Network Forensics
Network forensics is a branch of digital forensics focused on monitoring, capturing, recording, and analyzing network traffic and events to investigate security incidents, cyberattacks, or policy violations. It involves collecting data from network devices, logs, and packet captures to reconstruct activities, identify malicious behavior, and gather evidence for legal or internal purposes. This discipline is crucial for incident response, threat hunting, and compliance auditing in modern IT environments.
Developers should learn network forensics when working in cybersecurity, incident response, or system administration roles to detect and mitigate attacks like DDoS, data breaches, or insider threats. It is essential for analyzing network-based incidents, understanding attack vectors, and ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA. Use cases include investigating malware infections, tracing unauthorized access, and performing post-incident analysis to prevent future breaches.