In a computer forensics investigation, an investigator is dealing with a system that has been recently shut down. The data they need is of a non-volatile nature. Which type of data acquisition methodology should the investigator adopt in this scenario and why?
When dealing with a system that has been recently shut down and you need non-volatile data, dead data acquisition is the appropriate method. This methodology is designed to collect unaltered data from storage devices like hard drives and USB drives, which do not require the system to be powered on. Live data acquisition, on the other hand, focuses on capturing dynamic data from the computer's memory and other volatile sources, which would not be applicable in this case since the system is already off.
Dead acquisition is defined as the acquisition of data from a suspect machine that is powered off. Dead acquisition usually involves acquiring data from storage devices such hard drives, DVD-ROMs, USB drives, flash cards, and smart phones