Definition: Forensic is really a legal term. At its root it means something that is worthy of discussing in a court of law or that is related to the application of knowledge to a legal problem. It has been glorified in TV shows like CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) where they use various forms of chemical, pathological and other forensic sciences to gather information to determine how a crime occurred.
In computer terms, forensic is used to describe the science (or art) of extracting and gathering data from a computer to determine how an intrusion occurred, when it occurred and who the intruder was. Organizations that employ good security practices and maintain logs of network and file access are able to accomplish this much easier. But, with the right knowledge and the right tools forensic evidence can be extracted even from burned, water-logged or physically damaged computer systems.
Also Known As: Computer Forensics, Network Forensics, Cyber Forensics
