Investigations can fall into four categories. The most common category is forensic analysis, where evidence is recovered to support or oppose a hypothesis before a criminal court, this is closely related to intelligence gathering, where material is intended to identify other suspects/crimes. eDiscovery is a form of discovery related to civil litigation and intrusion investigation is a specialist investigation into the nature and extent of an unauthorized network intrusion. The technical side of investigations is divided into several sub-branches; computer forensics, network forensics, database forensics and mobile device forensics. Any number of the fields may be utilised in an investigation.
As well as identifying direct evidence of a crime, digital forensics can be used to attribute evidence to specific suspects, confirm alibis or statements, determine intent, identify sources (for example, in copyright cases) or authenticate documents.[3] Investigations are much broader in scope than other areas of forensic analysis (where the usual aim is to provide answers to a series of simpler questions) often involving complex time-lines or hypothesis.[4]
The digital forensic process encompasses the seizure, forensic imaging (acquisition) and analysis of digital media. Finally producing a report of the digital evidence for the courts or an employer. Computer devices tend to store large amounts of information in cache/log files and