Open Source Digital Forensics Tools: The Legal Argument

This paper addresses digital forensic analysis tools and their use in a legal setting. To enter scientific evidence into a United States court, a tool must be reliable and relevant. The reliability of evidence is tested by applying “Daubert” guidelines. To date, there have been few legal challenges to digital evidence, but as the field matures this will likely change. This paper examines the Daubert guidelines and shows that open source tools may more clearly and comprehensively meet the guidelines than closed source tools.

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