Automation of collection of forensic evidence

A computer-implemented method for automated collection of user-specified forensic data from a target computer associated with a case, the method comprising:

• initiating a case;
• providing a user interface to allow a user to select a target computer within a network, select one or more user profiles associated with the target computer, and specify one or more types of forensic data to be collected from the target computer;
• creating at least one subfolder in a folder linked to the case, on the computer apparatus or a computer-readable medium, and one or more files in the subfolder for storing the specified forensic data;
• connecting the computer apparatus to the target computer and scanning the target computer to determine the OS thereof;
• and
• collecting the specified forensic data and saving the collected data to the files.

A computer program product for automated collection of user-specified forensic data from a target computer associated with a case, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having one or more computer-readable programs stored therein, and the computer-readable programs, when executed by a computer apparatus, cause the computer apparatus to perform the following steps:

• providing a user interface to allow a user to select a target computer within a network, select one or more user profiles associated with the target computer, and specify one or more types of forensic data to be collected from the target computer;
• creating at least one subfolder in a folder linked to the case, on the computer apparatus or a computer-readable medium, and one or more files in the subfolder for storing the specified forensic data;
• connecting the computer apparatus to the target computer and scanning the target computer to determine the OS thereof;
• and
• collecting the specified forensic data and saving the collected data to the files.