CHFI Forensic Investigation Process 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A forensic investigator receives a hard drive that may contain evidence. Before imaging, the investigator calculates a hash value. After imaging, the same hash is calculated on the image. If both hashes match, this proves:
- The image was made with a certified tool
- The image is an exact bit-for-bit copy of the original (Correct answer)
- The original drive has no bad sectors
- The evidence was legally obtained
Correct answer: The image is an exact bit-for-bit copy of the original
Matching hash values before and after imaging confirm the forensic copy is an exact, unaltered duplicate of the original evidence.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the 'first responder' role in a digital forensic investigation?
- The attorney who files charges after the investigation
- The first person on the scene who secures and documents the environment without altering evidence (Correct answer)
- The senior forensic analyst who performs final evidence analysis
- The court officer who processes the forensic report
Correct answer: The first person on the scene who secures and documents the environment without altering evidence
The first responder secures the scene, documents the environment, and protects evidence from contamination before forensic specialists arrive.
Question 3: An investigator must examine a live server that cannot be shut down. Which approach is most appropriate?
- Immediately power off the server to prevent log tampering
- Perform live forensic acquisition capturing RAM and volatile data first (Correct answer)
- Remove the hard drive and image it offline
- Request a court order to shut down the server
Correct answer: Perform live forensic acquisition capturing RAM and volatile data first
Live forensic acquisition captures volatile memory and running process data from a system that must remain operational.
Question 4: What is the significance of 'metadata' in digital forensic investigations?
- Metadata is irrelevant because it can be easily faked
- Metadata provides information such as file creation time, author, and modification history (Correct answer)
- Metadata only exists in database files
- Metadata is protected by law and cannot be collected without a warrant
Correct answer: Metadata provides information such as file creation time, author, and modification history
Metadata stores critical information like timestamps, author details, and modification history that can corroborate or contradict a suspect's claims.
Question 5: In which phase of the forensic investigation process does an investigator reconstruct the timeline of events?
- Identification
- Preservation
- Examination and Analysis (Correct answer)
- Reporting
Correct answer: Examination and Analysis
During the Examination and Analysis phase, investigators correlate artifacts and timestamps to reconstruct the sequence of events.
Question 6: Which of the following is a legal concern when collecting evidence from a cloud storage provider?
- Cloud data cannot be used as forensic evidence
- Jurisdiction and the need for legal process such as subpoenas or mutual legal assistance treaties (Correct answer)
- Cloud providers are required to hand over data without any legal process
- Cloud evidence is always admissible without authentication
Correct answer: Jurisdiction and the need for legal process such as subpoenas or mutual legal assistance treaties
Cloud data may reside in foreign jurisdictions, requiring subpoenas, court orders, or mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) to obtain legally.
Question 7: What does the term 'forensic soundness' mean in the context of digital evidence?
- The evidence was collected using audio forensic techniques
- The evidence collection process did not alter the original data and is verifiable (Correct answer)
- The evidence has been reviewed by a licensed attorney
- The forensic tools used were open-source
Correct answer: The evidence collection process did not alter the original data and is verifiable
Forensic soundness means the evidence collection process preserved the original data intact and the process can be verified and repeated.
CHFI Forensic Investigation Process 4
A forensic investigator receives a hard drive that may contain evidence.
Before imaging, the investigator calculates a hash value.
After imaging, the same hash is calculated on the image.
If both hashes match, this proves: