computer science

Glossary of digital forensics terms

Glossary of digital forensics terms is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glossary of digital forensics terms rather than just read about it. In short: Digital forensics is a branch of the forensic sciences related to the investigation of digital devices and media. Within the field a number of "normal" forensics words are re-purposed, and new specialist terms have evolved.

Key takeaways

Glossary of digital forensics terms belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glossary of digital forensics terms to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glossary of digital forensics terms from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Digital forensics is a branch of the forensic sciences related to the investigation of digital devices and media. Within the field a number of "normal" forensics words are re-purposed, and new specialist terms have evolved.

A Acquisition The process of creating a duplicate copy of digital media for the purposes of examining it

C Computational forensics Computational forensics are digital forensics with the use of artificial intelligence.

D Digital media Used within the fields to refer to the physical medium (such as a hard drive) or data storage device

E E-discovery or eDiscovery A common acronym for electronic discovery

exhibit Digital media seized for investigation is usually referred to as an "exhibit"

H hashing Within the field "hashing" refers to the use of hash functions (e.g. CRC, SHA1 or MD5) to verify that an "image" is identical to the source media

I Image A duplicate copy of some digital media created as part of the forensic process

Imaging Synonym of "acquisition"

L Live analysis Analysis of a piece of digital media from within itself; often used to acquire data from RAM where this would be lost upon shutting down the device

S Slack space The unused space at the end of a file in a file system that uses fixed size clusters (so if the file is smaller than the fixed block size then the unused space is simply left). Often contains deleted information from previous uses of the block

Steganography The word steganography comes from the Greek name “steganos” (hidden or secret) and “graphy” (writing or drawing) and literally means hidden writing. Steganography uses techniques to communicate information in a way that is hidden.

U Unallocated space Clusters of a media partition not in use for storing any active files. They may contain pieces of files that were deleted from the file partition but not removed from the physical disk

V Verification A term used to refer to the hashing of both source media and acquired image to verify the accuracy of the copy

W Write blocker The common name used for a forensic disk controller, hardware used to access digital media in a read only fashion

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glossary of digital forensics terms

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glossary of digital forensics terms claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glossary of digital forensics terms before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glossary of digital forensics terms ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glossary of digital forensics terms

In research: Glossary of digital forensics terms appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glossary of digital forensics terms in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glossary of digital forensics terms is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Digital forensics, Glossaries of computers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glossary of digital forensics terms outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Glossary of digital forensics terms in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glossary of digital forensics terms means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glossary of digital forensics terms out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glossary of digital forensics terms in simple terms?

Why does Glossary of digital forensics terms matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glossary of digital forensics terms?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glossary of digital forensics terms.