Written by Online hacking has become the bane of any business that has a presence online. However, the threat posed by online hacking is but a small part of the unfolding scenario. There are so many possibilities of different kinds of electronic attacks that may harm a business in myriad forms, from crippling data systems to stealing top-secret business relevant data.
A New Way to Fight Online Hacking
Computer forensics is a specialized branch of computer security and much like the police forensic specialists who investigate a crime scene, digital forensic experts examine a online hacking break-in or security compromise incident for clues that might point to the perpetrator or at least to the method used, so as to avoid any hacker using the same online hacking method or other modus operandi in the future.
Before you call in the cavalry, however, there are some things you need to know. When it comes to security compromises — as a result of online hacking or otherwise — in the corporate world, there’s no if; there’s only the when and the how bad. Trying to control the when is only a matter of delaying the inevitable, but you can control the latter by being a little careful.
The Enemy Within
Security compromises need not always be by access from a remote location. Employees who recently left are a big security risk simply for the fact that they can gain access to the building on some pretext or the other; chances are that they’d still be carrying a pass-card that the folks in IT forgot to render invalid. Then again, there’s not much you can do about the employees who actually are working for you; strict information security policies can act as a deterrent, but only so far. You could tell yourself that you should have done a better job by hiring ethically sound people, but is there really a reliable way to test one’s moral fiber? In a large concern especially, there’s no knowing where a compromise attempt will come from.
That is why, while it is all very well to invest in building as online hacking proof a system as possible, it is equally crucial to pay attention when the security policies and related legal issues are revised. That will help you learn tidbits regarding post-incident what-to-dos regarding damage control once the system has been compromised. Keeping track of online hacking news and developments also helps. Also, this is where the science of computer forensics comes in.
Defining Computer Forensics
A textbook definition of computer forensics is: the maintenance, classification, retrieval, analysis, and documentation of computer evidence. Some authoritative works on the digital forensics define it as the scientific collection, scrutiny, and maintenance of data contained in electronic media whose information can be admissible as evidence in a court of law. This last rider of the evidence being usable in a court of law adds certain technicalities to the mix: the collection part being particularly dicey as there are a lot of ways of gathering electronic data that may amount to illegal (or unauthorized) surveillance and intrusion of privacy, wiretaps being an example.
Ethically and legally speaking, there’s a very thin line that separates computer forensic investigations from criminally motivated online hacking, and the former have to tread that line with utmost care.
