Digital Forensics for War Situations

The rapid development in information and communications technology has affected virtually every facet of modern civilization; ranging from work, to business, to pleasure. This also gave rise to the fifth dimension of warfare: cyberspace (an addition to land, sea, air, and space). Cyberspace has become a playing field for nation states and organizations to wage war—by exploiting the domain in their favor (cyber warfare).

In recent times, the war in Ukraine has shown exploitation of cyberspace by adversaries—a classic example being a deepfake video of the president of Ukraine, asking his soldiers to surrender to Russian forces. Hence, there is a need for digital forensics investigations to trace and ensure response to an attack is targeted at the correct party. Plus, digital forensics can also be used for intelligence in many war situations.