Blockchain Based Framework for Securing Digital Evidence

Deevi Radha Rani, Tavva Karthik, Tammineni Narasimha and Kola Rajesh

Department of Advanced Computer Science and Engineering, Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology & Research

(Deemed to be University), Vadlamudi, Guntur (Dt), 522213, Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords: Blockchain, Chain of Custody, Integrity, Ethereum, Smart Contracts.

Abstract: Digital evidence's traceability and integrity are essential for maintaining credibility and dependability in

forensic investigations and court cases. Conventional approaches to chain of custody management frequently

encounter issues like inefficiency, tampering, and a lack of transparency. By offering a decentralized,

unchangeable, and impenetrable platform for managing digital evidence, blockchain technology offers a

revolutionary alternative. This paper proposes a blockchain-based digital evidence management system that

uses smart contracts to provide strong access control, visible provenance, and safe documentation. For

effective evidence record retrieval and verification, the system incorporates features like distributed Merkle

roots, role-based access control, and version tracking. By addressing issues of scalability, security, and

privacy, the proposed framework enhances the credibility of digital evidence while simplifying forensic

workflows, ensuring seamless and secure collaboration among authorized stakeholders.

1 INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, solving crimes often depends on

digital clues, like messages, files, and online records.

To make sure these clues are real and haven’t been

changed, they need to be carefully tracked from the

moment they are found until they are used in court.

This tracking process is called the chain of custody

(CoC). But the old way of keeping track isn’t always

safe. People can secretly change the evidence, it’s

hard to check if it’s real, and there isn’t always a clear

record of who handled it. That’s where blockchain

can help. Blockchain is like a super-secure digital

notebook where every step-in handling evidence is

recorded in a way that no one can change. It uses

special security features like digital signatures (which

work like fingerprints) and cryptographic hashing

(which locks data in a unique code). Because of this,

blockchain can make sure that digital evidence stays

safe, real, and trusted. This paper explores how

blockchain can make forensic investigations more

reliable by keeping a clear and unbreakable record of

evidence. By using blockchain, experts can protect

digital clues and make sure they can be trusted in

court.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The chain of custody (CoC) plays a vital role in

forensic investigations, ensuring that evidence

remains authentic and untampered with throughout

the legal process. Traditionally, CoC procedures

focused on managing physical evidence, but the rise

of digital forensics has introduced new complexities.

Digital evidence, unlike physical items, can be easily

duplicated, altered, or accessed without proper

authorization. This shift necessitates stronger

mechanisms to track, verify, and maintain the

integrity of forensic data. Various studies have

explored these challenges and proposed solutions,

with blockchain technology emerging as a promising

tool for securing digital CoC.

Highlighting the transition from conventional

methods to digital evidence management. They

emphasize the lack of universal standards for

handling digital forensic data, leading to

inconsistencies in legal admissibility. Traditional

tracking mechanisms, often reliant on manual

documentation, present risks such as inefficiency and

tampering. Similarly, Critiques existing digital CoC

methods, arguing that centralized forensic tools create

single points of failure. The study proposes using the

Advanced Forensic Format (AFF) to improve

metadata tracking and distributed evidence

488

Rani, D. R., Karthik, T., Narasimha, T. and Rajesh, K.

Blockchain Based Framework for Securing Digital Evidence.

DOI: 10.5220/0013885300004919

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Research and Development in Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICRDICCT‘25 2025) - Volume 2, pages

488-493

ISBN: 978-989-758-777-1

management. However, AFF still lacks widespread

legal recognition, limiting its effectiveness in real-

world forensic applications.

The challenges of digital evidence handling

extend beyond security concerns to include

transparency and legal compliance. Sadiku et al.

provide an overview of digital CoC elements,

focusing on data integrity, institutional involvement,

and verification techniques such as digital signatures

and timestamps. They highlight vulnerabilities in

traditional CoC systems, including unauthorized

access and inadequate mechanisms for long-term data

provenance tracking. These limitations strengthen the

case for adopting blockchain technology, which

offers immutable records, decentralized verification,

and automated tracking mechanisms through smart

contracts.

