Abstract

This project analysis report is based on the project of developing a private digital forensic lab. The need for the private digital forensic lab is due to the threats and risks that the digital world is facing. The private digital forensic lab will provide individuals and small organizations with services related to digital forensics. The lab will be established while following the ISO 17025 standards. This analysis report is developed to define the client’s requirements and constraints and stakeholder perspective. An analysis of different methodology for carrying out this project is also given in the analysis section of this report. Finally, at the end of the report, a discussion with challenges and implantations for a team member is given. 

Introduction

The progress in modern-day science has resulted in the rise of different new features and fields that have remarkably changed the global aspects and our everyday lives. One of these fields or aspect is the digitalization of the information worldwide. The digitalization has not only to have its advantages that make it the most important part of the world globalization but also have some disadvantages that need immediate consideration. One of these disadvantages is the loss and theft of the data. Recovery and analysis of that data require so much observation, that a relatively new field has to be developed. The Digital forensic as the name suggests is the field of computer science that combines the principle of criminal laws in order to examine, analyze and maintain the privacy as well as the integrating of the data breached (Zagar, Delija & Sirovatka, 2018).

Not only that but the process of forensic for the analysis and identification of the digital information requires a large number of tools set of both software and hardware origin (Nanda & Hansen, 2016). The reasons behind the requirement of these huge number of tools are the volatility of data, high volume of data, easy and cheap availability of the data storage, availability of miscellaneous software and hardware platforms to store and manipulate digital data. The requirements, of a large number of tool sets, make it uneconomic for individuals and organizations having a small budget, to develop their own digital forensic lab. The key purpose of this project is therefore to develop a private digital forensic lab that will provide those individuals and organizations with the solutions to their problems related to the digital forensics.

Unlike other projects, this project does not have specific stakeholders, i.e. the individual or the organization, but is planned to serve any one of them out there facing problems related to the digital forensics.

Client Requirements and Constraints

To start a project or to plan a project the very first thing to be observed, understand or identified is the client requirements and the constraints. Although this project is not designed with specific clients or stakeholders, the requirements and constraints of this project are therefore be based on the general needs of the community, the digital forensic lab will be serving. To identify those requirements and constraints the first step is to sit together in a meeting.

Number and Types of Team Meetings

The identification of the needs of the project beneficiary depends on the team meetings and their outcomes. For this project to be a success a total of five meetings are required. The very first meeting will be the local type. It will be about identifying the current situations of digital forensic and the need for a digital forensic lab in UAE. The second meeting will with in between the sponsor and the team lead, i.e. project manager. This meeting will provide the basis for the discussion of the financial matters of the project. The third meeting will again be in between team members. The third meeting will discuss and identify what objects and resources are required for the digital forensic lab. The fourth meeting will be held during the development phase of the project and will identify any problems related to the project progression. The fifth and the last meeting of the project will be at the end of the project and will be about the overall review of the project.

Customer Requirements

Although this project does not have any specific client since the lab is designed to fulfill the needs of individuals and third-party organizations. Therefore, the requirements for this project are from future customers and for the team developing and willing to run the lab. A list of some of those requirements and their priority level is given below:

Requirements	Description	Priority
Availability of relevant hardware and software resources	Since the key requirement of the lab is its equipment and for a digital forensic lab, the equipment will be of hardware and software type. The most needed are, hardware, such as computers, external storage drives, data cables and software such as password and data recovery tools, antiviruses and operating systems (Watson & Jones, 2013).	High
Follow international standards throughout the project	Forensic is related to the law, therefore in order to get the results from the lab that are equally acceptable for the law, it is required to follow all the standards throughout the project.	High
In cost and at the time delivery	Two main objectives of a successful project are cost efficiency and time management. The project is only said to be successful if the project is completed within the budget and time proposed.	Moderate
Must have the ability to expand in the future	Since the project is intended to work in the future, and the digital world is growing and progressing day by day, therefore the need of a lab that can easily be expanded in future is also a key requirement.	Moderate

Stakeholder Perspectives

As the key stakeholder of this project is the team that is willing to develop a private digital forensic lab that can help them in their professional as well as educational background. There are many other stakeholders in this project. The major one of them is individuals and third-party organizations that because of different reasons are unable to have their own forensic lab setups. Those individuals and third-party organization can find this project the most helpful in terms of economic and efficiency as the rising number of digital instruments along with the bringing out of new ideas in data theft and loss, made it more and more difficult to be handled using simple tools and professionals (Kim & Solomon, 2014). The development of the digital forensic lab will also help those individuals and third-party organizations in focusing on their key objectives rather than looking out for the solutions related to data security. The difference between the client requirements and the stakeholder perspective is that the client will focus mainly only the hardware and the software. The client needs a set of equipment that can help in providing the services, while the stakeholders only need the service.

Analysis

In order to perform a process, there are different approaches or methods that are applied. But in case of establishing a laboratory, especially for the digital forensics, there are standards that should be followed. The need for following the standards is because digital evidence may be used lawsuit. The evidence, therefore, needs to be verified, must be reliable and accurate (Guo & Hou, 2018). To make the evidence acceptable by the law, it must, therefore, be extracted or gathered through a standardized method. Accreditation is an international approach that is widely used in digital forensics. There are multiple accreditations for digital forensic lab used worldwide.

