Understanding case information and legal issues
Let's talk about case information and legal issues. This is the information you have to get before you even power up your workstation to look at the digital evidence. You will have to carry out some information gathering from the person requesting your services. You should ask the following questions:
- What is the nature of the investigation? Is it a narcotics case, homicide, or employee misconduct? As you hear this information, you formulate your plan on how you want to proceed.
- What digital evidence do you expect to find at the scene? I've had responses where the investigator was only looking for a single laptop and once we were at the scene, we found multiple laptops, multiple desktops, and many mobile devices. Just remember the information you get may not always be accurate, so you also have to be prepared for that eventuality.
- What is the legal justification? For law enforcement—what is the rationale...
