Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course
Jul 15, 2026 · 15 min · 10 segments
This episode explains evidence handling and stakeholder involvement during security investigations. File integrity checks help confirm whether files were changed, while log integrity helps determine…
File integrity means knowing whether a file is the same as it was before or whether it has changed.
During an investigation, that can be extremely important.
A file might be a system file, a configuration file, an application file, a report, a database export, a script, or a document containing sensitive information.
If a file was changed, the team needs to know when the change happened, what changed, who or what made the change, and whether the change was authorized.
File integrity can help identify tampering, malware activity, unauthorized edits, or accidental damage.
One common way to support file integrity is by using a hash, which is a unique-looking value created from the contents of a file.
If the file changes, the hash should change too, which gives investigators a way to compare versions.
File integrity is not only about proving that something changed.
It can also help prove that something did not change.
That matters when a team is trying to determine whether a trusted file remained clean or whether a piece of evidence stayed the same after collection.
For example, if investigators collect a suspicious file from a workstation, they may calculate a hash at the time of collection and compare it later to confirm the file was not altered during analysis.
This supports confidence in the evidence.
File integrity monitoring can also alert when protected files are modified unexpectedly.
That can help detect attacks that replace system files, alter web pages, change scripts, or modify configuration settings.
The larger idea is that integrity gives the team a way to talk about evidence with more confidence than memory or appearance alone.
File integrity means knowing whether a file is the same as it was before or whether it has changed.
During an investigation, that can be extremely important.
A file might be a system file, a configuration file, an application file, a report, a database export, a script, or a document containing sensitive information.
If a file was changed, the team needs to know when the change happened, what changed, who or what made the change, and whether the change was authorized.
File integrity can help identify tampering, malware activity, unauthorized edits, or accidental damage.
One common way to support file integrity is by using a hash, which is a unique-looking value created from the contents of a file.
If the file changes, the hash should change too, which gives investigators a way to compare versions.
File integrity is not only about proving that something changed.
It can also help prove that something did not change.
That matters when a team is trying to determine whether a trusted file remained clean or whether a piece of evidence stayed the same after collection.
For example, if investigators collect a suspicious file from a workstation, they may calculate a hash at the time of collection and compare it later to confirm the file was not altered during analysis.
This supports confidence in the evidence.
File integrity monitoring can also alert when protected files are modified unexpectedly.
That can help detect attacks that replace system files, alter web pages, change scripts, or modify configuration settings.
The larger idea is that integrity gives the team a way to talk about evidence with more confidence than memory or appearance alone.
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