Identifying a Computer Forensics Expert: A Study to Measure the Characteristics of Forensic Computer Examiners

Authors

Gregory H. Carlton, California State Polytechnic University
Reginald Worthley, University of Hawaii

Prior Publisher

The Association of Digital Forensics, Security and Law (ADFSL)

Abstract

The usage of digital evidence from electronic devices has been rapidly expanding within litigation, and along with this increased usage, the reliance upon forensic computer examiners to acquire, analyze, and report upon this evidence is also rapidly growing. This growing demand for forensic computer examiners raises questions concerning the selection of individuals qualified to perform this work. While courts have mechanisms for qualifying witnesses that provide testimony based on scientific data, such as digital data, the qualifying criteria covers a wide variety of characteristics including, education, experience, training, professional certifications, or other special skills. In this study, we compare task performance responses from forensic computer examiners with an expert review panel and measure the relationship with the characteristics of the examiners to their quality responses. The results of this analysis provide insight into identifying forensic computer examiners that provide high-quality responses.

References

Carlton, Gregory H., Forensic Data Acquisition Task Performance Guide – The Identification and Measurement of a Protocol for the Forensic Data Acquisition of Personal Computer Workstations, http://www.htcia.org, 2006.

Carlton, Gregory H., A Grounded Theory Approach to Identifying and Measuring Forensic Data Acquisition Tasks. Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law; Volume 2, Number 1, 35-56, 2007.

Carlton, Gregory H., A Protocol for the Forensic Data Acquisition of Personal Computer Workstations, ProQuest, Ann Arbor, Michigan, UMI 3251043, 2007.

Carlton, Gregory H., and Worthley, Reginald, An Evaluation of Agreement and Conflict Among Computer Forensics Experts, Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, p. 277, 2009.

Glaser, B.G., and Strauss, A.L., The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Aldine Publishing Co., New York, 1967.

Lonardo, T., White, D., and Rea, A., To License or Not to License: An Examinationof State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners. Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law; Volume 3, Number 3, 61-80, 2008.

Recommended Citation

Carlton, Gregory H. and Worthley, Reginald (2010) "Identifying a Computer Forensics Expert: A Study to Measure the Characteristics of Forensic Computer Examiners," Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law: Vol. 5 , Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15394/jdfsl.2010.1069
Available at: https://commons.erau.edu/jdfsl/vol5/iss1/1