Network Forensics: Tracking Hackers through Cyberspace

Preface

Every day, more bits of data flow across the Internet than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index, the total global IP traffic for 2011 was forecast to be approximately 8.4 * 10¹⁸ bits per day. Meanwhile, mathematicians at the University of Hawaii have estimated the number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world to be approximately 7.5 * 10¹⁸ grains. According to Cisco, global IP traffic is expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 32% per year, so by the time you read this, the number of bits of data flowing across the Internet every day may have far exceeded the estimated number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world.^{2, 3, 4}

Of course, these ...