Page 31 - Forensic News Journal Jan Feb 2018

Digital Evidence and Legal Proceedings

amination of evidence to

determine whether it had
been used to commit or
facilitate a crime as well

as to identify supportive
material for either side of

a legal case.

In order for digital evi-

dence to be admissible in
court a number of criteria

must be met, including,
ensuring that the evidence Photo Courtesy of themindunleashed
has not been altered and mented, preserved, and and loss of some or all the

that an auditable trail has available for review. data present.
been kept relating to the (U.S. Department of

storage and investigation Justice (2004) Forensic Therefore, to ensure its
of the evidential device or Examination of Digital integrity, a ‘chain of
media. The key points of Evidence: A Guide for custody’ relating to the

the handling and investi- Law Enforcement, Wash- evidence should be es-
gation of digital evidence ington). tablished. This usually

is provided as follows: amounts to a paper trail
The nature of digital de- detailing the whereabouts
Actions taken to secure vices therefore makes of all evidential sources

and collect digital evi- them particularly suscep- during custody, along with
dence should not affect the tible to damage or corrup- the details of individuals

integrity of that evidence; tion. Due to the constant having access to it, when
Persons conducting an requirement for devices to and any actions taken with
examination of digital be physically smaller in it. This, along with a com-

evidence should be trained size yet bigger in capacity, parison and review of the
for that purpose; the components become digital media itself should

ever smaller and more allow for the acceptance
Activity relating to the delicate, therefore, even by an independent exam-
seizure, examination, stor- storing the devices in an iner that a given item of

age, or transfer of digital unsuitable environment media has not been cor-
evidence should be docu can cause the corruption rupted or compromised

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