The legal, IT, business, military, and intelligence communities struggle to keep pace with this flood of technology and to adequately understand the nuances of digital evidence. To serve the public good, practitioners in a variety of disciplines must cooperate and keep current when it comes to technology and the law.
The Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence is a regional not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the legal, technical, public sector, and business professionals for whom digital evidence is part and parcel of their work. The AIDE exists to help network administrators, digital forensics practitioners, law enforcement, and legal professionals survive – and even thrive – in the ever-changing landscape where technology and the law meet. Fostering collaboration among practitioners, students, and academics, AIDE aims to improve access to information, develop solutions to practical problems, and narrow the gap between the accessing and use of digital evidence and traditional physical evidence in the law.
Lawyers, judges, digital forensic examiners, network security professionals, and law enforcement personnel are all stakeholders when it comes to digital evidence. AIDE, comprised of three sub-groups (Digital Forensics, Information Security, and Electronic Discovery) is here to serve them.
If digital evidence is a critical part of your profession or field of study, we invite you to join us. Help us build a progressive, active, professional organization.
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Digital evidence in one form or another is in the news daily. Hackers, predators, bullies, and crooks are just some of the folks that can be identified, tracked, and or convicted using digital forensic techniques. Many people immediately associate it with child pornography and identity theft. In reality, it is so much more. Any criminal case, regardless of the charge, could contain digital evidence. Beyond criminal litigation, digital forensics is used in civil cases, the military and intelligence communities, and in administrative actions.
In today’s interconnected digital world, our lives are increasingly intertwined with technology. While this brings countless benefits, it also creates new vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals are constantly developing tools and techniques to exploit these vulnerabilities, putting our personal information, financial assets, and even critical infrastructure at risk. This is where cybersecurity comes in: the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.
Every aspect of our lives leaves a digital footprint and legal disputes and investigations often hinge on electronically stored information (ESI). From emails and documents to posts and phone data, this digital landscape can hold crucial evidence. This is where electronic discovery (e-discovery) comes in: the process of identifying, collecting, preserving, and producing ESI. It’s the modern equivalent of sifting through mountains of paper documents, but with the added complexity of digital formats and the ever-evolving landscape of technology.