DailyPost 733
PREVENTIVE CYBER FORENSICS
Forensics the science of analysis post the incident / crime and the assign the cause, reason or the scientific description of the event to help the investigator reach the final conclusion. As in the case of nearly every aspect of human existence, digital technology has elevated us to to different level. And given its ever gathering pace it will turn out to be more epoch making. Computer forensics has for long been used in a similar manner as in other criminal cases. Given the changing complexity of the Cyber Security scenario, their seems to be an emerging need for preventive Cyber Forensics.
On the one side the Cyber Security scenario keeps worsening, on the other had we are not ready to do a post mortem of every single Cyber Security Incident small or big. With over 52, 000 Cyber security incidents in a year , presumably including 22, 000 website defacements, the learnings would be immense, which intelligently ploughed into the system, would start delivering faster than what we can even imagine. Filling incident report forms digital or manual cannot lead to improvement. Neither outsourcing it to vendors from whom getting AMC is the critical decision and not the improvement of the system.
This needs a complete change of mindset. Enjoying the fruits of digital business with total ignorance of the businesses security is not going to last for long. Besides the cyber incidents the well thought out strategic intervention into the complexities of data traffic will for sure throw up one of its kind learnings to be put back into the system to make it more robust. A forensic analysis into the cause death cannot bring back the man to life, but this analysis for sure will add longevity to the digital enterprise.
Fixated in the earlier Cyber Security mindset; scientists are happy to deal with non-functional systems. Reorientation of this knowledge and expertise can reinvent Cybersecurity. For sure there is a huge gap between the claims and the reality of various cyber security products. A forensic study of human behaviour through his digital activities can be another dimension to preventive cyber forensics. Tying the man & the machine in digital totality with validated preventive cyber forensic tools would be a paradigm shift in the Cyber Security stance of the enterprises.
PREVENTIVE CYBER FORENSICS CAN CONSIDERABLY CUT DOWN MAJOR CYBER OUTAGES.
Sanjay Sahay