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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The Privacy Protection Act (PPA) protects journalists by restricting law enforcement’s ability to search or seize materials intended for public dissemination unless certain exceptions apply. It safeguards journalistic sources and unpublished work from unwarranted government intrusion.

The PPA ensures freedom of the press and protects confidential information.

Law enforcement must comply with procedural safeguards before accessing journalistic materials.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The ipconfig command executed at a Windows command prompt displays detailed network configuration information such as IP addresses, subnet masks, and default gateways. Collecting this information prior to seizure preserves volatile evidence relevant to the investigation.

Documenting network settings supports the understanding of the suspect system's connectivity at the time of seizure.

NIST recommends capturing volatile data (including network configuration) before shutting down or disconnecting a suspect machine.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

File slack is the space between the logical end of a file and the physical end of the last cluster allocated to the file. This space may contain residual data from previously deleted files or fragments, making it significant in forensic investigations.

Unallocated space refers to clusters not currently assigned to any file.

Volume slack includes slack space at the volume level but is less specific.

Host protected area is a reserved part of the disk for system use, unrelated to slack space.

File slack is a recognized forensic artifact often examined for hidden data or remnants.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A bit-level (bitstream) copy creates an exact sector-by-sector duplicate of the original media, capturing all files, deleted data, and slack space. This method is essential to preserve the entirety of digital evidence without modification.

Bit-level imaging maintains forensic soundness.

It allows investigators to perform analysis without altering original data.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The browser cache stores recently accessed web pages, images, and cookies, which may include phishing site content and related activity. Investigators analyzing phishing attacks collect browser cache data to reconstruct the victim’s web activity and detect malicious sites.

Cached web pages help corroborate victim statements and establish timelines.

Browser history and cache are volatile and must be preserved promptly.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Firewall logs record network traffic to and from the messaging server and can provide evidence of unauthorized access attempts or data exfiltration. Collecting these logs allows investigators to reconstruct the attack timeline and identify the attacker’s IP address and methods.

Firewall logs are critical for network-level forensics.

According to NIST SP 800-86, log files provide primary evidence for intrusion investigations.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Before connecting an iPhone to a forensic workstation, the investigator must ensure that the phone doesnotsync with the computer automatically. Automatic syncing may alter, delete, or overwrite evidence stored on the device or the computer, compromising forensic integrity.

Jailbreak mode is not necessary and can complicate forensic analysis.

Powering off the device prevents acquisition of volatile data.

Root privileges (jailbreak) may aid access but are not mandatory before connection.

NIST mobile device forensic guidelines emphasize disabling automatic sync to preserve data integrity during acquisition.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Steganography is used to conceal information within other seemingly innocuous data, such as embedding messages inside image files, allowing secret delivery of information without detection.

Unlike encryption, steganography hides the existence of the message itself.

It is an anti-forensic technique used to evade detection.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring law enforcement to obtain a search warrant based on probable cause before searching private emails on computers, except in certain recognized exceptions (such as consent or exigent circumstances).

Protects privacy rights in digital communication.

Failure to obtain proper legal authorization can invalidate evidence.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Disk Investigator is a forensic tool that can analyze disk images and file systems to identify hidden data, including the presence of steganography by examining slack space, hidden files, and embedded data.

DiskDigger is mainly a data recovery tool.

FTK is a comprehensive forensic suite but does not specialize in steganography detection.

ComputerCOP is a parental control software, not a forensic tool.

Digital forensic best practices recognize Disk Investigator as useful for detecting steganographic content in files and disk areas.