Course Overview

Digital forensics is a critical component of modern cybersecurity, enabling organizations to investigate security incidents, identify the source and impact of attacks, preserve evidence, and support legal or internal investigations. This course introduces learners to the principles, processes, tools, and practices required to collect, preserve, analyze, and report digital evidence in a forensically sound manner. This course begins with the fundamentals of digital forensics, including the forensic process, types and sources of digital evidence, cybersecurity use cases, chain of custody, admissibility, privacy, and ethical considerations. It then covers evidence acquisition and preservation using FTK Imager, Autopsy, and DD, along with write blockers, disk imaging, hashing, evidence handling, and documentation. Learners progress to analyzing NTFS, FAT32, and EXT file systems, recovering deleted and hidden files, examining metadata, browser and system artifacts, registry and log data, USB activity, and creating investigative timelines. The course concludes with professional forensic reporting, evidence storage, anti-forensic techniques, visual documentation, clear conclusions, and ethical responsibilities. By completing this course, learners will be able to acquire and preserve evidence, analyze digital artifacts, reconstruct events, correlate findings, and produce defensible forensic reports.

What You Will Learn

  • Explain the role and scope of digital forensics in cybersecurity investigations.
  • Apply standard procedures to collect and preserve digital evidence using forensic tools.
  • Perform basic forensic analysis on digital media using industry-standard tools.
  • Create concise reports documenting digital evidence and analysis findings.

Program Curriculum

  • Introduction to Course
  • Module Introduction
  • What is Digital Forensics?
  • The Forensic Process
  • Types of Digital Evidence
  • Where Digital Forensics Fits in the Cybersecurity Lifecycle?
  • Real-world Use Cases: Insider Threats
  • Potential Sources of Evidence
  • Chain of Custody and Admissibility in Court
  • Privacy, Consent, and Ethical Boundaries
  • Regional and International Laws Impacting Digital Evidence
  • Chapter 1 Quiz

  • Module Introduction
  • Types of Acquisition and Image Formats
  • Precautions During Evidence Handling
  • Write Blockers and Imaging Best Practices
  • Disk Imaging with FTK Imager and Analysis in Autopsy
  • Bit-by-Bit Imaging Using DD
  • Hashing for Integrity (MD5/SHA1/SHA256)
  • Maintaining Forensic Soundness
  • Chain of Custody: Concept and Importance
  • Labelling and Evidence Bagging Procedures
  • Chapter 2 Quiz

  • Module Introduction
  • Understanding NTFS, FAT32, and EXT File Systems
  • Metadata: MAC Times
  • Recovering Hidden, Deleted, or Orphaned Files
  • Analyzing Browser History and Cookies
  • Prefetch Files and Registry Analysis
  • Tracking Document Access and USB Device Usage
  • Interpreting Log Files (Windows Event Logs, Syslog)
  • Timeline Creation Using Autopsy
  • Correlating Data Across Artifacts and Sources
  • Interpreting Anomalies and Suspicious Gaps
  • Chapter 3 Quiz

  • Module Introduction
  • Purpose and Structure of a Forensic Report
  • Required Sections: Executive Summary, Methodology, Findings, Conclusions
  • Writing for Non-technical Audiences
  • Common Mistakes to Avoid
  • Evidence Storage and Management in a Cloud Environment
  • Completing and Preserving Chain of Custody Forms
  • Anti-forensic Techniques and Mitigation Strategies
  • Screenshots and Supporting Visual Evidence
  • Writing Clear Conclusions Based on Evidence
  • Case Review and Criticism
  • Ethics and Responsibility in Reporting
  • Course Wrap-up Video
  • Chapter 4 Quiz
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Instructor

Team

Starweaver delivers 10x better-trained employees and students through scalable, activity-based online learning combined with live human-to-human instruction. With 70–85% course completion rates, we go beyond passive content libraries by focusing on real skill-building and professional competency. Our mission is to transform technologists into world-class experts and business professionals into tech-savvy leaders. Starweaver connects learners with a global network of live instructors and peers, driving higher engagement, satisfaction, and achievement. Our proprietary tools blend guided self-learning with real-time collaboration, ensuring learners stay motivated, capable, and truly job-ready.

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