Digital Evidence Chain of Custody: Navigating New Realities of Digital Forensics

In the era of ubiquitous digital platforms and pervasive mobile device usage, digital evidence has become increasingly integral to civil and criminal justice systems. However, the unique characteristics of digital evidence present significant challenges to maintaining its integrity and ensuring its admissibility in legal proceedings. This paper explores the critical role of Chain of Custody (CoC) in digital forensics, a simple yet powerful process vital for ensuring the trustworthiness and security of digital evidence throughout its lifecycle. We investigate the theoretical foundations and practical implementations of CoC, categorizing contemporary practices into three main categories: Traditional Paper Trail, System-oriented, and Infrastructure-driven approaches. Through a comprehensive analysis, we evaluate these practices against key criteria, highlighting their strengths and limitations in preserving evidence integrity. This study offers an extensive review of existing CoC methodologies and underscores opportunities for future research aimed at enhancing the reliability and security of the digital investigation process.