ABSTRACT
Law enforcement is faced with many challenges in regard to crimes involving computer technology. Many of these crimes involve child exploitation, and digital forensics is central in bringing justice to these cases. Criminal investigations can start in a variety of ways. They can come from an anonymous tip called into a law enforcement office, sent in by mail, from the victims themselves or their friends, or a referral from a school. After the law enforcement is made aware of such an accusation where a child is still in danger of further abuse, there is an urgency to gather as much information as possible immediately. Such urgency is not always present in other criminal investigations involving property crimes or narcotics, where there is luxury of conducting surveillance and conducting background investigation. The lead digital forensic investigator in this case marks all original evidence and documents serial numbers on photocopied hard drives with a form that he developed to assist the organization.
