Modeling Digital Evidence Management and Dynamics Using Petri Nets

In all phases of forensic investigation, digital evidence is exposed to external influences and coming into contact with many factors. Legal admissibility of digital evidence is the ability of that evidence being accepted as evidence in a court of law. Life cycle of digital evidence is very complex. In each stage there is more impact that can violate a chain of custody and its integrity. Contact with different variables occurs through a life cycle of digital evidence and can disrupt its integrity. In order for the evidence to be accepted by the court as valid, chain of custody for digital evidence must be kept, or it must be known who exactly came into contact with evidence in each stage of the investigation. This paper presents a dynamics and life cycle of digital evidence. The Petri nets will be proposed and used for modeling and simulation of this process