Best Computer Forensics Software
Reviews of Computer Forensics Tools

Read our best computer forensics software reviews & learn how to build your toolkit.

Our experts rate & review the best computer forensics tools available

In an effort to maximize the productivity of digital police investigations, there are a number of computer forensics computer programs & tools available for different agencies to use.

Computer forensics is a branch of the crime scene investigation team, tasked with the job of scouring through digital media for evidence that pertains to a crime.

Just like other members of the CSI squad, the computer forensics detective is required to find evidence in a delicate and thorough manner, without corrupting anything that may be used later in a court of law.

Computer Forensics Software
What It's Used For

The four main functions of the computer forensics detective are:

Preserve
Recover
Analyze
Report

Since the beginning of the digital revolution, the use of these kinds of detectives and the computer forensics software they employ has become standard country-wide. The percentage of computer-related crimes is growing each year, and criminals often used digital media to help them break the law.

So it is often up to the investigator and his or her computer forensics toolkit to break the case.

Computer Forensics Tools

Because computer forensics is such delicate work, requiring a deft hand and thorough knowledge of the digital field, there are a number of computer forensics tools used to get the desired results.

These tools, for the most part, are various computer programs and software used to gather evidence. Because the digital age has evolved into an incredibly complex system, computer forensics scientists need more than just one tool to get the job done.

For instance, to get through a suspect's password protection, the computer forensics technician may use one tool (or program), but in order to obtain records of the files on the same computer, or a list of websites the suspect frequented, another tool must be used.

And for the advanced computer criminals--those with a far greater understanding of how computers work than the average person--computer forensics teams need to employ a vast variety of cutting edge tools to get at the information they need.

While other crime scene investigators require tools like gloves, tweezers, magnifying glasses, and the like, computer forensics teams use a digital toolkit to do their jobs.

Computer Forensics Software Reviews

There are many computer forensics computer programs available for such CSI members to use. Some of them are incredibly pricey, while others are free to the public.

To give you an idea of what they are and how they work, let's take a look at just a few of them now:

Vogon Forensic Software

Vogon programs are used for three main purposes: investigating, imaging, and processing. Imaging is used to create replica of a certain computer's data. Processing is used to create readable indexes of that replication, while the investigating function allows a computer forensics detective to find what they need within those indexes.

EnCase

This is the top-of-the-line computer forensics software. It is able to do a whole host of activities. Like the Vogon program, it can image, process, and investigate. But it isn't limited to just computers. EnCase is also able to work on PDA's and high-tech cell phones, where sensitive materials may be even more likely to appear than on a suspect's home computer.

Data Dumper

This is one of the free computer forensics software programs available. It's a low-key version of Vogon, able to duplicate a computer's data, but with a much less user-friendly interface.