On the Creation of Reliable Digital Evidence

Traditional approaches to digital forensics deal with the reconstruction of events within digital devices that were often not built for the creation of evidence. This paper focuses on incorporating requirements for forensic readiness – designing in features and characteristics that support the use of the data produced by digital devices as evidence. The legal requirements that such evidence must meet are explored in developing technical requirements for the design of digital devices. The resulting approach can be used to develop digital devices and establish processes for creating digital evidence. Incorporating the legal view early in device design and implementation can help ensure the probative value of the evidence produced the devices.