The Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification is a professional qualification that demonstrates an individual’s expertise in detecting hacking attacks and properly extracting evidence to report the crime and conduct audits to prevent future attacks. This certification is designed for professionals involved in the field of information security, particularly those responsible for the forensic investigation of cyber crimes. The CHFI certification equips individuals with the necessary skills to identify an intruder’s footprints and to properly gather the required evidence to prosecute in the court of law.
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Professionals in the field of cybersecurity, digital forensics, and those involved in the legal process of cyber crime investigations.
While there are no strict prerequisites, a strong background in information security is recommended. Some opt to first complete the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification.
The CHFI certification is valid for three years, after which professionals must recertify.
Yes, the CHFI certification is highly regarded in the cybersecurity field and can significantly enhance career prospects in digital forensics.
EC-Council provides official CHFI study guides, training programs, and practice exams to prepare for the certification test.
Understanding the key terms in computer hacking forensics investigation is crucial for anyone aspiring to become an expert in the field or for those simply looking to enhance their knowledge base. This domain merges the intricate worlds of computer security and legal forensics to investigate cybercrimes, uncover evidence of hacking activities, and prevent future attacks. Professionals in this area must be well-versed in a wide range of technical terminologies and concepts to effectively analyze, report, and contribute to the judicial process. Below is a collection of essential terms that will serve as a foundation for anyone interested in or working within the realm of computer hacking forensics investigation.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Digital Forensics | The process of uncovering and interpreting electronic data. The goal of digital forensics is to preserve any evidence in its most original form while performing a structured investigation by collecting, identifying, and validating the digital information for the purpose of reconstructing past events. |
| Chain of Custody | A process that tracks the movement and handling of evidence from the time it is found until the time it is presented in court, ensuring that it has not been tampered with or altered. |
| Forensic Imaging | The process of making an exact, bit-by-bit copy of a drive, often including deleted files and unallocated disk space, for analysis without affecting the original evidence. |
| Incident Response | A set of procedures that an investigator follows in response to an immediate cyber threat or security breach to manage and mitigate the potential damage. |
| Cybercrime | Illegal activities conducted through the internet or other forms of computer technology, such as hacking, phishing, and distributing malware. |
| Malware Analysis | The process of studying the functionality, origin, and potential impact of malicious software to understand its behavior and mitigate threats. |
| Network Forensics | The capture, recording, and analysis of network events in order to discover the source of security attacks or other problem incidents. |
| Cryptography | The practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties known as adversaries. It involves creating and analyzing protocols that prevent third parties or the public from reading private messages. |
| Hash Value | A unique string of numbers and letters that acts as a digital fingerprint for a set of data. Hash values are used in forensics to ensure that a piece of data has not been altered. |
| E-Discovery (Electronic Discovery) | The process by which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. |
| Encryption | The process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access. |
| Data Recovery | The process of salvaging inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged or formatted data from secondary storage, removable media, or files when the data stored in them cannot be accessed in a usual way. |
| Log File Analysis | The process of examining log files (records of computer activity) to detect anomalies, track system usage, and identify potential security breaches or fraudulent activity. |
| Packet Sniffing | The use of a software or hardware tool to capture and analyze packets being transmitted over a network. Packet sniffers are used to monitor network traffic and diagnose network issues. |
| Intrusion Detection System (IDS) | A device or software application that monitors network or system activities for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a management station. |
| Rootkit | A set of software tools that enable unauthorized access to a computer or a network, often hiding its presence or the presence of other malware. |
| Penetration Testing | The practice of testing a computer system, network, or web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. |
| Computer Forensics | The application of investigation and analysis techniques to gather and preserve evidence from a particular computing device in a way that is suitable for presentation in a court of law. |
| Ethical Hacking | An authorized practice of bypassing system security to identify potential data breaches and threats in a network. The company that owns the system or network allows Cyber Security professionals to perform such activities in order to test the system’s defenses. |
| Volatile Memory | Memory that requires power to maintain the stored information. Forensic investigators analyze volatile memory (like RAM) to capture data that would be lost when a computer is powered off. |
| Steganography | The practice of hiding a file, message, image, or video within another file, message, image, or video. This technique can be used for malicious purposes, such as hiding a payload inside an innocuous-looking file. |
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