Digital forensics involves a systematic and legally sound process of handling digital evidence from initial discovery to final presentation. Each stage ensures the integrity, accuracy, and admissibility of digital evidence in legal, corporate, or security-related investigations.
Below are the Stages of Digital Forensic process:
🔹 1. Identification
This is the first step, where potential digital evidence is recognized and located.
- Detect possible sources of evidence (e.g., computers, USB drives, smartphones, network logs).
- Understand the type of crime or issue (e.g., data theft, fraud, system intrusion).
- Define what kind of data needs to be collected (emails, files, logs, etc.).
✅ Goal: Know what evidence exists and where it is stored.
🔹 2. Preservation
Once evidence is identified, it must be preserved in its original state to avoid contamination or alteration.
- Create bit-by-bit copies (forensic images) of storage devices.
- Maintain a chain of custody – a detailed record showing who handled the evidence, when, and how.
- Use write blockers to prevent accidental changes during imaging.
✅ Goal: Ensure that data remains unaltered for analysis and court use.
🔹 3. Collection (Acquisition)
This step involves the actual extraction or acquisition of digital evidence from identified sources.
- Use forensic tools to collect data from various devices (e.g., hard drives, phones, cloud).
- Ensure data is collected in a forensically sound manner.
- Collect both active and deleted files, metadata, and logs.
✅ Goal: Extract all relevant data without modifying the original.
🔹 4. Examination
In this stage, the evidence is filtered, organized, and prepared for in-depth analysis.
- Recover deleted files, hidden partitions, and encrypted data.
- Extract metadata and timestamps to trace user actions.
- Focus on specific items like emails, chat messages, or log entries.
✅ Goal: Narrow down large data sets into usable evidence.
🔹 5. Analysis
Here, the investigator interprets the data to determine what happened, how, when, and who was responsible.
- Reconstruct timelines of events.
- Identify unauthorized access or suspicious behavior.
- Compare findings against organizational policies or legal standards.
✅ Goal: Find the story behind the data – cause, impact, and actors.
🔹 6. Documentation
Detailed documentation is essential for both internal reporting and legal proceedings.
- Record every step taken during the investigation.
- Log tools and techniques used, as well as findings and conclusions.
- Include screenshots, file hashes, timestamps, and logs.
✅ Goal: Create a transparent, reproducible report of the forensic process.
🔹 7. Presentation
The final stage involves presenting findings to relevant authorities (e.g., law enforcement, court, management).
- Prepare a clear and non-technical report that can be understood by non-experts.
- Be ready to testify in court or explain results to stakeholders.
- Ensure evidence is presented in a legally admissible format.
✅ Goal: Communicate findings effectively for legal or organizational decision-making.
