Digital forensics is the field concerned with preserving, analysing and presenting digital evidence in accordance with procedural requirements. It is an essential part of modern court proceedings in which the evidence includes data from computers, mobile phones, servers or cloud computing services.
What does a digital forensics examiner do?
A digital forensics specialist handles the technical recovery and analysis of digital data. Their tasks include:
recovering deleted files and user activity history,
analysis of system logs, messaging apps, emails and mobile devices,
investigation of hacking attacks and incidents involving breaches of data security,
preparing expert opinions for court purposes.
Use in criminal and civil proceedings
Digital forensics is applied in many types of cases, including:
commercial crimes, such as fraud and obtaining funds by deception,
personal data protection breaches,
divorce cases—analysis of correspondence and storage media,
workplace bullying, stalking and threats—analysis of digital content and metadata.
Tools used in digital forensics
Specialists use certified data analysis software, such as:
FTK (Forensic Toolkit),
EnCase Forensic,
X-Ways Forensics,
Magnet AXIOM,
Cellebrite UFED (for mobile device analysis).
Court expert in IT—role and expertise
A court expert in digital forensics provides opinions commissioned by a court, prosecutor or parties to proceedings. The opinion should be:
objective,
based on methodology recognised by the expert community,
understandable to the court and parties without technical knowledge.
The expert analyses storage media, reconstructs the course of events and may attend hearings and answer the parties' questions.
Procedural safeguards and the reliability of digital evidence
Digital evidence must be preserved in accordance with the principles of integrity, authenticity and reproducibility. In civil and criminal proceedings, significant factors include:
correct preparation of the evidence preservation record,
continuity of the chain of custody,
the verifiability of methods and analysis results.
Only properly preserved and interpreted digital data can serve as effective evidence.
Our practice offers professional digital forensics services, including expert examinations, data analysis, advice on proceedings and private opinions for parties to proceedings.
Contact us for support in analysing digital material.