Contamination of digital evidence: Understanding an underexposed risk
Gruber J, Hargreaves CJ, Freiling F (2023)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2023
Journal
Book Volume: 44
Article Number: 301501
DOI: 10.1016/j.fsidi.2023.301501
Abstract
The dangers of contamination have received considerable attention in the literature regarding the investigation of physical crime scenes and physical evidence. The understanding of contamination in the context of digital evidence appears to be much less understood. Based on experiences from the field of physical evidence, we develop a generalized definition of contamination that also covers digital evidence, namely the “inadvertent transfer of traits to an object of relevance at any point in the forensic process”. We illustrate the definition by presenting several examples and counterexamples for contamination of digital evidence. By addressing the specifics of digital evidence in this context, we argue that our definition can be useful to understand the risks arising through contamination in this domain.
Authors with CRIS profile
Jan Gruber
Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen)
Felix Freiling
Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen)
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Involved external institutions
United Kingdom (GB)How to cite
APA:
Gruber, J., Hargreaves, C.J., & Freiling, F. (2023). Contamination of digital evidence: Understanding an underexposed risk. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsidi.2023.301501
MLA:
Gruber, Jan, Christopher J. Hargreaves, and Felix Freiling. "Contamination of digital evidence: Understanding an underexposed risk." Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation 44 (2023).
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