Several studies explore blockchain’s potential in

forensic CoC management. A systematic literature

review is conducted for identifying key advantages

such as immutability, transparency, and traceability.

They note that blockchain has been widely discussed

for digital forensics but remains underutilized for

managing physical evidence. Despite its benefits,

blockchain introduces challenges such as high

computational costs, scalability issues, and

difficulties integrating with existing forensic systems.

Another study, assumed to focus on blockchain-based

digital CoC frameworks, likely presents solutions that

leverage blockchain’s cryptographic security, access

control mechanisms, and timestamping to enhance

evidence authenticity. However, concerns such as

regulatory uncertainties and privacy issues remain

obstacles to widespread adoption.

While blockchain enhances forensic evidence

security, its implementation is not without challenges.

Scalability remains a major concern, as blockchain

networks require significant computational resources,

which can lead to high operational costs.

Additionally, forensic institutions rely on legacy

systems that may not be easily compatible with

blockchain technology. The lack of standardized legal

frameworks for blockchain-based evidence further

complicates its admissibility in court. Public

blockchains, while transparent, raise privacy

concerns, whereas permissioned blockchains

introduce centralization risks that contradict the core

principles of decentralized security.

The Advanced Forensic Format Library

(AFFLIB) enhances digital forensic investigations by

incorporating cryptographic security, integrity

mechanisms, and chain-of-custody provisions. By

leveraging digital signatures and encryption, AFFLIB

ensures transparent access to secured evidence files

while maintaining their authenticity. Compared to

traditional forensic tools, it provides significant

advantages, such as simplified implementation,

robust encryption beyond simple password

protection, and the ability to sign raw files without

modifying original data. Additionally, it allows for in-

place encryption of previously unencrypted evidence

files, increasing flexibility in forensic procedures.

However, AFFLIB has certain drawbacks, including

the lack of encryption for segment names and 32-bit

arguments, which, while not directly holding

evidentiary data, could pose minor security risks.

Moreover, each AFF file requires a unique encryption

key, making key management cumbersome, as the

only way to change the key is by copying the data to

a newly encrypted file. Another critical limitation is

that encryption keys are cached in memory, making

them susceptible to theft by malicious software unless

additional security measures, such as cryptographic

tokens or trusted operating systems, are employed.

These challenges highlight the need for more secure

and efficient cryptographic mechanisms, reinforcing

the potential of blockchain technology to address

such vulnerabilities in the chain of custody for digital

evidence.

It also reviews methods for digitally signing

evidence to ensure a legally admissible and secure

CoC. The study emphasizes integrating real-world

interactions, including GPS for location tracking,

timestamps for precise documentation, biometrics for

authentication, and hash functions for digital

fingerprints. A proper combination of these methods

can create a robust CoC, ensuring the integrity and

admissibility of evidence in court. Despite individual

advantages and disadvantages, these techniques,

when carefully implemented alongside cryptographic

algorithms, can provide a secure and comprehensive

framework for digital evidence encryption and

decryption.

Addressing these challenges requires continued

research and development. Future studies should

focus on designing scalable blockchain frameworks

tailored for forensic investigations. Hybrid

blockchain models, combining public and private

features, may help balance transparency and security.

Establishing legal guidelines and standardizing

blockchain forensic protocols will be essential to

gaining judicial acceptance. Additionally, integrating

blockchain with existing forensic tools without

disrupting workflows will be crucial for practical

adoption. Privacy-enhancing techniques such as zero-

knowledge proofs could further strengthen

blockchain’s role in securing forensic evidence.

Blockchain Based Framework for Securing Digital Evidence

489

The literature collectively underscores the

growing relevance of blockchain in digital forensic

investigations. Traditional CoC methods struggle to

address the unique challenges of digital evidence,

necessitating innovative solutions. Blockchain’s

ability to provide secure, tamper-proof records makes

it a strong candidate for forensic CoC management.

However, practical limitations such as scalability,

regulatory hurdles, and computational complexity

must be resolved before blockchain can be fully

integrated into forensic workflows. Through

continued technological advancements and legal

standardization, blockchain has the potential to

transform digital evidence management, ensuring

greater security, transparency, and trust in forensic

investigations.

