Digital Forensics: Challenges and Opportunities for Future Studies

Considering the ever-growing ubiquity of technology, there is an associated growth in the possibility of digital devices related to a criminal investigation or civil litigation. As the variety of digital devices is increasing, the storage capacity of each is also rising exponentially. Due to the varied and large volumes of data produced, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) worldwide are facing a significant backlog of cases. This has culminated in significant delays in dealing with cases that urgently require digital forensic investigations (DFIs). It is of paramount importance that new research approaches be adopted to address such challenges. This article evaluates the existing set of circumstances surrounding the field of digital forensics (DF). The article provides two important contributions to the field of DF; it identifies and analyses the most important mid- and long-term challenges that need to be considered by LEAs. It also proposes important specific future research directions, the undertaking of which can assist LEAs in adopting a new approach to addressing these challenges.