Tampered and Untampered Disk Images: Understanding the Difference

Understanding the Difference between Tampered and Untampered Disk Images

Question

What is a difference between tampered and untampered disk images?

Answers

Explanations

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C.

The main difference between tampered and untampered disk images is that tampered images have been altered, whereas untampered images have not been altered.

An untampered disk image is a bit-by-bit copy of a storage device, such as a hard drive, that is created for forensic investigation purposes. It is important that the original disk image is not altered in any way to ensure that it is admissible as evidence in court. Untampered images are typically created using specialized software and hardware, and the integrity of the image is verified through the use of cryptographic hash functions. This ensures that the image has not been modified since it was created and that it is an accurate representation of the original storage device.

On the other hand, a tampered disk image is one that has been altered in some way. This could be intentional or unintentional. Tampering with a disk image can compromise the integrity of the evidence, making it inadmissible in court. One way to determine if a disk image has been tampered with is to compute a hash of the original disk image and compare it to the hash of the potentially tampered image. If the two hashes do not match, then the image has been tampered with.

In summary, untampered disk images are used for forensic investigations and are created to preserve the integrity of the original storage device. Tampered images, on the other hand, are not admissible as evidence and can compromise the integrity of the investigation if not detected.