Benchmarking Blockchain-Based Digital Forensic Chain of Custody Systems: A Standardization Approach for Evaluation and Compliance

Abstract

The chain of custody which tracks all evidence handling from its collection until its court presentation determines whether digital evidence stays untouched and remains usable in court. Traditional digital forensic chain of custody systems depend on centralized databases and manual documentation processes which create security risks from unauthorized changes and tampering and they prevent users from seeing all system activities. The design of blockchain technology supports decentralized systems with permanent recordkeeping and cryptographic protection and open verification systems which function as the solution to these problems. The absence of established performance assessment standards for blockchain-based forensic evidence management systems exists because interest in these systems has grown. The study developed an evaluation method based on benchmarking which assesses blockchain-based digital forensic chain of custody systems through established performance and security testing standards. The framework establishes evaluation dimensions which include evidence integrity verification, transaction transparency, system scalability, access control mechanisms, and compliance with recognized digital forensic standards. The research study uses benchmarking methods to create an organized system which enables the evaluation of different blockchain technologies used in forensic evidence management. The research demonstrates that blockchain technology can improve digital investigations through its enhanced traceability and tamper proofing and accountability features and the study also discovered operational issues which affect system performance and scalability. The benchmarking system establishes dependable testing standards which lead to proven legal systems for blockchain-based forensic systems.