3 EXISTING SOLUTIONS

Traditional forensic Chain of Custody (CoC) systems

rely on centralized databases that are vulnerable to

insider threats, cyberattacks, and data manipulation.

These systems lack robust audit tracking, making it

difficult to ensure the integrity of digital evidence.

Provenance tracking is also a challenge, as traditional

methods fail to provide complete transparency

regarding who accessed the evidence and what

actions were performed. Additionally, timestamping

mechanisms in these systems can be manipulated,

leading to inaccuracies in event sequencing and

weakening the credibility of forensic investigations.

Maintaining evidence authenticity over time is

complex, as digital evidence passes through multiple

handlers, increasing the risk of tampering. Traditional

CoC systems require advanced cryptographic

techniques for integrity verification, which are

difficult to implement effectively. Moreover,

compliance with legal and regulatory standards

demands frequent audits and security upgrades,

leading to high operational costs. Access control

further complicates the process, as multiple

stakeholders need to interact with the evidence while

ensuring restricted and secure access.

Given these limitations, a more secure and

transparent solution is necessary to ensure the

reliability of digital evidence. Blockchain technology

provides an innovative approach by offering

decentralized, tamper-proof record-keeping

blockchain enhances forensic investigations by

preserving the integrity, transparency, and

trustworthiness of digital evidence, cryptographic

security, and automated tracking. By addressing key

weaknesses in traditional systems,

4 PROPOSED SOLUTION

Blockchain technology offers a tamper-proof solution

for forensic audit records by ensuring that once data

is recorded, it cannot be altered without detection. Its

cryptographic immutability safeguards the integrity

of the Chain of Custody (CoC), preventing

unauthorized modifications. Additionally,

blockchain-based timestamping enhances accuracy

and security by cryptographically linking timestamps

to transactions, eliminating the risk of manipulation

and ensuring a reliable sequence of events.

With each event recorded as a blockchain

transaction, the system maintains a secure and

transparent audit trail, allowing forensic investigators

to track every interaction with digital evidence. This

decentralized approach reduces compliance costs by

automating regulatory checks, minimizing the need

for manual audits, and lowering legal expenses.

Furthermore, blockchain provides a unified CoC

framework, ensuring standardized evidence tracking

across multiple stakeholders, including law

enforcement agencies and forensic experts.

Enhanced provenance tracking improves

accountability, as transparent access logs reveal who

interacted with the evidence and what actions were

taken. Additionally, blockchain’s cryptographic

hashing enables instant integrity verification,

allowing investigators to detect any tampering

attempts immediately. By addressing the key

challenges of traditional systems, blockchain

strengthens the security, reliability, and transparency

of digital evidence management.

5 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

To evaluate the effectiveness of a blockchain-based

Forensic File Management System (FFMS), a

prototype was developed and tested across multiple

scenarios. The experiment aimed to measure

performance in terms of data integrity, access control,

storage efficiency, and retrieval time while ensuring

compliance with chain of custody (CoC)

requirements. Key Performance Metrics and Results

Shown in Table 1.

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

490

Table 1: Key Performance Metrics and Results.

Metric

Traditional system

Blockchain-Based

system

Improvement

Data integrity

Prone to tampering

Immutable, Verified by

hashes

100% integrity

Access control

Centralized, Role-

based

Decentralized smart

contract-based

More secure

Evidence verification

time

~12s (manual check)

~2s (automated

validation)

83% faster

Storage overhead

500MB for metadata

120MB (merkle tree

compression)

76% reduction

Retrieval time

~8s

~3s

62% faster

Auditability

Limited logging

Complete, Real-time

logging

Full traceability

Blockchain integration significantly enhanced

data integrity by storing each file’s hash on the

blockchain, making evidence tamper-proof. Any

unauthorized modification resulted in a hash

mismatch, immediately flagging potential tampering

attempts. Additionally, smart contracts enforced role-

based access control, preventing unauthorized

personnel from modifying or viewing sensitive

evidence.

