In the 1990s, several freeware and other proprietary tools (both hardware and software) were created to allow investigations to take place without modifying media.
[1] This list includes notable examples of digital forensic tools.
They are often used in incident response situations to preserve evidence in memory that would be lost when a system is shut down, and to quickly detect stealthy malware by directly examining the operating system and other running software in memory.
Mobile forensics tools tend to consist of both a hardware and software component.
It is the centerpiece of lawsuits, trials, and settlements when companies are in dispute over issues involving software patents, copyrights, and trade secrets.