Part 1: The need for peer review in digital forensics

The importance of peer review in the field of digital forensics cannot be underestimated as it often forms the primary, and sometimes only form of quality assurance process an organisation will apply to their practitioners' casework. Whilst there is clear value in the peer review process, it remains an area which is arguably undervalued and under-researched, where little academic and industrial commentary can be found describing best practice approaches. This work forms the first of a two part series discussing why the digital forensics discipline and its organisations should conduct peer review in their laboratories, what it should review as part of this process, and how this should be undertaken. Here in part one, a critical review of the need to peer review is offered along with a discussion of the limitations of existing peer review mechanisms. Finally, the ‘Peer Review Hierarchy’ is offered, outlining the seven levels of peer review available for reviewing practitioner findings.