Digital Evidence Essay

Digital Evidence is electronic data, materials, objects, property, documents, or records that are presented in court to prove or disprove allegations made against an arrestee. It takes the form of electronic data or information stored in bits and bytes on magnetic media. The examples of devices that can contain digital evidence include; cellular phones or similar all in one devices, pagers, digital voice recorders.
The biggest challenge investigators face and who is involved with high tech crime is the fast-paced constant evolving nature of technology. When companies come out with new devices or new versions of old devices which is almost all the time, and those who gather digital evidence must remain current to be able to locate and preserve all potential evidence. As technology evolves the capacities of these devices will rapidly increase while their form factor grows continually smaller. Investigators must preserve digital evidence to make sure it is suitable for presentation in court as well. Investigators must first never change a crime scene or alter evidence. It is their goal to document and preserve the scene exactly as it was when the crime occurred. Extreme caution and care is needed because the mere act of documenting or cataloging a crime scene means that investigators are interacting with the scene. The second concern is the physical fragility of the evidence. Care must be taken to keep items from getting wet, stepped on etc, this can also be applied to digital evidence. Investigators have been able to examine hard disk drives that have been through fires because the drives are usually air and water tight and impervious to temperatures into the thousands of degrees. The third issue is that digital evidence can be lo...

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... its media in transit because they are sensitive electronic devices. Electromagnetic fields can wipe or otherwise damage data stored on magnetic media. Radio frequency radiation can cause damage to magnetic media, so placement of the items in a squad car truck or near radio gear should be avoided. The large amount of space a computer and media can take up most investigators choose to take a minivan or other large transport vehicle along with them during executing a search warrant for a computer. During transport care must be taken to ensure the long-term security and stability of these materials. Computer components and media should be kept in a cool, dry place that is free from water pipes or other building utilities that could cause damage to equipment if they fail. They should also be kept well away from magnetic fields or radio frequency interference sources.