Computer Forensics: Incident Response Essentials

Chapter 1. Introduction to Computer Forensics

Whenever we tell people that we work in “computer forensics,” they invariably respond “that’s interesting” and then ask, “what is that?” Although relatively few people are aware that computers can be examined to learn about human activities, most people are not only aware of more traditional forms of forensics, but are actually quite interested in the subject. This familiarity makes it easy to explain what we do for a living.

What Is Forensics?

During the twentieth century, the coherent application of methodical investigatory techniques to solve crime cases has steadily increased and so has public interest in what detectives do. Not only are Patricia Cornwell novels (starring heroine Kay Scarpetta, ...