312-49 · Question #374
You are assigned to work in the computer forensics lab of a state police agency. While working on a high profile criminal case, you have followed every applicable procedure, however your boss is…
The correct answer is D. Make MD5 hashes of the evidence and compare it with the original MD5 hash that was taken. Cryptographic hashing (MD5, SHA-256) creates a unique fixed-length fingerprint of digital evidence. By computing an MD5 hash immediately upon evidence intake and again at any later point, investigators can mathematically prove the evidence is bit-for-bit identical - any…
Question
You are assigned to work in the computer forensics lab of a state police agency. While working on a high profile criminal case, you have followed every applicable procedure, however your boss is still concerned that the defense attorney might question wheather evidence has been changed while at the lab. What can you do to prove that the evidence is the same as it was when it first entered the lab?
Options
- ASign a statement attesting that the evidence is the same as it was when it entered the lab
- BThere is no reason to worry about this possible claim because state labs are certified
- CMake MD5 hashes of the evidence and compare it to the standard database developed by NIST
- DMake MD5 hashes of the evidence and compare it with the original MD5 hash that was taken
How the community answered
(54 responses)- A7% (4)
- B4% (2)
- C13% (7)
- D76% (41)
Explanation
Cryptographic hashing (MD5, SHA-256) creates a unique fixed-length fingerprint of digital evidence. By computing an MD5 hash immediately upon evidence intake and again at any later point, investigators can mathematically prove the evidence is bit-for-bit identical - any alteration, however small, produces a completely different hash. Comparing the current hash to the original intake hash is the forensic standard for demonstrating evidence integrity. Comparing against the NIST database (option C) is used for known-file identification, not evidence integrity verification. A signed statement alone lacks mathematical proof.
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