NCJ Number
206937
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 31 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 44,46-48,50,51
Date Published
August 2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article describes the right and wrong ways to archive forensic digital images on writable CD's so that the integrity of the images is preserved.
Abstract
Ten years ago most of the software available for mastering CD's allowed only a single recording that did not permit the writing of any additional information to that disk. The recordable CD's used at that time were based on a "Write Once Read Many" times (WORM) technology, which ensured retention of the integrity of the image burned into the CD. Now, however, CD writing software has changed, such that care must be used to protect the integrity of the images written to CD's. Some of the software now available allows a technician to perform functions that appear to be deleting and overwriting files. This article details the wrong and the right ways to manage the writing of digital images to a CD. The author advises that the most secure method for writing an evidence CD is with the mastering program in the software entitled "Easy CD Creator," which is part of Microsoft Windows XP. The author presents a step-by-step approach for using this software to create a secure, properly archived, original image that cannot be altered either on purpose or by accident. 6 figures