Tales from the Trenches: How Bad Digital Forensics Threatens Justice in Court

A lot of digital forensic practitioners go and testify in court, with their evidence getting in without significant challenges, usually from unknowledgeable legal practitioners. In some of these cases the digital forensic practitioners have gotten the evidence wrong, leading to wrongful convictions or other incorrect liability being allocated. While opposition digital forensic practitioners are often frowned upon, especially from law enforcement, they do play a valuable role in balancing the interests of justice, and often can play a role in ensuring good quality digital forensics.

Through a discussion of three cases, one criminal, and two civil, the presenter will show how digital forensic evidence presented by either an unqualified or biased digital forensic practitioner almost destroyed the lives of the parties in court, and how a proper scientific approach to digital forensics assisted in the courts in achieving justice.