Process:
Social Media Forensics involves systematically tracking, capturing, and analyzing social media platforms to gather evidence of cybercrimes, fraud, or other malicious activities. The process often starts with identifying the specific accounts, posts, or interactions of interest. Once identified, data extraction tools may be used to collect relevant digital artifacts, including deleted posts, messages, location data, and metadata. This information is analyzed to establish timelines, connections, or proofs of illicit activities.
Examples:
In a corporate espionage case, social media forensics was able to link an employee’s suspicious online activities to the unauthorized sharing of confidential information.
During a harassment case, forensics experts could recover deleted messages that served as critical evidence in court.
Risks of Not Doing It:
Failure to conduct social media forensics can result in overlooked evidence, hampering investigations into cybercrimes, fraud, or other malicious acts. The absence of such analysis can also mean that harmful activities continue undetected, potentially causing lasting damage to individuals or organizations. Legal repercussions could include loss of cases due to insufficient evidence. In a corporate context, the company could suffer from reputation damage, loss of intellectual property, or financial losses.