Introduction
Since the inception of the Internet, people have found ways to conduct illegal activities using it as a tool. To counter these actions, technologies and methods have been developed to track down these criminals. Security and law enforcement professionals must understand these technologies and their evolution so that they can better perform their duties. Internet crime is something that affects anyone who uses a computer, so it is extremely important to combat it in any way possible. Some of the most common technologies and methods for
tracking cybercriminals are digital and online forensic investigations, which leverage open source intelligence. (OSINT). Within these areas, many different technologies and techniques can be used to collect data about the attacker. This data can then be aggregated to determine who committed the crime and build a case against the individual.
What is digital forensics?
Digital forensics is the practice of collecting and organizing information found on an electronic device for investigative purposes. It is important to know both the technologies and the methods and structures used by researchers in this field. Digital forensics can be divided into four areas: host forensics, mobile forensics, network forensics, and cloud forensics. Each of these four areas provides investigators with different types of information, with very little overlap. By dividing this area into four areas, this article can analyze the methods for each without covering the same technique twice. It is therefore ideal to classify methods in these areas because many of the techniques for collecting and analyzing information from these sources are unique to each source.
Online investigation
Online surveys are the process of collecting, structuring and using information that can be obtained online. These can be performed by law enforcement, security professionals, or any other individual. The primary method of collecting information in online surveys is Opensource Intelligence (OSINT). This method is the aggregation and use of information collected using other methods described in the following sections. The information collected for this type of investigation shows relationships, identities, events relevant to the computer investigation. There are many sources of information that investigators use in online surveys. The three main sources are: • Open WEB • Deep WEB • Dark WEB
New Technologies
There are several new technologies and areas of development in this area. Two of the fastest-growing areas are automation and machine learning. Automation is the process of performing a task automatically, without any human intervention. Machine learning, also known as artificial intelligence, is the use of algorithms that can be taught to recognize patterns or objects.
Conclusion
With the advancements in technology, criminal investigations are becoming more reliant on technology as threat actions become more advanced. There are many tools and methods that investigators can implement to help them in their work. None of these tools can perform all the functions required by investigators. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with the different tools, how they work, and the information they can provide to investigators.
This is a growing field and there are many opportunities for future research. Automation and machine learning offer potential areas of research as these technologies become more sophisticated.
