Topic > The importance of digital evidence - 890

Potential digital evidence is everywhere and can lead to a lengthy seizure process for law enforcement. Knowing what to consider digital evidence and how to properly seize it is important for all members of law enforcement to ensure evidence is protected for potential court cases. Digital evidence refers to electronic data, materials, objects, property, documents or records that are presented in court to prove or disprove charges against an arrestee. Digital evidence takes the form of electronic data or information stored in bits and bytes on magnetic media. Digital evidence can be photos, videos, text documents, Internet activity logs, phone numbers, or any other electronically stored data that has relevance to a criminal case (Knetzger & Muaski, 2008). Devices that potentially contain digital evidence may also be seized. Some examples of devices on which they store this data are personal computers, computer media discs, cell phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players, and this is just to name a few of the devices available that contain this information. It's a crime The first mission of scene investigators is to never change the crime scene or tamper with evidence, so it's important that first responders or law enforcement personnel remember this when they first reach or enter time at the crime scene. The main goal is to document and preserve the scene exactly as it was when the crime was committed (Knetzger & Muaski, 2008). The first thing law enforcement wants to do is photograph the scene from multiple vantage points, which will be used as evidence of what the property looked like when law enforcement arrived at the crime scene. Secondly, it is important for law enforcement to know ...... half of the paper ...... magnetic media, clean it. Another important aspect is to document each person in the chain of custody and what that person's role was. The actions taken by each person should also be documented. This is especially critical in a digital evidence case, because the forensic specialist will need to unequivocally state that the data was not added, modified, deleted, or otherwise manipulated while the computer or digital device was in police custody (Knetzger & Muaski, 2008 ). It is important that all law enforcement agencies have some knowledge in seizing computer (digital) evidence. With the Internet, social media and electronic devices not only present in everyone's homes, but also in everyone's hands in the form of mobile phones, digital crimes are on the rise these days. Understand that this little information about digital evidence can make or break a case.