UK Forensic Scientists setting the standards

April 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Angus Marshall, a specialist in digital evidence and director of Darlington-based n-gate ltd., has just returned from Singapore, where he represented the UK at an international meeting of the ISO Information Security committee which is setting new standards for digital forensics for all types of organisation.

"Modern businesses are exposed to significant threats as soon as they start using the Internet", Angus explained, "and an important part of any information security strategy is to have in place plans to deal with incidents before they occur. Part of this is the ability and means to carry out an investigation. It can be difficult to get to the truth if proper planning hasn't been carried out before an incident happens. Often, the act of planning can lead to a means of prevention anyway."

He sees the development of international standards as extremely important because of the international nature of Internet activity. "Someone in the North-East could be dealing with an incident originating on a different continent. If we have a common standard it makes life easier when it comes to gathering and sharing evidence. The members of the ISO group are confident that this work will lead to more successful prosecutions against scammers and hackers in the future."

Angus has been an adviser to the UK's Forensic Science Regulator since 2009 and became the UK's technical lead for digital forensics to ISO as a result of his work on the regulation of digital forensics in the law-enforcement community.

His company, n-gate ltd. ( http://www.n-gate.net/ ) provides a range of forensic science services to law-enforcement agencies and the legal profession and has just launched a new service to assist businesses with pre-incident investigation planning & preparation.