The Basics of Digital Forensics, 2nd Editon
Sidenote: One of the subgenres I’m interested in beneath the umbrella of cybersecurity is Digital Forensics. Before I fully made the career switch I took a RITx class on the topic and was instantly interested. So, I always keep an eye out for books, videos, etc having to do with digital forensics.
As basic guides are rated this one is not so bad. I suppose I was expecting something similar to “The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing” that I reviewed earlier (here). The downfall to me if the book is that it feels as if it gives a cursory summation of most of the topics. Perhaps, this is colored by already being aware of many of the topics and thus I should have adjusted my expectations.
There are some sure shortfalls for example: 1. No real mention of linux and the differences between linux and windows investigations 2. Tools are mentioned,but not by name which means further investigation is stymied 3. The “flow” is stunted. There are chapters that seem misplaced ( notably the placement of the Legal chapter in the middle of the book) 4. The are sections that seem to wander away from the subject for example there is a good deal of talk about network protocols, but less on gathering evidence other than through logging.
I liked the inclusion of the case studies, but even those are brief. As a general overview of digital forensics it is mildly successful in that it does lead readers to other sources and mentions many popular tools used in the field. But what would have helped would have been a walk through that processed a case using these tools and the methodology of conducting a digital forensic investigation. The book was a lot of “tell” with little to no “show”.
All in all the book is informational to a point. Honestly, it is entirely more “basic” than expected and doesn’t give the depth that I was looking for even on an introductory/fundamentals level.
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