New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics The WritePass Journal

New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics Abstract New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics ).   Others argue that remote servers have the capacity to increase security in several cases using emerging technology in order to better serve consumers (Reilly, Wren, and Berry 2010). Cloud computing allows users to keep information and data, of all varieties, on remote servers.   Cyber criminals are turning to these areas more and more in their efforts to co-opt personal information in the pursuit of crime (Accorsi and Ruan 2012). Cloud server companies often dispute the claim of vulnerability and cite increased security statistics (Reilly, Wren and Berry 2010). The combined elements of cost reduction and ease of access are driving the industry to expand at a very challenging rate for digital forensics to match. The drive to implement a standard for oversight and enforcement is a significant challenge for digital forensics (Accorsi and Ruan 2012).   Many who argue for the standardization cite the reduction in safety concerns as decreasing overall implementation cost (Reilly, Wren and Berry 2010).  Ã‚   Others demonstrate that a standard system is increasingly vulnerable to risk factors (Accorsi and Ruan 2012).   Each unique server and company will have the responsibility to upgrade their elements in order to aid in the digital forensic requirements of the modern and emerging era (Reilly, Wren, and Berry 2010).   This leads to the recognition of larger issues that must be dealt with in order to achieve progress. Another field of digital forensic challenges rests in the sheer quantity of data that must be analysed in order to justify the expense of resources (Garfinkel 2013).   As the global market for electronics continues to grow and become incorporated into daily life, the number of opportunities for cyber-crime will climb. However, many companies cite the presence of emerging technology has being able to cope with the mass of information (Accorsi and Ruan 2012). The area of machine learning in computers has the potential to alleviate much of the tedious work that digital forensics entails (Ariu, Giacinto and Roli 2011). However, machine learning has been argued to produce security issues that could further complicate the digital forensics task at hand (Garfinkel 2013).   Much of the issues of security have the potential to be resolved with the implementation of a wide ranging standard (Ibid). A published standard is argued to be more vulnerable and predictable than the piece meal appr oach used today (Casey 2004). While a good idea a standard substantially increases the overall risk factors. As opposed to the area of cloud computing the areas of quantity and network forensics stands to become a primary area of concern as companies and individuals employ the technology for gain (Pilli, Joshi and Niyogi 2010).   The development of Network Forensic Analysis Tools, or NFATs, is a challenge that must be met by regulators and oversight entities in order to minimize the fundamental impact of cyber-crime.   Others illustrate that these same tools hold the potential to be turned against a standardized system (Ariu, Giacinto and Roli 2011).   There needs to be a balance between oversight and individual freedoms as regards privacy and security. Conclusion The area of digital forensics is facing many new challenges going into the next generation.   There is a need to balance the rights of the individual with those of the enforcement agencies. Further, the lack of a standard regulation around the world makes any long term enforcement prospect dim.   At the same time, any implementation of a wide ranging standard runs the risk of becoming easy to corrupt, thereby raising even more digital issues. The area of Cloud Computing, due to the low cost to consumer and easy accessibility is a primary concern for the area of digital forensics. With challenges ranging from the acquisition to the processing to the legalities of the use of the data acquired form this market, there is a real sense of urgency in the drive to rein in cyber-crime. Each of these factors makes the market attractive to cyber-crime and a continuous challenge for digital forensics. Further areas of development and increasing challenge rest in the processing of high quantities of data and the accompanying levels of security present on any single network.   In each case of computer forensics in these areas there is a critical need to continuously update or risk the threat of being overrun by the sheer numbers.   There is a need to innovate in order for computer forensics to recover and utilize evidence in the face of an ever increasingly complex digital world. References Accorsi, R. and Ruan, K. 2012. Challenges of Cloud Forensics: A Survey of the Missing Capabilities.  Cybercrime, p. 32. Ariu, D., Giacinto, G. and Roli, F. 2011. Machine learning in computer forensics (and the lessons learned from machine learning in computer security). pp. 99104. Casey, E. 2004.  Digital evidence and computer crime. London: Academic Press. Crime-research.org. 2013.  Computer Crime Research Centre Daily news about computer crime, internet fraud and cyber terrorism. [online] Available at: crime-research.org/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. F3.org.uk. 2013.  F3 – The First Forensic Forum | Uniting digital forensic practitioners. [online] Available at: https://www.f3.org.uk/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. Forensics.nl. 2013.  Computer Forensics, Cybercrime and Steganography Resources. [online] Available at: forensics.nl/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. Garfinkel, S. 2010. Digital forensics research: The next 10 years.  Digital Investigation, 7 pp. 6473. Garfinkel, S. 2013. Digital Forensics Modern crime often leaves an electronic trail. Finding and preserving that evidence requires careful methods as well as technical skill.  AMERICAN SCIENTIST, 101 (5), pp. 370377. Pilli, E., Joshi, R. and Niyogi, R. 2010. Network forensic frameworks: Survey and research challenges.  Digital Investigation, 7 (1), pp. 1427. Reilly, D., Wren, C. and Berry, T. 2010. Cloud computing: Forensic challenges for law enforcement. pp. 17. New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics Abstract New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics , p52) claims that the cyber criminals continuously create new methods of circumventing forensic and security techniques through different means like quickly embracing new technologies, targeting outdated or emerging technologies before their weaknesses are noticed and corrected. The contemporary cyber criminals have even gone further to devise anti forensic techniques that may at times require the forensic experts to carry out endless investigations into the attacks but still fail to generate enough information for generating meaningful inferences. These criminals have also noticed that the forensic officers often rely so much on windows operating system and have switched to using other operating systems like Mac OS and Linux to make it more difficult for the forensic officers to unearth their activities (Ec-Council2009, p98). The over reliance on Windows by the forensic officers is weakening the power of forensic officers in investigation other non-Windows systems and in the proces s giving the criminals an upper hand in continuing with their unlawful activities.   This is the reason why computer forensics should embrace new better ways of investigation using all types of operating systems to ensure that the criminals are dealt with in the best way possible. Conclusion Computer forensics is a very important field as it plays a critical role in mitigating and investigating criminal activities. However, there are very many different challenges facing the forensic officers in the modern society as highlighted in the paper. This calls for quick adoption of new, better ways of dealing with the cyber criminals to regulate their activities in good time before the whole situation spins out of hand. These new challenges can be addressed by pursuing an active approach to forensics and not allowing the cyber criminals to act first before moving in to generate solutions. The forensic officers should fully liaise with the manufactures of new devices and work together in tackling any use of such gadgets in unlawful activities. Computer forensics is an important field that should be enriched so as to not only mitigate the effects of cybercrime but also punish the criminals heavily to deter the criminals and other similar minded people from committing crimes. Bibliography Ec-Council (2009).Investigating Networking Intrusions and Cybercrime.Course Technology Ptr. Kruse, W. G., Heiser, J. G. (2003).Computer forensics: Incident response essentials. Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. Maras, M.-H. (2012). 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