SOF on Trial. The Technical and Legal Value of Battlefield Digital Forensics in Court

The transition from “ordinary” or “civil” digital forensics to battlefield digital forensics is characterized by the inclusion of the “time” variable into the equation that describes the process of finding, selecting and securing information gathered during forensics activities. While in some cases (such as the post-factum investigation of the Military Police) there may indeed be time to follow usual standard forensics methods, as soon as the scenario turns into an emergency response or a Special Operations Forces (SOF) intervention, it may be difficult to do so. Therefore, the digital forensics best practices developed for the ordinary civil and criminal proceedings as well as its legal value must be re-thought and adapted to the different scenarios of deployment.