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Digital Forensics is known as the branch of forensic science that recovers evidence found in any form of digital devices. Digital forensic investigators use the data collected from electronic devices to stop crime online. Using digital evidence, they can see directly where an attack came from and trace it back to a specific person. Digital forensics is known as highly detailed and very important to forensics. This is due to the high tech society that we live in today.

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Proper collection guidelines for devices are difficult to interpret. This leads to legal conflicts in some cases. Change in technology is constant, which makes finding evidence difficult. Criminals often can hide their evidence easily if they are tech-savvy. With just a tap of a specific button, they can erase all digital evidence that leads to them. There is also trouble when a missing person or a suspect is anti-technological. When this occurs, the lack of digital evidence is an issue and the person can be difficult or almost impossible to locate.

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The chain of custody for digital evidence is extremely important so that digital evidence is admissible in court. The evidence must not be tampered with, and the sequence of transfers must be tracked and logged.
1. Data Collection: The initiation of the chain of custody process. Involves identification, labeling, recording, and the acquisition of data from all relevant sources that keep the integrity of the evidence presented.
2. Examination: Documentation outlines the forensic process taken. Here, screenshots are taken throughout the process to show the evidence revealed.
3. Analysis: This is the result of the examination stage. Here, useful information is derived using legally justified methods to answer the questions asked in the particular case.
4. Reporting: This is where documentation of the examination and analysis stage occurs. This includes the following-
- Statement regarding Chain of Custody.
-Explanation of the carious tools used.
-A description of the analysis of various data sources.
-Issues identified
-Vulnerabilities identified.
-Recommendation for additional forensics measures that can be taken.
Lastly, a Chain of Custody Form must be made that lists out the details of how the evidence was handled every step of the way. (What is the evidence? How did you get it? When was it collected? Who has handled it? Where was it stored? How was it transported? How was it tracked? How was it stored? Who has access to the evidence?).
All of this is essential for the evidence to be admissible in court.

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Three methods used to preserve digital evidence are known as:
1.Drive Imaging: Before forensic investigators begin analyzing evidence from a source, they need to create an image of the evidence. Imaging a drive is a forensic process in which an analyst will create a bit-by-bit duplicate of the drive.
2.Hash Values: When a forensic investigator creates an image of the evidence for analysis, the process generates cryptographic hash values like MD5, SHA1, etc.
3.Chain of Custody: As forensic investigators collect media from the client and transfer it, they should document all the steps conducted during the transfer of media and the evidence on the Chain of Custody (CoC) forms and capture signatures, date, and time upon the media handoff.

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Encryption is the process of converting plaintext to ciphertext. In simpler words, it is a way of scrambling data so that only authorized parties can understand the information. It requires the use of an encryption key: a set of mathematical values that both the sender and the recipient of an encrypted message know. Truly secure encryption is too complex for a third party to decrypt by guessing.

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The types of digital evidence are characterized into the two groups of evidence from data at rest and data intercepted whole being transmitted. Different sources of digital evidence include the internet, computers, and portable devices. The internet has information such as emails, message boards, chat rooms, file sharing networks, and intercepted communications. Computers provide things such as time stamps and IP addresses that can link evidence back to a particular computer that then links to a specific person. Portable devices entail cell phones, tablets and other handheld devices or gadgets. These are a lead source in many cases because society depends so heavily on these devices.

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Suspect- Paige Thompson, 33, aka "erratic" online. Transgender woman known to have mental health issues.

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July 2019, someone hacked Capital One's computers from Amazon Web Services (aka, "Cloud Computing Company" that came from a program crated by Thompson to scan cloud customers for a specific web application firewall misconfiguration).

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Thompson leaked personal information of Capital One's customers on GitHub on April 21st. Another user spotted this and flagged it to Capital One July 17th. The credit-card company then contacted the FBI two days later. It was found that the GitHub address included Thompson's full name and a link that had a resume stating that she was a systems engineer.A screenshot of a conversation showed a user telling Thompson not to go to jail and she responded with "I wanna get it off my server thats why Im archiving all of it lol."

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There is up to 30 terabytes of data currently under review in this case. This data is known to contain a large amount of information about alleged victims. It also contains internal company records and information. The material found is "sensitive material beyond the typical matter" according to officials. Victims of this crime are known to be a state agency outside of Washington state, a public university outside of Washington state, and a telecommunications conglomerate outside of the United States. There is currently no evidence that the data was sold or distributed to others.

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Paige Thompson is known to have many mental health issues. It was also presented in court that her financial state has been known to be unstable, as she has trouble keeping a stable job. This is most likely due to her unhealthy mental state. Thompson is highly intelligent when it comes to hacking, and she hacked Capital One's systems, meaning that she hacked a very highly secured program. Thompsons' technological skills, mental health state, and financial issues is motive for her hacking the system and fraudulently stealing money as well as leaking a substantial amount of personal information.

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Thompson gained access to victims' cloud infrastructure using stolen credentials, then allegedly accessed and exfiltrated data. Another claim is that she used this in some cases to set up cryptocurrency mining operations, known as cryptojacking. This cryptojacking offers immediate payout. The breach exposed 106 million credit card applications which included names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth, along with 140,000 social security numbers, 80,000 bank account numbers, and some credit scores and transaction data. Thompson was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, and abuse for the intrusion into data of Capital One and more than 30 other entities.

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A mobile and technical society has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. As a result of this increase, there has been exponential growth seen for the use of digital forensics. In 2003, the FBI case load was about 6,500 cases, compared to 2012, when more than 13,300 digital examinations were conducted. Digital forensics allows law enforcement to track criminals and assist victims. Before digital forensics, child pornography was hard to track and convictions were rare. Although the internet has increased the creation and distribution of child pornography, it has also given law enforcement a stronger ability to detect and track these cases, leading to more convictions. Because of this, I believe digital forensics is a very valuable resource. As technology is growing, there is more potential for cybercrime and digital forensics is a way to help fight this cybercrime. Without digital forensics, many criminals would get away with digital crimes, leading to the internet being a very unsafe place that society would not be protected from.

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Trial took place November 4, 2019. A continuation then took place March and October of 2020. The US Magistrate Judge told Thompson that she is "highly talented and has all the medians and understanding to create plunder in our banking system". During the hearing, Thompson was described as a danger to the community. According to Peterson, the Magistrate Judge, she is a physical danger to herself and those around her, along with financial and economic threats she presents. According to prosecutors, Paige should be detained by the federal judge as a flight risk. During Thompson's house search, a vast amount of weapons, ammunition, and explosive material was found. This attributes to Thompson's threat to society, as she has mental health problems, history of abuse, lack of stable employment, housing and family connection. Each of these issues were presented in court by prosecutors. Paige is a transgender woman, so the defense lawyers asked that she be released to a halfway house for a more comforting admittance to mental healthcare and gender-affirming treatment. The defense presented that the court held Thompson at a Federal Detention center in the male wing. It was also presented that while here, Thompson was placed under suicide watch.
Thompson has pleaded not guilty to all charged pressed by prosecutors, which entail 6 as of now. The investigation is still ongoing and the possession of evidence is now 30 TB. They are also questioning amazon in the security incident. Thompson is currently under a federal halfway house where she has zero access to technology unless permitted from the Pretrial Services or court. Thompson faces up to 20 years in prison. Dozens of companies will testify against Thompson and experts provide testimony.

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The trial is still ongoing; there is a trial continuation set for February 8, 2021. As of now, through evidence presented and conclusions made, Thompson faces up to 20 years in prison. As more evidence is presented, this number is likely to grow. Based on Thompson's mental health, she is likely to be put under some type of legal watch for some time after being released.