In the realm of digital investigations, an integrated approach to digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) is becoming increasingly popular. This approach requires a combination of dynamic yet novel thinking. The combination of incident response expertise and digital investigative services is important for handling the complexities of modern cybersecurity situations.
What is DFIR?
Digital forensics incident response is a combination of the following.
Digital Forensics
Digital forensics is an investigative branch of forensic science that gathers, analyzes and presents digital evidence like system data and user activity. Digital forensics is used to figure out what happened on a digital device and it is most commonly employed in litigations, regulatory investigations and the internal investigations in a company. It is also used to uncover criminal activities and similar digital investigations.
Incident Response
Incident response is similar to digital forensics as it is used to collect and analyze data to investigate computer systems. This happens during the process of responding to a security incident. Therefore, while investigation is important, other steps like recovery and containment are compared against each other.
Challenges in DFIR
Digital Forensics
Scattered Evidence
With time, handling digital evidence has become difficult. The reason is that evidence is no longer dependent on a single host. Instead, it comes from a variety of sources, and therefore, it is scattered in various locations. As a result, digital forensics needs more time and tools to gather evidence and analyze threats.
Rampant Technological Advancements
It seems counterintuitive but it’s true. With an evolution of digital devices, operating systems and computer programs, things are changing at a rapid pace. As a result, it has become challenging for digital forensic experts to manage large amounts of data across different formats and devices.
Incident Response
Growing Data
With time, companies have become more vulnerable to digital threats. However, they cannot find the right cybersecurity talent to address big information volumes, as well as threat data. As a result, companies are turning to DFIR experts to bridge the skills gap, while retaining important threat support.
Extra Attack Surface
The attack surface of today is vast. Also, today’s software and computing systems are making it difficult to get one’s hands on an accurate network overview, which increases the risk of use errors.
DFIR: Best Practices
Digital Forensics
The success of the integration of digital forensics and incident response depends on how quick and thorough the response is. It is very important for digital forensic teams to be experienced and to possess the right DFIR tools and processes to provide a prompt and effective response to a situation.
Digital forensics expertise is beneficial for various reasons like increased capability to discover the root cause behind an incident, and identifying the scope and impact as accurately as possible. The employment of correct investigative tools ensures quick discovery of vulnerabilities that often result in unintentional exposure and attacks.
Incident Response
Incident response services exist for the real time management of an incident. The incident response best practices include planning, preparation, prompt and accurate response for reducing reputational harm, business downtime and financial loss.
When combined together, the DFIR best practices include determining the cause of an issue, the correct identification and location of all available evidence, while providing ongoing support to make sure your company’s security posture is bolstered for upcoming challenges.
Final Word
To know more about the efficacy of DFIR, head over to Eclipse Forensics’ website, or call (904) 797-1866. We offer the best digital services like audio/video forensics and data redaction. If you are new to digital forensic services, you can educate yourself by visiting and reading our scholarly written blogs.