has no internal check-summing facility; both Expert Witness Format (EnCase) and Smart use file structures within their images to checksum every block, typically 64 KB. We are assured of the integrity of the data because it is seen as one complete, wholesome entity and is internally consistent. It is largely left to the administrative system built around the computer system, as outlined in section 4, to provide assurance with existing tools that store or process these images.
Concepts like “Chain of Evidence” or Provenance have existed in legal proceedings for some time. Although users will take care of their data, the legal profession does pride itself on its highest possible standards in this matter. The ACPO guidelines describe this as a key task of the forensic practitioner.