International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1390
Digital Forensics Analysis for Network Related Data
Mr. Abhishek Doshi
1
, Dr. Priyanka Sharma
2
1
Student, School of Information Technology & Cyber Security, Raksha Shakti University, Gujarat, India
2
Director, Research & Development, Raksha Shakti University, Gujarat, India
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Abstract: With the increase in the field of digital crime and
data theft; the law enforcement agencies and investigators
needs to have efficient tools scripts & methodologies to collect
the required evidences and reproduce the data in
understandable form. Network plays a vital role in
communication process amongst the digital devices; where the
data packets and requests are transferred. The main goal of
the research is to extract and analyse digital evidences for
network artefacts like IP addresses (Version 4 & 6), event &
network log files of system, open source and proprietary
tools/software/scripts, to help the law enforcement agencies
and investigators with their investigation process in efficient
manner and extract desired data. Here various open source
tools and software are used to analyse and extract various
evidences; moreover EnScript has been modified and
redesigned to fetch relevant data. The results conclude with
network related data set obtained from various networks.
Keywords: Digital forensics, EnCase, FTK, Networking,
Investigation.
1. INTRODUCTION
The word forensics is derived from a combination of
Latin words forensic “on the forum” & Scientia “knowledge”.
Forensic science is referred to the process of applying
scientific standard methods & techniques to criminal and
civil proceedings. A forensic scientist or investigator collects,
preserves, and analyses evidences during an investigation.
Over time, the technical aspects of forensic investigations
have evolved into sub-fields relating to the special conditions
of the evidence involved, like digital forensics, hardware
analysis, etc. with computer forensics being the branch of
forensic science encompassing the examination and
investigation of data & information found in digital Network
forensics is sub-domain of digital forensics associated with
tracking and analysing of computer devices and network
traffic for the purpose of data and information collection,
required files or intrusion detection within a network. Till
date, it was enough to look at individual systems as objects
containing digital evidences and files. Computing was
centred based where collecting a computer and several disks
and peripherals would assure collection of all relevant digital
evidence and data. Today, however, computing and
communication has become network-centred and
distributed as more people rely on email, clouds and other
network based platforms. It is no longer adequate to think
about computers as an isolated object as many of them are
connected together using various network technologies and
topologies.
1.1. CHAIN OF CUSTODY
The Chain of Custody is the process of validating the
collection, storage, movement and protection of evidence.
The investigator must document the characteristics of the
evidence to distinguish comparable devices and to identify
the evidence. For digital evidence a hash value (MD5 and
SHA) should be taken, if hardware devices are there, then
proper sealed packing in faradays bag should be done.
The location, date and time of the seizure of the evidence
should be noted. Every minute detail and process from
acquisition to final result as evidence; should be well noted
and followed properly.
1.2. DIGITAL EVIDENCES
The following are the categorized devices and files
analysed during the research to obtain artefacts and relevant
network based data.
Table-I: Types of Evidences
Category Digital Evidence
Live systems
C.P.U (Windows based),
Live Network, Broadband
Router.
Image files of Hard disks
and Memory devices
Image file of a Hard-disk.
Log files
Log files of remote
desktop connections, web
servers.
Mobile Phones
Android based Cellular
mobile phone.
Captured network data Network packets and data.
2. ACQUISITION & ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE
AND DATA
The evidences may be acquired from the crime
location or may be captured with various tools and
processes as discussed below. The integrity and nature of the
evidence collected should be maintained as mentioned in
chain of custody; for that various hash calculations,
preservation process during data/hardware transfer and
transport should be strictly followed. The analysis of the
acquired evidence and data plays a key role in the
investigation process; as the case mainly depends on the
produced on the basis of the analysis. Thus, the analysis
process should be fast, efficient, easy-to-use and standard;
which should comply with the international standards and