Ask the Expert: A day in the life of the Digital Detective

You’ve seen it in the movies; you’ve seen it on TV - evidence is collected from the scene of some horrible crime and, within 20 minutes, a forensic expert has done the analysis and discovered vital clues that push the police enquiry forward. In fictional crime series, computer and mobile phone forensics is particularly portrayed as quick and easy to do. One wave of the expert’s magic wand, apparently, and all is revealed.

But does this happen in real life? Well, yes and no. It can happen but it usually happens a lot more slowly. There will be the exciting emergencies, of course - the call to a live hack attack, for instance, or to court for the on-site download of digital evidence. In between, the digital forensic expert will spend many frustrating hours asking for evidence, waiting for evidence and, often, having to explain to a variety of people - often lawyers - why the evidence that they’ve been sent either doesn’t count as digital evidence or is, quite simply, the wrong evidence.

About our expert:

Dr Jan Collie is a Lecturer in Cyber Security at the Open University where her teaching and research focuses on digital forensics and cyber security. She maintains a strong interest in addressing flaws in the UK criminal justice system, particularly where the acquisition and analysis of digital evidence is involved. She has been called to give evidence to committees of both the House of Lords and House of Commons on these subjects.

Jan came to the OU from industry in 2019, having run her own digital forensics and cyber security consultancy for more than 18 years. She has wide ranging experience in corporate and criminal investigations. Fraud, IP theft, system hacking and ransomware recovery form a significant portion of her ongoing corporate casework. In criminal litigation, she is frequently instructed to carry out cell site analysis, computer and mobile phone forensics in order to provide expert evidence on serious matters such as murder, rape, blackmail, terrorism and possession of indecent images.