When considering the purchase of digital forensic software, it’s important to ensure that the software meets your specific requirements and will help you effectively investigate and analyze digital evidence.
To fully prepare for this potentially expensive purchase, you need to understand the full extent of digital forensic capabilities in 2023 to know if the software you choose is ahead or behind. So, what is digital forensics?
Digital Forensics
Digital forensics, also known as computer or mobile forensics, deals with the investigation and recovery of digital evidence from electronic devices and networks. It involves the application of scientific and investigative techniques to gather and analyze data that could potentially be used in a criminal case or legal proceedings.
Learn more about Digital Forensic History →
10 Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Digital Forensic Software
Here are ten questions to ask before purchasing digital forensic software:
- What types of digital evidence does the software support, such as computers, mobile devices, or cloud-based data?
- Is the software compliant with industry standards and best practices for digital forensics, such as those outlined by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) or ISO (International Organization for Standardization)?
- Does the software provide both live and post-mortem analysis capabilities, allowing you to analyze data in real time or from forensic images?
- What file systems and data formats does the software support, and is it capable of recovering deleted or hidden data?
- Does the software offer a range of acquisition options, including both physical and logical acquisitions of devices?
- Are there integrated or built-in tools for evidence preservation, chain of custody, and reporting?
- What search and analytic capabilities does the software offer, including keyword searching, timeline analysis, and registry analysis?
- Is the software capable of handling encrypted or password-protected data, and does it have decryption capabilities?
- What support and training resources are provided by the software vendor to help forensic analysts effectively use the software?
- What are the licensing models, costs, and maintenance fees associated with the software, and are there any restrictions on the number of users or cases?
In addition to these questions, it’s important to thoroughly evaluate the software’s reliability, performance, and reputation in the digital forensics community. Seek references and customer testimonials, and consider conducting a trial or asking for an evaluation period before making a final purchase decision to ensure that the software aligns with your specific needs and workflow.
Digital Forensic Tools.
Now you may be wondering, so what digital forensic tools align with all 10 questions?
Well, Oxygen Forensics specializes in digital forensic software solutions. It provides tools and software for law enforcement, private investigators, enterprises, and government organizations to extract, analyze, and recover digital evidence from various devices, including mobile phones, computers, cloud services, and more.
Oxygen Forensics offers a range of products and services that are crucial in criminal and legal investigations, corporate incidents, and other situations where digital evidence plays a role.
Oxygen Forensic® Detective
Oxygen Forensics’ flagship solution, Oxygen Forensic® Detective, was built to support investigators throughout the entire investigative process. It can extract data quickly and completely from the full digital landscape and facilitate deep analysis and flexible reporting in a single platform. It extracts data and artifacts from various sources with capabilities for mobile, cloud, and computer forensic investigations.
Oxygen Analytic Center
Oxygen Analytic Center, built to support Oxygen Forensic® Detective and Oxygen Corporate Explorer, as well as being an individual product, enables real-time, browser-based collaborative data review and analysis — any time, anywhere — so investigators and eDiscovery professionals can resolve cases faster and more efficiently.
Oxygen Corporate Explorer
Oxygen Corporate Explorer, built for corporate investigations, helps find critical digital evidence quickly and completely, using targeted, remote, and onsite data collection, task scheduling for automatic collection, and powerful search and analytic tools.