Handling Digital Evidence - Essay Example

First, the evidence is recognized, identified, seized, and secured at the scene. Secondly, the entire scene has to be documented with the specific location of where the evidence was found indicated. Thirdly, the digital evidence is collected, labeled, and preserved. After that, the already secured evidence is packed and transported securely. Lastly, it is presented in court without any alterations. It is important to follow all the steps to maximize the viability of the evidence. Poor handling of the evidence is likely to render it usable due to tampering (CDESF Working Group, 2006).

Once at the scene, I had to ensure that I record what is visible on the screen as I wait for the full legal authority team to seize the evidence to continue with further examination of the computer. After seizing the computer, I will label, pack and transport it to a secure place so that it can be used to provide evidence. Encryption was used in the past to prevent people from viewing incriminating files (Taylor, Haggerty, Gresty, & Hegarty, 2010). A message is encoded using a particular key, hence making it impossible for anybody to decrypt it. Lastly, media database systems can be unified into one. Encryption and stenography can be used legitimately by forensic examiners to ensure that there is minimal tampering with the collected evidence. Stenography was used in the past to ensure confidential communication. Secondly, it can be used to protect data since it is embedded.