The "Standard Operating Procedures" (SOP) have been developed within the framework of the CyberSouth Project and is intended for use by law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The aim of the guide is to cover procedures to be followed for the onsite retrieval, securing, transport and handling of digital evidence, as well as its analysis and presentation.

A forensic analysis of a computer system, computer data or storage device requires not only the approval of a competent authority but also the observance of technical requirements and well-defined steps to ensure the integrity of the extracted data and their presentation in a way that allows prosecutors and judges to understand and admit them in prosecutions or court cases.

The guide also includes procedures to cover new technologies such as mobile devices and cloud storage and even has a section about live data forensics raising awareness for the importance of acquiring volatile data.

These SOP were developed in response to a need expressed by practitioners and serve for the countries that are developing their response to cybercrime and establishing rules and special procedures to deal with electronic evidence.

All the CoE Publications are available for law enforcement and judicial authorities on Octopus Community.