Open Source Tools for Digital Forensic Investigation: Capability, Reliability, Transparency and Legal Requirements

Over the past decade, law enforcement organizations have been dealing with the development of cybercrime.To address this growing problem, law enforcement organizations apply various digital forensic (DF) tools and techniques to investigate crimes involving digital devices.This ensures that evidence is admissible in legal proceedings.Consequently, DF analysts may need to invest more in proprietary DF hardware and software to maintain the viability of the DF lab, which will burden budget-constrained organizations.As an alternative, the open source DF tool is considered a cost-saving option.However, the admissibility of digital evidence obtained from these tools has yet to be tested in courts, especially in Malaysia.Therefore, this study aimed to explore the admissibility of digital evidence obtained through open source DF tools.By reviewing the existing literature, the factors that affect the admissibility of the evidence produced by these tools in courts were identified.Further, based on the findings, a conceptual framework was developed to ensure the admissibility of the evidence so that it will be accepted in the court of law.This conceptual framework was formed to outline the factors affecting the admissibility of digital evidence from open source DF tools, which include; 1) The Availability and Capability of open source DF tools, 2) the Reliability and Integrity of the digital evidence obtained from open source DF tools, 3) the Transparency of the open source DF tools, and 4) the Lack of Reference and Standard of open source DF tools.This study provides valuable insights into the digital forensic field, and the conceptual framework can be used to integrate open source DF tools into digital forensic investigations.