Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
any.good.hunter,.you.need.to.irst.be.familiar.with.your.prey.
and.its.habits..In.Chapter.3.we.spent.a.lot.of.time.considering.
all.the.different.types.of.electronic.data.and.the.myriad.ways.
in.which.it.is.created.and.stored..For.details.on.the.question.of.
where.data.could.be,.I.refer.you.back.to.that.chapter.
But.even.if.you.memorized.every.word.of.that.chapter.and.
completely.considered.all.of.the.possible.places.the.data.you.
need.might.be.located.both.physically.and.virtually,.you.might.
still.have.a.problem.inding.it..How.could.that.be,.you.ask?
As.we.noted.before,.computers.and.other.digital.devices.
that.store.electronic.data.can.and.do.lose.data.sometimes.or.
possibly.store.it.in.ways.that.are.inaccessible.to.the.normal.
user..And.in.many.cases,.data.are.stored.in.a.way.that.can.
only.be.accessed,.manipulated,.or.recovered.using.a.speciic.
front-end.application.or.interface..We.look.at.each.of.these.
with.examples.to.make.this.clearer.
5.2.1 Applications as a Vital
User Interface
For. our. irst. example,. look. at. the. most. popular. electronic.
evidence.item.in.most.court.cases:.e-mail.(Figure 5.2).
Nearly. all. e-mail. applications. that. reside. on. a. computer.
have.a.database.of.some.sort.behind.them.which.is.respon-
sible.for.storing.and.organizing.all.of.the.items.you.receive.or.
input..When.you.get.an.e-mail.message.from.your.sister.in.
Roxbury,.the.database.stores.it.in.the.database.in.such.a.way.
that.when.you.open.your.e-mail.application.and.go.to.your.
Inbox,.you.will.see.the.new.message.from.your.sister.
Usually,.that.message,.being.new,.will.have.some.format-
ting.attached.to.it.to.indicate.that.it.is.new.and.that.you.have.
not.opened.it.yet..That.might.be.a.closed.envelope.icon,.or.
something.similar..That.message.also.contains.a.considerable.
amount.of.metadata.or.data.about.itself,.as.we.discussed.in.
detail.in.Chapter.3..It.will.contain.information.about.who.the.
original.sender.was,.what.time.it.was.posted,.the.e-mail.serv-
ers.it.started.from.and.went.through.to.get.to.yours,.the.types.
