CONTENTS
- 1. Digital Forensics | Definition
- - Types of Digital Forensics
- 2. Digital Forensics | Fields of Application
- - Criminal Cases
- - Civil Litigation
- - Family Cases
- - Labor Disputes
- - Corporate Cases and Industrial Disputes
- - Common Field
- 3. Digital Forensics | Actual Cases
- 4. Digital Forensics | Points to Note
- 5. Digital Forensics | Procedure
- 6. Digital Forensics | The Advantages of In-House Digital Forensics Collaboration
1. Digital Forensics | Definition
Digital forensics is a specialized investigative technique that goes beyond mere data recovery technology; to uncover the substance of a case, it analyzes digital data according to a logical flow and constructs it into legally valid evidence.
It extracts data from a variety of electronic devices, such as computers, smartphones, servers, and the cloud, analyzes the content, and reconstructs it into a form that can be utilized in legal disputes or investigative proceedings.
Such work cannot be completed by technology alone. The process of grasping the essence of a case, extracting the key issues, and constructing them according to legal logic demands a high level of legal practice capability. Digital forensics can exercise its true effect only when scientific technology and legal knowledge are integrated.
Types of Digital Forensics
▶Collection of digital evidence
-Recognition of the need for collection
-Acquisition of authority to analyze and investigate
-Securing of the digital device
▶Extraction of digital evidence
-Duplication/imaging of the storage device
-Selective collection of data
▶Analysis of digital evidence
-Setting the direction of data analysis
-Data recovery
-Conducting the data analysis
▶Reporting of digital evidence
-Verification of the reliability of the data analysis results
-Preparation of the analysis results report
-Submission of the report and evidentiary materials
▶Destruction of digital evidence
-Return and destruction of the digital storage media
-(If necessary) maintenance and storage of the evidence
2. Digital Forensics | Fields of Application
Digital forensics is used as an essential tool for securing key evidence across a variety of case types. In particular, in modern society where digital devices have become a part of daily life, traces of crime often exist within digital records, and its importance comes to the fore in cases such as the following.
Criminal Cases
Criminal acts such as digital sexual offenses, defamation, stalking, and intimidation are mostly carried out through messengers, email, social media, and the like.
In such cases, the circumstances of the crime can be proven by tracing the conversation records, transmission history, location information, and so on from the relevant device.
Civil Litigation
In civil disputes such as default, damages, and contract termination, the details of monetary transactions or the content of declarations of intent can be confirmed from digital data.
In particular, where the other party denies remittance records or a claim relationship, key evidence to rebut this can be secured through forensic analysis.
Family Cases
In divorce, adultery, and child custody disputes, digital materials that can prove circumstances of a spouse's infidelity or problems with the child-rearing environment sometimes play a decisive role.
Messengers, social media, call records, and photo data become the principal materials.
Labor Disputes
With respect to claims of unfair dismissal or workplace harassment, the actual circumstances can be proven by analyzing emails, work records, in-house messengers, and the like.
Corporate Cases and Industrial Disputes
In matters such as internal information leaks, hacking incidents, and audit responses, responsibility is identified by analyzing logs, access records, emails, and the like arising within a company's internal systems.
In addition, where a leak of industrial secrets is suspected, the movement paths of documents, the history of those who accessed them, and so on are traced.
Common Field
Digital forensics is a powerful means by which, through analysis of location records, traces of external-device use, digital logs, and the like, the time and place of an incident and a person's path of conduct can be proven.
3. Digital Forensics | Actual Cases
We introduce actual cases handled by the Digital Forensics Center.
Case 1. A case assisting a stalking complaint through recovery of iPhone messenger data
The client wished to file a complaint on charges of stalking, having suffered persistent obsession and harassment from a person met online.
However, the messenger conversation history that would be the key evidence in the case had been deleted, and the other party had instead filed a counter-complaint against the client on fraud charges.
In response, Daeryun Law Firm, through iPhone forensics, recovered approximately 20,000 KakaoTalk messages and 40 game-app messages—four months of conversations in total—and through this was able to prove the circumstances of stalking and that there had been no intentional romantic relationship.
The recovered evidence was adopted in the police investigation and, together with a medical certificate and settlement records, proved even the fact of the client's psychological harm.
