FROM smart phones to personal computers, we live and work in a digital world where electronic media components play an integral role in our day-to-day activities.

As the use of digital equipment continues to grow, crimes involving computers – fraud, child pornography, the theft of confidential information such as credit card details and internet misuse – are becoming increasingly widespread.

Information held within IT hardware and software has become critical from an evidential perspective. During the last five years there has been a rapid expansion in specialist investigations to counter the growth of computer misuse and in the development of specific tools and methods to collect and analyse “legally safe” digital evidence.

Computer and mobile telephone investigations have expanded rapidly and as it grows, so does the requirement for those in the legal and commercial sectors to be equipped with the skills to understand what can be achieved through digital forensic analysis.

nComputer investigations cover both criminal and civil cases including human resources and employment disputes. Regardless of the scenario, strict rules and legislation govern the investigation of computer-based evidence.

So what is digital forensics? It is the process of examining computers, mobile telephones and assorted electronic media. In other words, digital forensics is the collection, preservation, analysis, and presentation of computer-related evidence.

Digital evidence is often created by the computer's operating system without the knowledge of the operator. The information may be hidden from view. To find it, special digital forensic software tools and techniques are required. Analysis by a skilled examiner can reconstruct the activities of a computer user.

When people attempt to steal electronic information, they can leave traces of their activities. As a consequence computer and mobile telephone data is a reliable, essential form of evidence. More information is retained on a computer than most people realise and forensic examinations can often find evidence of, or completely recover, lost or intentionally deleted information.

In digital forensics, the goal is to retrieve data and interpret as much information about it as possible, and CLJ Solutions Ltd, in collaboration with Northumbria University is able to offer electronic media forensic examination services to law enforcement agencies, the legal profession and the corporate market.

:: Colin Gray is a computer and mobile telephone forensic analyst and a director at Newcastle’s CLJ Solutions.