Learn the most important step a CHFI investigator must take to ensure a forensically sound data acquisition when the suspect drive cannot be retained and there are time constraints.
Table of Contents
Question
In a complex forensic investigation, a CHFI investigator has been given a 2 TB suspect drive from which they must acquire relevant data as quickly as possible. The investigator uses a verified and tested data acquisition tool to accomplish this task. Given that the suspect drive cannot be retained, and considering the mandatory requirements of the selected tool, which of the following steps is the most critical for the investigator to ensure a forensically sound acquisition?
A. Prioritizing and acquiring only those data that are of evidentiary value
B. Testing lossless compression by applying an MD5, SHA-2, or SHA-3 hash on a file before and after compression
C. Using Microsoft disk compressions tools like DriveSpace and DoubleSpace to exclude slack disk space between the files
D. Compress files by using archiving tools like PKZip, WinZip, and WinRAR
Answer
The most critical step for the CHFI investigator to ensure a forensically sound data acquisition in this scenario is:
B. Testing lossless compression by applying an MD5, SHA-2, or SHA-3 hash on a file before and after compression
Explanation
In a forensic investigation, preserving the integrity of the acquired data is paramount. When the original suspect drive cannot be retained, the investigator must acquire an exact, complete copy of the relevant data.
Lossless compression allows the data to be compressed to save space without any loss of information. By applying a cryptographic hash function like MD5, SHA-2 or SHA-3 to a file before and after lossless compression, the investigator can verify that the compressed file is identical to the original. If the hashes match, it proves the compression process did not alter the data in any way.
The other options have issues:
A) Only acquiring data believed to have evidentiary value risks missing important evidence that may not be apparently relevant at first. A complete acquisition is needed.
C) Microsoft disk compression tools are lossy and don’t acquire slack space which may contain critical evidence. They are forensically unsound.
D) Standard file archiving tools like zip are lossy and alter metadata, making them unsuitable for forensic acquisition.
In summary, when time is limited and the suspect drive can’t be kept, testing lossless compression with hashing is the most critical step for the CHFI investigator to ensure the acquired data is an exact, unaltered copy of the original evidence. This preserves forensic soundness which is essential for the integrity of the investigation and admissibility of evidence.
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