Before We Begin: What Evidence Can You Spot?

Before we explore what digital evidence is, imagine you are arriving at a crime scene.

Watch the short footage below and look carefully at the scene. What could potentially provide evidence?

Try to identify as many different sources as you can. Some may be obvious, while others may be easier to overlook.

One Object, Different Types of Evidence

You may have spotted several possible sources of evidence. But there is another important point to consider: one object can provide more than one type of evidence.

Take a mobile phone.

An investigator might be interested in the digital information it contains, such as messages, photographs, location information or call records. But the physical device itself may also hold other evidence.

For example, there could be fingermarks on the screen or case, or DNA on the device.

This means decisions about how an object is handled can matter. Someone may want to access or preserve its digital information, while another specialist may need to examine the physical device for other traces.

So, when does an everyday object become a source of digital evidence? And what exactly do we mean by "digital evidence"?

That's what we're going to explore next.