File permissions can change when moving a file. How they change depends on whether this is a copy and paste or a cut and paste, and whether or not the operation is within the same partition. For copying and pasting on the same partition, files and folders will inherit the rights of the folder they are being copied to. For cutting and pasting (moving), files and folders will retain the original permissions if they are on the same partition. This is because when the files and folders are on the same partition, they don’t actually move, but rather the pointers to their locations get updated. With copying or cutting to a different partition, the file will inherit the rights of the destination folder.
In the context of Windows files, MAC refers to three critical properties: Modified, Accessed, Created.
File modified—This date shows there has been a change to the file itself.
File accessed—This is the date the file was last accessed. An access can be a move, an open, or any other simple access. It can also be tripped by antivirus scanners or Windows system processes.
File created—This is the date the file was “created” on the volume. This does not change when working normally with a file, such as opening, closing, saving, or modifying the file.
Clearly these date/time stamps can be important forensically. For example, if the modified date for an image is later than the created date, then that image has been edited.