To optimize storage efficiency, Merkle trees and

off-chain storage were used, reducing on-chain data

while maintaining security. This approach minimized

storage overhead compared to fully on-chain

methods, ensuring a balance between performance

and data protection.

Automating the Chain of Custody (CoC) process

using smart contracts drastically improved

verification speed, reducing validation time from 12

seconds to just 2 seconds. This automation

streamlined forensic audits and legal procedures,

making investigations more efficient.

While blockchain effectively managed small to

medium datasets, larger files exceeding 1GB required

off-chain solutions like IPFS to prevent network

congestion. By integrating these scalable solutions,

blockchain ensured secure, transparent, and efficient

evidence management, addressing the limitations of

traditional forensic tracking systems.

Blockchain significantly improves forensic

evidence management by reducing verification time

from 12 seconds to just 2 seconds and retrieval time

from 8 seconds to 3 seconds, making access to

evidence much faster. Additionally, it minimizes

storage overhead, requiring only 120MB compared to

500MB in traditional systems, while ensuring

enhanced security and traceability. This efficiency

not only accelerates forensic investigations but also

strengthens the reliability of digital evidence

handling. Figure 1 Shows the Performance Metrics.

Figure 1: Performance Metrics.

Ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of

digital evidence is crucial in forensic investigations,

and blockchain technology provides an innovative

solution to address existing challenges. By leveraging

its core principles of immutability, decentralization,

and cryptographic security, our proposed system

enhances the chain of custody (CoC), making digital

evidence tamper-proof and verifiable. Traditional

forensic methods often suffer from issues such as

tampering risks, lack of transparency, and high

compliance costs. Our blockchain-based framework

eliminates these vulnerabilities by automating

forensic workflows, securing audit trails, and

ensuring real-time access control through smart

contracts.

This approach not only enhances the transparency

and accountability of digital evidence management

but also strengthens its legal admissibility. Courts,

law enforcement agencies, and forensic experts can

rely on a secure, verifiable audit trail, reducing

disputes over evidence manipulation and ensuring a

fair judicial process. Additionally, the system

significantly lowers operational costs by streamlining

Blockchain Based Framework for Securing Digital Evidence

491

compliance procedures and minimizing the need for

extensive manual audits.

As cybercrimes and digital forensic challenges

continue to evolve, this blockchain-based framework

lays the foundation for a future-ready and scalable

solution. With potential enhancements such as AI-

driven anomaly detection, IoT- based real-time

evidence collection, and interoperability with global

legal systems, the system is designed to adapt to

emerging threats and forensic needs. By integrating

these advancements, blockchain can become the gold

standard for securing digital evidence while

maintaining efficiency, security, and trust across

forensic investigations.

6 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE

WORK

In conclusion, blockchain is not just an innovation it

is a necessity for the future of digital forensics. Its

ability to secure, authenticate, and transparently

manage digital evidence ensures a more reliable and

just investigative process. As technology progresses,

embracing blockchain in forensic investigations will

play a pivotal role in strengthening the legal system,

enhancing security, and upholding justice in the

digital age.

Future advancements in forensic investigations

can leverage AI-powered analysis to detect anomalies

and flag suspicious activity in digital evidence

automatically. Machine learning models can classify

and prioritize forensic data, accelerating

investigations and reducing manual effort.

Additionally, integrating blockchain with IoT-based

evidence collection from devices such as CCTV

cameras, body cams, and environmental sensors can

ensure real-time, tamper-proof logging of digital

evidence from smart environments, enhancing the

reliability and security of forensic data.

To facilitate global collaboration, standardized

blockchain-based Chain of Custody (CoC)

frameworks can be developed to ensure cross-border

legal compatibility, allowing seamless cooperation

between international law enforcement agencies.

Furthermore, interoperability with existing legal

systems can connect blockchain records with judicial

databases, enabling automated legal compliance

checks and streamlined evidence presentation.

Advanced cryptographic techniques like Zero-

Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) can also be implemented

to verify evidence authenticity while preserving

confidentiality, ensuring privacy without

compromising trust and security.

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