Law, CyberCrime and Digital Forensics: Trailing Digital Suspects

Abstract

The steep increase of cyber crime has rendered digital forensics an area of paramount importance to keep cyber threats in check and invoke legal safety and security in electronic transactions. This chapter reviews certain legal aspects of forensic investigation, the overall legal framework in the EU and U.S. and additional self-regulatory measures that can be leveraged upon to investigate cyber crime in forensic investigations. This chapter claims that while full-scale harmonisation of forensic investigation processes across the EU and beyond is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, cross-border investigations can be greatly facilitated by initiatives aiming at mutual assistance arrangements based on a common understanding of threats and shared processes. Involving the users through self-regulation and accountability frameworks might also contribute to reducing risks in electronic communications that emanate from cyber criminal threats.