Homework 1 (10 points)
This assignment gives you an opportunity to search your personal computer for Personally identifiable Information (PII).
Assignment
- Install the Identity Finder software and analyze your personal computer for PII.
- Download and extract this sample PII file to your computer.
- Using the Identity Finder Search Wizard, perform a Comprehensive search on your computer. This may take a long time.
Assignment Deliverables
- Submit a paper (3-5 pages) summarizing your findings and explaining how PII is relevant to a digital forensics investigation. The following questions should also be answered in your submission.
- What examples of PII (personal and sample) were found on your computer?
- Were you surprised by any of the search results?
- Were any false positives detected by the software?
- If no PII was found outside of the sample file, why do you suspect that was the case?
- What steps can be taken to secure PII on a computer?
- Review this article and answer the following questions in your submission.
- Will Identity Finder uncover all of the PII on a computer?
- What is the implication of this for a forensic investigator?
- How can any tools be trusted in a forensics investigation?