Question

What are some of the technical skills needed to perform computer forensic investigations? What kinds of clues or evidence does the forensic auditor need to collect to try and track the internal or external hacker?

Answer 1

The forensic computer investigators and digital forensic experts perform the tasks of reconstruction and analyzing of digital information to help in investigations and solving the computer-related crimes. Computer forensics is a technical field and thus the investigator should have a solid broad range of general technical skills. They look into incidents of hacking, trace sources of attacks on computer and recover the stolen data. The forensic investigator should have a vast array of knowledge regarding computers, on both the software and hardware sides. A technical experience in computer systems, programming, or other related fields are beneficial. Besides computer skills and related education and certifications, digital forensic experts and forensic computer investigators needs to possess solid analytical and investigative skills.

Forensic accounting evaluations usually use the techniques of interview mainly designed to obtain an admission of guilt by the person(s) involved with the fraud scheme. It is significant that the process of interview be coordinated with an attorney from the auditing organization. The auditors should work within the interview process rules however there are areas that they must try to control to ensure that the interview process work. The final notes of the interview may end up in court. Data mining is another important technique used in forensic accounting investigations. Under this process where the auditor looks for patterns, trends, and anomalies in a data set. In case any unusual transactions appear in a data set it should be investigated. Document Review Strategies are an important part of the evidence for an audit. The forensic audit must obtain certain agreements between the parties to properly handle the documents to ensure that these can be used in court proceedings against internal or external hacker.