Johannes OlegårdPhD student

What is Digital Forensics?

Digital Forensics is a discipline concerned with collecting, preserving and analyzing digital evidence in criminal investigations. Imagine for example that the police finds a smartphone at a crime scene. In this scenario a Digital Forensic expert will be responsible for (carefully) investigating the smart phone to recover digital evidence that can move the investigation forward. To present their findings, a Digital Forensic professional may act as a expert witness in a court of law.

Digital forensics is also used by private companies to investigate cyberattacks on their systems during cybersecurity incident response events. Digital Forensics can be used to answer questions about the incident, such as: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How (5W1H). The result of such a investigation can be used to make decisions that minimize damages and prevent future incidents.

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an ongoing trend where an increasing number of "things" get internet-connected. Examples include smart phones, smart homes, smart vehicles and much more. IoT is of interest in Digital Forensics for multiple reasons. An IoT system can for example be the victim of a crime (e.g. cyberattacks and ransomware), be the perpetrator of a crime (e.g. used in cyberattacks or as a murderweapon) an/or observe crime (e.g. webcam).