ILAC G-19

For the development of a digital forensic lab, International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation issued the guidelines in 2002. ILAC G-19 also known as guidelines for forensic science laboratories is developed to provide the standard principles and guidance for forensic analysis and examination. The guidelines are based on the ISO/IEC17025. The guidelines for forensic science laboratories focus mainly on computer analysis.

The guidelines in ILAC G-19 are further divided into three categories – recovery of information, computer required for forensic (hardware and software) and mobile devices and equipment (GPS, PDA, Smartphones etc). 

ASCLD / LAB

Another standard for digital forensic lab used worldwide is ASCLD/LAB (American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board). Developed in 2003, the digital evidence discipline by ASCLD/LAB has four categories. These categories are image analysis, audio analysis, video analysis, and computer forensics. These guidelines are also based on the ISO/IEC17025.

ISO/IEC 17025

For this project, the best-suited accreditation is ISO/IEC17025 itself. It is the most widely used and is internationally acclaimed. This accreditation standard is used for both technical as well as for managemental processes of the digital forensic laboratories (Alcock, 2018). These standards and guidelines are also addressing the calibration and testing process of the laboratory.

Setting Up Lab

In accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025, some principles are derived that the private digital forensic lab will follow. These principles that are as follows, are required to be tailed during the setting up of the digital private forensic lab:

• Responsibilities of Manager: The laboratory manager is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and quality of the lab.
• Integrity: The working team must be trustworthy and honest.
• Quality: Quality of the results and the procedure must be followed as guided in ISO 17025.
• Efficiency: Economical and efficient methods should be adopted.
• Productivity: In order to achieve productivity in the results aims and objectives must be defined.
• Health and Safety: Health and safety are two key factors required for work. OHSAS 18001 standards must be followed to maintain health and safety.
• Qualifications: Highly qualified and technical staff must be hired.
• Training: Employees should be trained every now and then for keeping them aware of emerging trends.
• Environment: Safe work environment is a basic human right of every employee. it should be maintained.
• Conflicts of Interest: Employees need to be aware of avoiding conflicts and similar activity.
• Legal Compliance: Following the law must be the priority. Every team member must also be aware of the law.
• Accountability: Regular accountability for the laboratory as well as for the employees must be considered.
• Accredited Certification: Laboratory management must adhere to accreditation and certifications (Watson & Jones, 2013).

Discussion

The widespread, growing need for digital dependency in our life can easily be felt in different aspects of our lives (Fenwick & Edwards, 2015). One of these aspects of our daily life is the law. Almost every day, there are cases that are related to digital information. This even caused the transfer of evidence from paper to being digital. Since the process of the analysis of these digital information needs tools (both software and hardware) that are not cheap enough for everyone to buy and use, special laboratories are developed for this purpose (Jones & Valli, 2009). The purpose of this project is to develop a similar private digital forensic laboratory that can fulfill the needs of that third-party individuals and organizations that are unable to perform their own digital forensics. The laboratory will act as the key solution for the stakeholders of the region and will not only provide them with the services related to the data theft but also help them in recovering the lost data as the procedure of the data forensic also have data recovery as one of its basic function.

Just like the risk, cost and time, other problems and challenges are also need to be managed. As discussed in the project report, there are lots of challenges that will be faced by the team members during the project. The very major challenge that the team member will face is the approval of the respective government authorities for the building up of the laboratory (Yadav, 2017). In order to resolve this problem, a detailed review of the laws against digital forensic must be considered before applying for the approval, so that no objection can be drawn on the project. The second major challenge that should be managed is the availability of space for the laboratory, as the physical space is one of the key needs for a lab (Wolfe, 2003). A proper location should be first selected for the lab before the start of the project, as the hardware once purchased will require some space to be placed. Similarly, the thorough survey of the market for finding out the availability of hardware and software before making the final draft is a better way to fight with the problem related to their unavailability challenge.

Besides this, in order to make this project successful, the team members have to be of great knowledge and well versed in both computer engineering and law. Proper following up of the project plan will also help in completing the project in cost, in time and with all the objectives accomplished, making the project a success.

References

Alcock, T. (2018). Changes to Forensic Laboratory Accreditation Requirements – ISO/IEC 17025. Retrieved from https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2018/04/20/changes-to-forensic-laboratory-accreditation-requirements-iso-iec-17025/

Fenwick, T., & Edwards, R. (2015). Exploring the impact of digital technologies on professional responsibilities and education. European Educational Research Journal, 15(1), 117-131.

Guo, H., & Hou, J. (2018). Review of the accreditation of digital forensics in China. Forensic Sciences Research, 3(3), 194-201. doi: 10.1080/20961790.2018.1503526

Jones, A., & Valli, C. (2009). Building a Digital Forensic Laboratory: Establishing and Managing a Successful Facility. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Kim, D., & Solomon, M. (2014). Fundamentals of information systems security (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nanda, S., & Hansen, R. (2016). Forensics as a Service: Three-Tier Architecture for Cloud Based Forensic Analysis. 2016 15Th International Symposium On Parallel And Distributed Computing (ISPDC), 178-183.

Watson, D., & Jones, A. (2013). Digital Forensics Processing and Procedures. Syngress.

Wolfe, H. (2003). Setting up an electronic evidence forensics laboratory. Computers & Security, 22(8), 670-672.

Yadav, P. (2017). Ethical issues across different fields of forensic science. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 7(1).

Zagar, M., Delija, D., & Sirovatka, G. (2018). Setting up digital forensics laboratory: Experience of Zagreb University of Applied Sciences. 2018 41St International