Digital Forensic Certification Practice Exam

Which type of digital evidence is lost as soon as the system is powered off?

1. Volatile data

2. Non-volatile data

3. Persistent data

4. Archived data

The correct answer is: Volatile data

The correct answer is the type of digital evidence that is considered volatile data. Volatile data refers to information that is temporarily stored in a system's memory and is lost when the device is powered off. This type of data includes contents of the RAM, processes running, and network connections, all of which can provide crucial information for forensics investigations. Because volatile data is fleeting, it requires immediate capture during an investigation to avoid its loss. In contrast, non-volatile data is retained even when the system is powered down, such as data stored on hard drives, SSDs, or solid-state storage. Persistent data likewise refers to data that remains for a significant period, even after power cycles, while archived data is explicitly stored with the intention of keeping it long-term, usually in formats that are not subject to the volatility of live memory. Each of these types of data serves different roles within a digital forensic context, but it is specifically volatile data that poses the risk of being lost as soon as the system loses power.