Digital Forensic
Processes.
Critical Appraisal of Methodologies for the Collection and Analysis of Digital Evidence.
This research provides a critical analysis of current digital forensic methodologies used in judicial systems. It evaluates the effectiveness of the ACPO guidelines and ISO/IEC 27037 standards in maintaining the integrity of digital evidence from the point of collection to courtroom presentation. The study highlights vulnerabilities in the Chain of Custody during cloud-based acquisitions and proposes a modernized framework for volatile memory analysis.
Key Findings
Traditional "pull-the-plug" methods are increasingly obsolete in an era of full-disk encryption and cloud residency. The research argues for a "Live Forensics" approach, prioritizing the capture of RAM and running processes before system shutdown.
01 // Cloud Evidence Volatility
Cloud environments present unique challenges where physical seizure is impossible. The paper examines API-based evidence collection and the legal ramifications of cross-border data sovereignty during investigations.
02 // Integrity Validation
Comparison of Hashing algorithms (MD5 vs SHA-256) for evidence verification, recommending an immediate migration to SHA-3 standards to prevent collision attacks during the verification phase.