Question Two
Conducting A Digital Investigative Report Using Footprinting
Student’s Name:
Professor’s Name:
Date:
Conducting a Digital Investigative project using Foot printing
Case details.
Mulliby, the wife of footballer Thiel went to the bank to confirm her financial status, and upon being given her monthly statement about all her transactions, i.e. her credit and debit transactions, mulliby noted a large sum of unauthorized charge on her credit card. This was on the Friday of November 5 2009. She later double-checked with her husband, who declined ever making any transactions using her credit card. She came to the police station on the same day and reported this crime situation.
Using digital foot printings to solve the case
To come up with the necessary evidence and a strong testimony, digital footprints were used as a tool for gathering information relating to the crime which involved unauthorized charges on mulliby’s credit card. The offender’s digital fingerprints will contain information relating to his browsing history, his Facebook status, any online subscriptions, any hint of IP activity as well other internet activities that the offender might have engaged in that is traceable. In this case, whenever the offender made any suspicious activity online, e.g. making unauthorized charges on muliby’s credit card, the digital footprints gave hints as to the specifics of the illegal cost (Straus, 2016).
To solve the case, several footprinting steps would have been followed. One of the steps involved gathering all information related to the case. All specifics including the time of occurrence, how much money, all information about the place where the transaction occurred etc. this information will be made available in open source or the free format online. Thoroughness is important. The next step will involve identifying the IP address range belonging to the offender. This will make the identification process much more comfortable, and he investigators will narrow their focus to only possible IP addresses of the target.
The next step will involve looking for any machines which are active and using the network whose Ip address has been obtained. Discovering any access point or open port will be the next step to identify the vulnerability on the machine to hack it. The next step will involve finding the operating system that is being used by the powerful tool as well as detecting any specific services which are in use or motion in the target’s operating system. Security issues I’ll be identified leading and the hacker will be able to exploit them. After all, this is done, the last step will involve creating a network map which will contain the topology of the targets network. The investigators will, therefore, be able to trace the exact location of the offender, thereby solving the case (Hendricks, 2020).
REFERENCES
Hendricks, B. (2020). What is Footprinting? – Definition, uses & process. Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-footprinting-definition-uses-process.html
Straus, R. (2016, August 26). How can a digital footprint be used in a criminal investigation? Quora – A place to share knowledge and better understand the world. https://www.quora.com/How-can-a-digital-footprint-be-used-in-a-criminal-investigation