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Introduction
In strictest legal parlance, the usage of apt forensic tools and technical
knowledge to recover the electronic evidence within the contours of the
rules of evidence, for it to be admissible before the court of law can be
defined as cyber forensics. The electronic evidence so obtained has to
satisfy the criteria of crime attribution to the perpetrator by tracing its
digital footprints by preservation, extraction, interpretation, and
documentation of digital evidence. It encompasses a gamut of
overlapping arena, e.g. database forensic, wireless forensic, network
forensic, disk forensic, mobile forensic, media forensic, IP Address
tracking, cloud computing, e-mail tracking etc. It seeks to protect the
subject computer system, discover all the files on the system, recover the
deleted files, reveal the content of hidden and temporary files, access the
contents of the protected or encrypted files, analyse the relevant data
and provide a testimony on the basis of analysis of the above evidence.
Legal Provisions
The confluence of two legal paradigms, i.e., the law of evidence and that
of information technology has made the legal domain at par with the
contemporary challenges of the cyber space.
A Brief Overview
At the initial level, the complainant can approach the cyber-crime police
stations, or to a police station in its absence. Once the information
reveals the commission of a cognisable offence under the IT
(Amendment) Act, 2000, the details regarding the nature/modus operandi
of the cyber- crime is recorded in the complaint, e.g., , profile name in
case of social networking abuse, with the allied documents like, server
logs, copy of defaced web page in soft copy and hard copy etc.
Subsequent to this, a preliminary review of the entire scene of the
offence is done to identify and evaluate the potential evidences. A pre-
investigation technical assessment is also conducted to make the
Investigating Officer fully aware about the scope of the crime, following
which a preservation notice is sent to all the affected parties for
preserving the evidence.[3] To ensure the integrity of the evidence,
containment steps are taken to block access to the affected machines.
For instance, the Investigating Officer could ask the bank to freeze the
suspect`s bank account in case of financial frauds. When it comes to
collection of evidence, the procedure for gathering evidences from
switched-off systems and live systems have to be complied with the
search and seizure mandate under Section 165, CrPC and Section 80 of
the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 and should be reflected in the
Panchanama. Another indispensable part of the investigation would be to
avert the fabrication and tampering of the digital evidence by maintaining
the chain of custody of the evidence since the time it is seized,
transferred, analysed and presented before the court of law to ensure its
integrity. Hashing is one of the most common methods used to ensure
the integrity of the digital evidence and the media content. It
encompasses “cryptographic hash function algorithm” and is a kind of
mathematical method which is “based on an algorithm which creates a
digital representation, or compressed form of the message, often
referred to as a “message digest” or “finger print” of the message, in the
form of a “hash value” or “hash result” of a standard length that is usually
much smaller than the message but nevertheless substantially unique to
it”.[4] With regards to documentation recording the digital evidence
collection, the Investigating Officer needs to record it in Digital Evidence
Collection Form. This shall succinctly include the process, the tools used,
the hash value acquired from the forensic images of the evidences, and
the hashing algorithm used for hashing. Apart from being crucial factors
in affecting the evidentiary value of the digital evidence, maintaining the
chain of custody and a documentation record of the same is in the nature
of a mandate on the Investigating Officer, since its non-observance might
expose the IO to criminal liability under Section 72 of the IT (Amendment)
Act, 2008.
The CBI also can be approached for any serious economic offence, which
is not of a general and routine nature. It has Economic Offences Division
for the investigation of major financial scams and serious economic
frauds, including crimes relating to fake Indian currency notes, bank
frauds and cyber-crimes.[5] For the purpose of combating such crimes,
CBI has certain specialised structures, namely, Cyber Crimes Research
and Development Unit (CCRDU), Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC),
Cyber Forensics Laboratory; and Network Monitoring Centre.
Apart from these law enforcement agencies, the question of the validity
of the appointment of private forensic investigators by HDFC Bank for
inspecting the accusations of money laundering and benami transactions
by the RBI has thrown upon numerous questions. It is quite certain that,
an assumption of adverse inference could be drawn leading to a dubious
conclusion and thereby raising a finger on the integrity of the evidence.
Thus, for the purpose of adducing the digital evidence before the court of
law, it is wise to seek the assistance of a forensic expert by various law
enforcement agencies.
Conclusion
[1] http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-indias-information-
technology-act-has-not-been-effective-in-checking-cyber-crime-expert-
1818328
[2] T. Vikram, “Cyber Crimes- A Study with a Case”, July-September 2002,
Indian Police Journal 78.
[4] Chap 1, “Introduction to the Model Law: Purpose and origin of the Model
Law: Purpose” in UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures with
Guide to Enactment 2001.
[6]The Times of India, CBI signs MoU with Data Security Council of India
for managing cybercrime, Mar 6, 2014, 03.54 PM IST. Accessible at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CBI-signs-MoU-with-Data-
Security-Council-of-India-for-managing-
cybercrime/articleshow/31537939.cms
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