prior familiarity

The problem is, this so-called shortcut can end up costing you much more time and money than it has the potential to save. In fact, many established law enforcement organizations have started out with an improvised digital forensic laboratory then later on decided to upgrade to a more professional solution once they’ve realized all the drawbacks associated with their original decision.

Outdated Digital Forensic Lab
An outdated Improvised In-House Digital Forensic Lab or Workstation

To make a compelling argument why improvisation might not be the best move to make if you’re running a reputable law enforcement agency, we’ll highlight 4 not-so-apparent issues with it that can arise when you least expect them:

11 Database Security Practices and Disaster Prevention Tips

Knowing the proper configuration, maintenance, and cyber security essentials is a must when working with databases. Fail to do so, you will get to experience first-hand what a database security examiner has to deal with when helping an organization find out how their databases got hacked.

Although experience certainly is the mother of wisdom, there is no need for you to learn from your own mistakes in this case – these can be quite costly.

To give you an illustration, the most infamous hacks from the recent decade or so had a disastrous outcome in many areas, resulting in:

  • Litigation
  • Loss of trust
  • Regulatory fines

What is Facial Recognition in Video Forensics?

Facial recognition in video forensics is the kind of technology that allows for identifying a human face by analyzing the facial features and comparing the virtual imaging against a database of photos to find a match.

Thanks to its widespread usage and implementation, it acts as an efficient deterrent of crime since would-be criminals are smart enough to realize their actions are being monitored. Should they decide to break the law, uncovering their true identity and prosecuting them would be easier than at any other point in the history of humankind.

Apart from its place in crime and digital forensics investigations, video facial recognition also shapes the future of our society by reducing queues and streamlining several essential processes in a variety of industries, most of which we’ve covered in this post.

If you stick around to the very end, we’ll also give you a glimpse into the other side of the argument by providing an overview of the most common concerns and criticisms surrounding the topic.

Let’s dive right in!

6 Types of Database Hacks Use to Obtain Unauthorized Access

Modern-day hackers are truly a force to be reckoned with, so much so that skilled database hacks can be in and out without the administrator even noticing. As a result, many databases remain compromised for ages. Since databases tend to store data of sensitive nature, saying this is merely a nuisance to deal with would be a gross understatement.

Worse yet, sometimes the database hackers get in not due to their above-average hacking abilities, but because the webmasters employ poor cyber security practices such as having a weak password in place, failing to install updates regularly enough, or misconfiguring the database settings, all of which opens the door wide open to a potential cyber attack.

On the flipside, even if the database is configured correctly, as much as 20,000 connections may be trying to access it at the same time, so even with proper software, it’s next to impossible to know what each of them are doing. Couple this with the fact than an organization could have hundreds or even thousands of databases active at any single time, and the last remnant of hope is lost – getting things under control remains nothing but a distant dream.

Man in dark holding paper

Too often, all a hacker needs to do is take advantage of someone’s laziness, lack of care, or lack of education.

10 Cyber Security Threats and Risks to Avoid

In the past, threats of physical nature used to be our primary concern as civilizations attempted to survive against constant attacks from predators, rival tribes, and other threats. But in the digital era of today, cyber security threats 2023 are a rising trend which calls for every law enforcement department to get at least a basic education about them.

To stand a chance of being able to defend against them, you first need to know what they are. The cyber threat landscape involves data-stealing malware, sophisticated DDoS attacks, and even some malicious forgeries of otherwise legitimate websites that are typically used as part of a phishing attack.

To get you on the right track, we’ve prepared a comprehensive list of cyber threats digital forensics investigators often need to deal with in practice. The goal is for you to take that knowledge and further your understanding of this crucial area of IT and cyber security, thus allowing you to mount a strong defense.

What Does It Take to Become a Digital Forensic Analyst?

Digital forensic analysts play an important role in cyber crime investigations. They’re the go-to experts that work with law enforcement agencies and police departments to solve complex crimes. To do so, they take an in-depth look at virtual traces left behind by criminals, even though they’re often masterfully concealed.

But unlike how this line of work is often portrayed in popular culture, a digital forensic analyst can’t magically waltz through every anti-forensic measure and the digital forensics investigation can take weeks or even months instead of minutes or hours like you often see on TV. Nevertheless, if you’re willing to put in the hours of hard work and study, this can be a rewarding career that enables you to become a force of good in our society.

The objective of this post is to be the best career guide for you to follow and source information from.

By following along, you will learn:
  • what skills are necessary to pursue this fulfilling yet challenging career?
  • what the step-by-step process is to obtain the necessary education??
  • why it’s a great opportunity in terms of salary you can expect as compensation for your good work.

Ensuring Digital Forensics Integrity: The Significance of Chain of Custody Cyber Security

Occasionally referred to as “paper trail”, the chain of custody cyber security is an important concept in digital forensics as well as the modern judicial system.

The primary objective is to ensure that the digital evidence in question is legitimate, hasn’t been tempered with, and that it can stand in court. The protocol requires documenting everything in relation with the digital evidence in question and outlines the details surrounding its:

  • Collection
  • Transfer
  • Sequence of control
  • Analysis
  • Who was in its custody
  • Date and time of events
  • Purpose

If any particular detail regarding the handling of digital evidence is omitted, its quality may come under question, and the court may rule it out as inadmissible.

In law enforcement, you will often encounter situations that require at least a basic understanding what the chain of custody for digital evidence is and how to maintain it as to not compromise the evidence that can be vital to the resolution of the case.

To make this complex issue easier to understand, we’ve prepared a comprehensive guide for you to follow.