The Term Wi-Fi denotes wireless networking technology. Instead of using cables for connections, a Wi-Fi setting employs radio waves. Wireless data acquisition during a forensic investigation involves gathering waves emanating from measurement sources, digitizing them for storage, retrieval when needed, analysis, and presentation. Data acquisition devices come in different hardware and software forms, allowing the investigator ton choose what conforms to the needs of the case or incident (Siles, 2007). When choosing the best acquisition tools, the incidence response team needs to consider factors such as transducers and sensors, signals and signal conditioning, DAQ hardware, and application and driver software.
IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi data acquisition involves is important for acquisition of data where cabling is uneconomical or inconvenient. When acquiring data, the investigators need to use IEEE 802.11 compatible tool and follow the basic procedures used in computer forensic, preserving, acquiring, and analyzing the digital evidence. Many different tools can be used to acquire digital evidence involving wireless incidences. For example, 802.11 a/b/g multi-band wireless cards can be deployed successful to acquire data during 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless investigations (Siles, 2007). Atheros a/b/g multi-band wireless card is among the mostly used devices when acquiring digital wireless data during network investigations (Siles, 2007).
Data acquisition during Wi-Fi forensic is challenging when dealing with organizations that have branches spread across different countries. Laws require deployment of 802.11 Wi-Fi networks across different countries, but hackers or attackers do always follow the law (Siles, 2007). It is, therefore, important for the incidence team working on a case involving a multinational firm to gather traffic in all 14 worldwide channels. The laws might be different across nations, but they have stipulations for maximum 802.11 transmission power, which attackers do not follow. During investigations, the team must be in a position where members can handle such challenging situations, as well as cases where clients are mobile.
- Siles, R. (2007, January 01). Wireless Forensics: Tapping the Air – Part One. Retrieved November 23, 2017, from https://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/wireless-forensics-tapping-air-part-one
