Building a Digital Forensic Laboratory

Chapter 12. Management of Evidence Storage

Introduction

This chapter will address the issues that relate to the storage of evidence and the management issues that need to be considered to ensure that it is carried out effectively and that it meets the relevant rules and legislation. We will also address the difficult question of long term storage periods, a particular problem for law enforcement.

Cyber crime or electronically initiated crimes are merely streams of bits of data that may or may not be physically recorded. Unlike conventional crime artifacts like a crowbar, handgun, or knife, digital artifacts are readily changeable, volatile, and easily destroyed. To obliterate an incriminating file is relatively easy with the use of an erasure ...