K* Scientific, Inc. - Computer Forensics Investigation

ABOUT FORENSICS COMPUTER INVESTIGATION

Why Contract-Out Computer Forensics?

Computer forensics requires a knowledge of computers, a knowledge of forensics techniques, and specialized analysis equipment. Equipment will be required to adapt to evidence computers, copy them, and analyze them. Software may be required to recover deleted or erased files, break passwords, conduct word searches, etc. Personnel may be required to be familiar with a variety of operating systems (e.g. DOS, Novell Networks, Windows NT, LINUX, etc.) and computer types (laptops, Apple systems, etc.) They must also be familiar with forensic procedures, and state-of-the-art computer technology. This generally requires a greater commitment of equipment and personnel resources than practical for all the but the largest investigative departments.

Hardware Resources

In addition to its general laboratory equipment (lathes, milling machines, signal generators, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzer, etc.) K* Scientific, Inc. has equipment specifically tailored to support forensic computer analysis. This includes a variety of forensic software programs, and a forensic computer called F.R.E.D. (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device).

F.R.E.D. will acquire data directly from IDE, EIDE, ATA, ATAPI, SCSI I, SCSI II, SCSI III, hard drives and devices. F.R.E.D. can also read-from and write-to a variety of storage media, including the following: 3-1/2 and 5-1/4 floppy diskettes, 1 GB or 2 GB JAZ cartridges, 100 MB or 250 MB ZIP cartridges, 120 MB LS-120 Super Disk Cartridges, CD-ROM, and 4-mm data tape cartridges. F.R.E.D. also is configured with multiple, removable trays to speed equipment reconfiguration.