As a result, digital forensics became a key tool in revealing the truth of the case and played an important role both in the application of the Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking and in defending against the counter-complaint.
Case 2. A case assisting a response to an internal audit through mobile phone forensics
The client, suspected by the company of having received money and valuables from a partner company, became subject to an internal audit and, to prove their innocence, requested mobile phone forensics.
The Daeryun Law Firm Digital Forensics Center analyzed the entirety of the client's work and personal devices, precisely recovered deleted messages, call logs, emails, document files, and location information, selected the evidence directly related to the case, and prepared a systematic report.
In particular, through analysis of GPS data showing that the client was not at the suspected location at the time of the incident, verification of document-file metadata, and analysis of automatically recorded call files, it secured key evidence with which to respond to the internal audit and succeeded in proving the client's innocence.
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4. Digital Forensics | Points to Note
Evidence secured through digital forensics is meaningful only if its legal effect is recognized by investigative agencies or the court.
To this end, attention must be paid to the following matters.
▶Compliance with lawful collection procedures
If lawful procedures are not observed in the course of collecting evidence, it may instead be deemed unlawfully collected evidence and excluded in court.
▶Caution regarding violation of the Personal Information Protection Act
Recovering or analyzing another person's device or data without authorization may become subject to criminal punishment for violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.
▶Insufficient reliability of analysis results from non-specialist firms
Forensics performed by a firm lacking an understanding of legal logic may be difficult to have recognized as evidence in court, or may instead operate to one's disadvantage.
5. Digital Forensics | Procedure
In situations requiring digital forensics, effective evidence collection and case response are possible through the following procedures.
▶Prior consultation and device check
-A prior consultation is conducted to confirm the characteristics of the case and the feasibility of securing evidence.
-Where a password is set, the feasibility of unlocking is also examined on a device-by-device basis.
▶Setting the scope of analysis
-A strategy is established as to which data is to be extracted and analyzed, and in what manner.
-If necessary, a tailored analysis plan is established according to the type of case.
▶Data extraction and duplication
-An image is extracted without damaging the original, and analysis is conducted on the duplicate.
-This is an essential procedure to secure legal reliability as evidence.
▶Evidence analysis and report preparation
-Data analysis suited to the case is carried out so as to be able to construct the flow of circumstances.
-A digital forensics report for submission to the court is prepared, to be utilized in subsequent trial and investigative proceedings.
▶Supplementation of additional evidence and legal response
-The system is designed so that, where additional analysis is required as the case progresses, an immediate response can be made.
6. Digital Forensics | The Advantages of In-House Digital Forensics Collaboration
Digital forensics is not merely a technical service but a strategic tool for resolving legal cases.
Accordingly, digital forensics must be approached within the context of ‘legal practice,’ and in this respect our firm’s Digital Forensics Center offers the following points of distinction.
Discovery | We uncover decisive evidence lying dormant within a client’s ordinary everyday records (social media, messages, and the like), thereby securing clues to the truth that can turn the course of a case. |
Insight | By connecting and reconstructing scattered digital traces (financial, communication, location, and others), we establish an integrated truth that grasps the overall flow and hidden context of a complex case. |
Efficiency | By converting hundreds of thousands of seized materials and vast digital evidence into an instantly searchable ‘strategic asset,’ we save time so that attorneys can focus solely on the core issues. |
Strategy | Through data that cannot be manipulated, we scientifically delineate the scope of the alleged offense and, by establishing matters such as the absence of intent, design a strategy for mitigation in sentencing or for the defense. |
Rebuttal | By precisely identifying the logical gaps and assertions of the opposing party or the investigative authorities through cross-analysis of data, we dismantle the opposing party’s reasoning with objective facts. |
Contrarian | By scientifically proving the absence of data, we turn a gap in the records into the most powerful evidence of innocence—one that unsettles the very premise of the allegation. |
Recovery | With distinctive technical capabilities that overcome physical limitations such as water damage, breakage, and deliberate destruction, we restore from the realm of the impossible the decisive evidence that forms the starting point of every strategy. |
We invite you to experience the genuine value of digital forensics—not the digital forensics that other providers merely imitate, but the kind that discovers evidence, designs strategy, and changes the course of a trial.
