Abstract
Publications in the digital forensics domain frequently come with tools – a small piece of functional software. These tools are often released to the public for others to reproduce results or use them for their own purposes. However, there has been no study on the tools to understand better what is available and what is missing. For this paper we analyzed almost 800 articles from pertinent venues from 2014 to 2019 to answer the following three questions (1) what tools (i.e., in which domains of digital forensics): have been released; (2) are they still available, maintained, and documented; and (3) are there possibilities to enhance the status quo? We found 62 different tools which we categorized according to digital forensics subfields. Only 33 of these tools were found to be publicly available, the majority of these were not maintained after development. In order to enhance the status quo, one recommendation is a centralized repository specifically for tested tools. This will require tool researchers (developers) to spend more time on code documentation and preferably develop plugins instead of stand-alone tools.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
