Introduction to Computer Forensics

Abstract

Thousands of years ago in China, fingerprints were used on all business documents in the same way signatures are used today—to provide approval of the document, or authorization to perform any actions that the document outlines. This was the very first application of forensics in the world. Since then, law enforcement around the world has slowly developed the forensic skills and tools to investigate crime scenes, using forensic sciences and methods to learn what happened. An example of this is Song Ci, an outstanding forensics scientist in Ancient China who documented his lifetimes of experience and thoughts on forensic medicine in his book “Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine”. These works were the first of their kind in the world (Fig. 1.1).