Digital Forensics Essentials

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Details

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Paid Certificate Available
Duration & workload

8 hours 54 minutes
Sessions

On-Demand
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Are You Ready to Uncover the Truth Hidden in Digital Evidence? Digital forensics is not just for law enforcement agents and agencies, it is for anyone who wants to understand how to investigate cyber-incidents, recover deleted files, trace unauthorized activity, and ensure the integrity of digital systems. In a world where almost every crime has a digital footprint, knowing how to collect and analyse that evidence is essential. Whether you want to pursue a career in cybersecurity, protect your organization from insider threats, or simply understand how digital investigations work, this course is your gateway to the fast-growing field of digital forensics. This beginner-friendly course will demystify the process of digital investigation and give you the confidence to analyze data, use forensic tools, and build defensible reports. You’ll explore file systems, memory analysis, data acquisition, and reporting techniques all through clear explanations and practical hands-on labs. Unlike a one-size-fits-all tutorial, digital forensics requires precision, patience, and a strong sense of ethics. This course will guide you step-by-step through real-world scenarios, forensic best practices, and essential toolkits to help you uncover and preserve digital evidence with clarity and confidence. This course is designed for IT professionals transitioning into cybersecurity, computer science students and beginners building foundational skills, law enforcement or legal professionals working with digital evidence, and anyone curious about how cybercrimes are investigated and solved. Learners should have basic computer literacy, be familiar with operating systems such as Windows or Linux, and bring a genuine curiosity about cybersecurity or digital investigations to make the most of the course. By the end of the course, you will be able to explain the role of digital forensics in cybersecurity, collect and preserve digital evidence using standard forensic procedures, perform foundational forensic analysis with industry tools, and create clear, structured reports that document your investigative findings. You will also build the confidence to approach digital investigations methodically and ethically in real-world scenarios.

Syllabus

Course Introduction

In this course, you’ll learn how to investigate digital evidence step-by-step using the core principles and tools of modern digital forensics. You’ll explore how to identify, acquire, and preserve data from computers and storage devices, recover deleted artifacts, and trace user activity across file systems and system logs. Through guided instruction, hands-on labs, and real-world investigative scenarios using tools like FTK Imager, Autopsy, and dd, you’ll build the skills to perform basic forensic analyses, validate evidence integrity, and document your findings in clear, defensible reports—preparing you to support cybersecurity incidents, legal cases, or organizational investigations with confidence.

The Role of Digital Forensics in Cybersecurity

This module introduces learners to the foundational concepts of digital forensics and its critical role in cybersecurity investigations. It explores how digital forensics supports incident response, evidence collection, and legal proceedings, while also addressing ethical and operational boundaries.

Evidence Acquisition and Preservation Using Forensic Tools

In this module, you’ll learn how digital evidence is acquired and preserved in a way that keeps it reliable, defensible, and legally admissible. We’ll walk through the full acquisition process—from understanding image formats and handling devices safely to using tools like FTK Imager and dd for accurate disk imaging. You’ll also explore hashing, write blockers, and chain of custody procedures that ensure evidence remains untampered and trustworthy. By the end, you’ll understand how proper acquisition and preservation form the foundation of every successful digital investigation.

Performing Basic Forensic Analysis on Digital Media

In this module, you’ll learn how to examine digital media and uncover the traces users and systems leave behind. We’ll break down the essentials of file systems, metadata, and deleted file recovery so you can start identifying meaningful artifacts in real forensic cases. You’ll explore how user activity, system logs, and application traces come together to form a timeline of events that tells the story of what happened on a machine. By the end, you’ll be able to extract key evidence, analyze it with industry tools, and interpret patterns that support a clear forensic narrative.

Reporting Digital Evidence and Analysis Findings

In this module, you’ll learn how to turn your forensic analysis into a clear, defensible report that can stand up to scrutiny in legal, corporate, or investigative environments. We’ll walk through the essential sections of a professional forensic report, explore how to document evidence accurately, and practice writing in a way that is objective, concise, and easy for non-technical audiences to understand. You’ll also learn how to maintain chain of custody records, prepare screenshots and supporting visuals, and avoid common reporting mistakes that can weaken a case. By the end, you’ll feel confident finalizing and presenting a forensic report that communicates your findings with clarity, credibility, and professionalism.

Course Conclusion

In this wrap-up module, you’ll apply your full set of digital forensics skills by analyzing a provided disk image in Autopsy. You’ll extract artifacts, interpret activity, and create a clear forensic report that demonstrates your ability to handle a real investigation from start to finish.