The Internet has become important since information is now stored in digital form and is transported both within and between organisations in large amounts through computer networks. Nevertheless, there are those individuals or groups of people who utilise the Internet to harm other businesses because they can remain relatively anonymous. To prosecute such criminals, forensic practitioners have to follow a well-defined procedure to convict responsible cyber-criminals in a court of law. Log files provide significant digital evidence in computer networks when tracing cyber-criminals. Network log mining is an evolution of typical digital forensics utilising evidence from network devices such as firewalls, switches and routers. Network log mining is a process supported by presiding South African laws such as the Computer Evidence Act, 57 of 1983; the Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act, 25 of 2002; and the Electronic Communications Act, 36 of 2005. Nevertheless, international laws and regulations supporting network log mining include the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Bribery Act of the USA. A digital forensic model for computer networks focusing on network log mining has been developed based on the literature reviewed and critical thought. The development of the model followed the Design Science methodology. However, this research project argues that there are some important aspects which are not fully addressed by South African presiding legislation supporting digital forensic investigations. With that in mind, this research project proposes some Forensic Investigation Precautions. These precautions were developed as part of the proposed model. The Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) Theory is the framework underpinning the development of the model and how it can be assimilated into the community. The model was sent to IT experts for validation and this provided the qualitative element and the primary data of this research project. From these experts, this study found out that the proposed model is very unique, very comprehensive and has added new knowledge into the field of Information Technology. Also, a paper was written out of this research project.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:11127 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Sanyamahwe, Tendai |
| Publisher | University of Fort Hare, Faculty of Management & Commerce |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MCom (Information Systems) |
| Format | 150 leaves; 30 cm, pdf |
| Rights | University of Fort Hare |
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