A Harmonized Process Model for Digital Forensic Investigation Readiness

Abstract

Digital forensic readiness enables an organization to prepare itself to perform digital forensic investigations in an efficient and effective manner. The benefits include enhancing the admissibility of digital evidence, better utilization of resources and greater incident awareness. However, a harmonized process model for digital forensic readiness does not currently exist and, thus, there is a lack of effective and standardized implementations of digital forensic readiness within organizations. This paper presents a harmonized process model for digital forensic investigation readiness. The proposed model is holistic in nature and properly considers readiness and investigative activities along with the interface between the two types of activities. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2013.