A Method to Enhance the Accuracy of Digital Forensics in the Absence of Complete Evidence in Saudi Arabia
The tremendous increase in the use of digital devices has led to their involvement in the vast majority of current criminal investigations. As a result, digital forensics has increasingly become one of the most important aspects of criminal investigations. The digital forensics process involves consideration of a number of important phases in order to achieve the required level of accuracy and to reach a successful conclusion of the investigation into the digital aspects of crimes; through obtaining acceptable evidence for use in a court of law. There have been a number of models developed and produced since 1984 to support the digital investigation processes. In this submission, I introduce a proposed model for the digital investigation processes which is based on the scope of the Saudi Arabia investigation process, which has been integrated with existing models of digital investigation processes and has produced a new phase to deal with a situation where there is insufficient evidence. In this research, grounded theory has been adopted as a research method to investigate and explore the participant’s perspectives and their opinions regarding the adoption of a method of a digital forensics investigation process in the absence of complete evidence in the Saudi Arabian context. The interaction of investigators with digital forensics processes involves the social aspect of digital investigation which is why it was suitable to adopt a grounded theory approach. A semi-structured data collection approach has been adopted, to enable the participants to express their visions, concerns, opinions and feelings related to factors that impact the adoption of the DF model for use in cases where there is an absence of sufficient evidence in Saudi Arabia. The proposed model emerged after conducting a number of interviews and analysing the data of this research. The researcher developed the proposed model based on the answers of the participant which helped the researcher to find a solution for dealing with cases where there is insufficient evidence, through adding a unique step in the investigation process, the “TraceBack” Phase. This study is the first in Saudi Arabia to be developed to enhance the accuracy of digital forensics in the absence of sufficient evidence, which opens a new method of research. It is also the first time has been employed a grounded theory in a digital forensics study in the Saudi context, where it was used in a digital forensics study, which indicates the possibility of applying this methodology to this field.
Digital forensics, Process, Traceback, Saudi Arabia
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