Validation is critical to ensure that forensic methods are fit for purpose, accurate and reliable. Without validating methods with reference test data, the constraints and limitations of the method will be unknown. Validation is also a core component of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard and the UK Forensic Science Regulator’s Codes of Conduct.

In digital forensics, validation presents particular challenges, given the rate of change in data, applications and devices that practitioners encounter on a daily basis.

Reli provided subject-matter expertise to a national programme to develop a pilot centralised validation service in digital forensics. We devised and delivered the validation of common commercial tools for capturing and analysing data from mobile devices and coordinated the creation of large and robust test datasets to be used in the validation.

We also designed and delivered a repository of central validation materials for UK police forces, to enable the sharing of results, enabling validation to be done once for the benefit of many.