Collaborative Digital Forensic Investigations Model for Law Enforcement

Cybercrime has evolved rapidly in recent years since societies are becoming more reliant on digital communications with e-services inevitably replacing legacy systems. This has redefined our ecosystem to a highly interconnected Cyber-Physical-Natural (CPN) world where various aspects of our daily life including cybercrime are being realized online as part of the cyberspace. Therefore, it is crucial to perform Digital Forensic Investigations (DFI) as part of a modernized and collaborative Incident Response (IR) methodology. Conducting forensic investigations incorporates standardized and formalized processes to comply with legal (both local and international), professional and ethical requirements. In this study, we address the need for a standardized collaborative model to facilitate sound investigations for the Royal Oman Police (ROP). We propose the Collaborative Digital Forensics and Incident Response (CDFIR) model to mitigate risks associated with the utilization of inconsistent methodologies selected based on the various personal expertise of the local staff. Furthermore, we introduce an online portal to complement the investigation process and empower police officers with a tool to manage their allocated cases more efficiently.