CustodyBlock: A distributed chain of custody evidence framework
In this 2021 article published in the journal Information, Alruwaili presents their framework “for better and more secure evidence preservation and handling” in digital forensics: CustodyBlock. Noting the importance of evidence management and the complexities that come with it, the author’s framework turns to “private blockchain protocol and smart contracts to support the control, transfer, analysis, and preservation monitoring of forensic evidence.” After discussing the related research and justification for such a framework, Alruwaili briefly covers research methodology, digital evidence custody, and the architecture and algorithm for their framework. After a brief discussion of the results, the author concludes that the framework demonstrates strong protection of the evidence chain and a more robust handling methodology, with the potential to handle information beyond that of digital forensics.