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SoK: Blockchain Solutions for Forensics

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Technology Development for Security Practitioners

Part of the book series: Security Informatics and Law Enforcement ((SILE))

Abstract

As the digitization of information-intensive processes gains momentum in nowadays, the concern is growing about how to deal with the ever-growing problem of cybercrime. To this end, law enforcement officials and security firms use sophisticated digital forensics techniques for analysing and investigating cybercrimes. However, multi-jurisdictional mandates, interoperability issues, the massive amount of evidence gathered (multimedia, text, etc.) and multiple stakeholders involved (law enforcement agencies, security firms, etc.) are just a few among the various challenges that hinder the adoption and implementation of sound digital forensics schemes. Blockchain technology has been recently proposed as a viable solution for developing robust digital forensics mechanisms. In this chapter, we provide an overview and classification of the available blockchain-based digital forensic tools, and we further describe their main features. We also offer a thorough analysis of the various benefits and challenges of the symbiotic relationship between blockchain technology and the current digital forensics approaches, as proposed in the available literature. Based on the findings, we identify various research gaps, and we suggest future research directions that are expected to be of significant value both for academics and practitioners in the field of digital forensics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/cybercrime/e-evidence_en

  2. 2.

    https://locard.eu/

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Programme (H2020), as part of the project LOCARD (https://locard.eu) (Grant Agreement no. 832735).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus, Pireas, Greece

    Thomas K. Dasaklis, Fran Casino & Constantinos Patsakis

  2. Athena Research Center, Athens, Greece

    Fran Casino & Constantinos Patsakis

Authors
  1. Thomas K. Dasaklis
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  2. Fran Casino
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  3. Constantinos Patsakis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas K. Dasaklis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CENTRIC (Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research), Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Babak Akhgar

  2. Center for Security Studies-KEMEA, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Kavallieros

  3. Crisis Management and Security Unit, Institute of Communication and Computer, Athens, Greece

    Evangelos Sdongos

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Dasaklis, T.K., Casino, F., Patsakis, C. (2021). SoK: Blockchain Solutions for Forensics. In: Akhgar, B., Kavallieros, D., Sdongos, E. (eds) Technology Development for Security Practitioners. Security Informatics and Law Enforcement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69460-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69460-9_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-69459-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-69460-9

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