Book Title: Modern Forensic Tools and Devices: Trends in Criminal Investigation
Editors: Mr. Ravi Kumar, Ms. Nandini Katare, Don Caeiro, and Dr. Surbhi Girdhar
Chapter: 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/658/9
Author: Saumya Tripathi
Abstract
The development of digital technology has completely transformed the prospects of written records and, as a result, changed the character and commission of white-collar crimes (Saini and Kaur, 2015). The associated digital change requires a commensurate change in the approach to forensics, especially in Questioned Document Examination, to address the more complex document fraud. Due to widespread access of cheap scanning and printing devices, and sophisticated image processing software, document manipulation has been democratized and forgery has become more common and more difficult to uncover using more conventional methods. Methods that worked so well in the past like the use of ink analysis and inspection under ultra-violet light that was once very effective when dealing with physical forgeries are not effective in detecting digitally manipulated documents because of the lack of any trace of a physical alteration. This change necessitates a unanimous endeavor on the elaboration of superior computation and image mapping methods that will be able to identify minute digital anomalies that frustrate the originality of a document (Singh et al., 2024). The field of questioned document examination has therefore been broadened to include digital forensics, where complex tool applications have been developed to detect digital document anomalies that can raise the possibility of document alterations or falsification. This new method uses electronic evidence to re-create the chronology of document creation and determine electronic artifacts that are in agreement with tampering. Such a paradigm shift necessitates a subtle grasp of the digital imaging principles, metadata analysis and the features of different software to identify their presence in a digital image as a simple text insertion or a multi-layered composite document construction. The higher capability of image editing programs makes it easy to manipulate digital images even by non-expert users and this has necessitated advanced forensic tools to determine the source, authenticity, and chain of custody of digital images (Chiang et al., 2009). It involves the ability to distinguish between valid digital signatures generated and those either modified or appended with a digital signature, which is a highly sensitive issue when the level of trust in electronic validation is growing (Bhadarge & Parkhe, 2024).