Timely: A Chain of Custody Data Visualizer

Digital forensics is a growing field with a high need for qualified professionals but a lack of people to fill this need. As a result, there is a need for the creation of forensic tools to help streamline this process and to allow those in the field and those that are breaking into the field to be able to learn and succeed in their respective careers. In the field, chain of custody reports are used to track and document changes in possession or ownership of evidence. While the written report is standard, timelines have been shown to be effective visualization tools in both organizing and displaying information, as well as educating those who use them. In this paper, we are proposing a web based interactive data visualization timeline that organizes the chain of custody and evidence information in an easy to understand and easily accessible interface.