Extract from Exterro’s article “Why You Need Live Preview in Your Digital Forensics Toolkit”
What Is Live Preview in Digital Forensics?
In the context of digital forensics, a “live preview” refers to the ability to view and analyze the contents of a digital device or system in real-time or near real-time, without altering its state or data. It allows investigators to assess the current state of a system, gather volatile data, and potentially identify any malicious or suspicious activities occurring on the system.
It’s important to note that while live preview provides valuable real-time insights, it should be performed carefully to avoid contaminating or altering the system being investigated. Accidentally affecting the data would mean that the investigation was no longer forensically sound and could result in it being inadmissible in court. In some cases, it might be necessary to create a forensic image of the system before performing live analysis to ensure data preservation and integrity.
Why Is Live Preview Important?
Cybersecurity incidents can unfold rapidly, and it’s important to act fast to prevent malware or an intrusion from moving from one endpoint—perhaps an employee’s laptop computer or company-issued smartphone—to other endpoints and even to corporate infrastructure. Quick response a cyberincident can dramatically reduce the costs of responding to it by minimizing the data lost or compromised, reducing the risk of business disruption, and reducing the need to remediate or restore multiple devices.
