View source for Glossary of digital forensics terms

{{Short description|none}}
[[Digital forensics]] is a branch of the [[Physics:Forensic science|forensic science]]s related to the investigation of digital devices and [[Digital media|media]]. Within the field a number of "normal" forensics words are re-purposed, and new specialist terms have evolved.

{{glossary}}

==A==
{{term|Acquisition}}
{{defn|The process of creating a duplicate copy of [[Digital media|digital media]] for the purposes of examining it<ref name="horenbeeck" />}}

==C==
{{term|Computational forensics}}
{{defn|Computational forensics are digital forensics with the use of artificial intelligence.}}

==D==
{{term|Digital media}}
{{defn|Used within the fields to refer to the physical medium (such as a hard drive) or [[Engineering:Data storage device|data storage device]]}}

==E==
{{term|term=e-discovery |content=E-discovery or {{vanchor|eDiscovery}} }}
{{defn|A common acronym for [[Electronic discovery|electronic discovery]]<ref name="handbook" />}}

{{term|exhibit}}
{{defn|Digital media seized for investigation is usually referred to as an "exhibit"<ref name="handbook" />}}

==H==
{{term|hashing}}
{{defn|Within the field "hashing" refers to the use of [[Cryptographic hash function|hash functions]] (e.g. [[Cyclic redundancy check|CRC]], SHA1 or [[MD5]]) to verify that an "image" is identical to the source media<ref name="handbook" />}}

==I==
{{term|Image}}
{{defn|A duplicate copy of some digital media created as part of the forensic process<ref name="casey"/>}}

{{term|Imaging}}
{{defn|Synonym of "acquisition"<ref name="horenbeeck" />}}

==L==
{{term|Live analysis}}
{{defn|Analysis of a piece of digital media from within itself; often used to acquire data from RAM where this would be lost upon shutting down the device<ref name="handbook" />}} 

==S==
{{term|Slack space}}
{{defn|The unused space at the end of a file in a file system that uses fixed size clusters (so if the file is smaller than the fixed block size then the unused space is simply left). Often contains deleted information from previous uses of the block}} 

{{term|Steganography}}
{{defn|The word steganography comes from the Greek name “steganos” (hidden or secret) and “graphy” (writing or drawing) and literally means hidden writing. Steganography uses techniques to communicate information in a way that is 
hidden.<ref name="steganography" />}} 

==U==
{{term|Unallocated space}}
{{defn|[[Computer cluster|Clusters]] of a media [[Disk partitioning|partition]] not in use for storing any active files. They may contain pieces of files that were deleted from the file partition but [[Data remanence|not removed from the physical disk]]<ref name="exposed" />}}

==V==
{{term|Verification}}
{{defn|A term used to refer to the hashing of both source media and acquired image to verify the accuracy of the copy}}

==W==
{{term|Write blocker}}
{{defn|The common name used for a [[Social:Forensic disk controller|forensic disk controller]], hardware used to access digital media in a read only fashion<ref name="casey" />}}
{{glossary end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="horenbeeck">{{cite web|title=Technology Crime Investigation|url=http://www.daemon.be/maarten/forensics.html|accessdate=17 August 2010|author=Maarten Van Horenbeeck|date=24 May 2006|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517022757/http://www.daemon.be/maarten/forensics.html|archivedate=17 May 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="casey">{{cite book|last=Casey|first=Eoghan|title=Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Second Edition|year=2004|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=0-12-163104-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xo8GMt_AbQsC&q=Digital%20Evidence%20and%20Computer%20Crime,%20Second%20Edition}}</ref>
<ref name="handbook" >{{cite book|last=Various|title=Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation|year=2009|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-374267-4|pages=567|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNjsDprqtUYC|editor=Eoghan Casey|accessdate=27 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="exposed" >{{cite book|title=Hacking Exposed: Computer Forensics|year=2009|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|isbn=978-0-07-162677-4|pages=544|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMdNrgSBUq0C|author=Aaron Phillip|author2=David Cowen |author3=Chris Davis |accessdate=27 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="steganography" >{{cite web|title=Steganalysis: Detecting hidden information with computer forensic analysis|url=http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/stenganography/steganalysis-detecting-hidden-information-computer-forensic-analysis_1014|accessdate=7 June 2012|author=SANS Institute|year=2003}}</ref>
}}

{{Digital forensics}}

[[Category:Glossaries of computers|Digital forensics terms]]
[[Category:Digital forensics]]

{{Sourceattribution|Glossary of digital forensics terms}}