Introduction

In situations involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) incidents caused by natural or accidental events or deliberate actions like terrorism or warfare, it can be crucial to accurately identify CBRNE agents by collecting and transporting samples to a laboratory. A digital chain of custody system might contribute to ensuring the traceability and security of CBRNE evidence items throughout the process. This process involves various stakeholders, emphasizing the significance of maintaining the integrity of the chain of custody and documenting all actions, particularly at Custody Transfer Points (CTPs), for easy auditing of the involved stakeholders.

In any digital Chain of Custody (dCoC) process, it is essential to identify stakeholders with specific roles or participation in the dCoC process. These stakeholders may include the Mission Commander Team, the Reconnaissance Team, the Sampling Team, the Carrier Team, and the Laboratory Team. The data governance workflow aims to offer guidance on executing a secure digital transfer and identifying the stakeholders involved as contributors to the evidentiary materials at each stage of the process. The guidelines emphasize the importance of incorporating digital custody metadata (DCM) into the dCoC process to ensure the integrity and non-repudiation of digital evidence items and to trace the custodian. By including DCM, the dCoC process can provide comprehensive and accurate documentation of all steps involved in the custody, control, transfer, and auditing of the digital evidence items, thereby increasing transparency and accountability.

This document addresses services and final outputs concerning dCoC for CBRNE evidence items. The concepts and terminology presented in this document are utilized by the definitions in ISO 22095 Chain of Custody – General terminology and models. Additional definitions of concepts relevant to the CTP data governance process specification and custody transfer of metadata structures considered by the digital evidence log are also provided. Many of the terms and definitions listed here are also mentioned in the EN 17173 European CBRNE glossary; although not mandatory, reading these two standards is suggested to get familiarised with the terms and definitions listed for the chain of custody in the area of CBRNE.

The guidelines can be applied to other supply chains (e.g. food chains, retail logistics, etc.). The dCoC for CBRNE digital evidence items represents a paradigmatic context to address data governance considerations for evidentiary purposes in a highly demanding framework.

This document is intended to be used with Part 2 in order to ensure the implementation of the custody transfer data governance process. Part 2 provides the technical details regarding the implementation of the data structure for the DCM in each CTP in the dCoC.

NOTE 1 It is important to emphasize that across the European Union, there are several regulatory and legislative procedures to handle the chain of custody for CBRNE incidents, so it is essential to take these considerations into account. The use of the guidelines can vary based on the digital evidence procedures adopted in each member state of the European Union.

NOTE 2 If the digital log for each custody transfer (i.e. who owns the custody at each transfer point) is not preserved, the evidence submitted in the court might be challenged and ruled inadmissible.

PD CEN/TS 18053-1:2024

Digital Chain of Custody for CBRNE Evidence - Overview and Concepts

Current

Published:

30 Sep 2024