Chain of Custody Form

Before shipping any computer component to use for examination, you MUST print out, and fill in by hand our Chain of Custody form.   You can see and print the form here

1. This is a two page document, although must clients only have to fill and send the first page, since most clients only ship us one hard drive.
   
   
2. On the first page, you must fill out each section except the case # in the top left, and the place for our signature in the bottom right.
   
   
3. If this Chain of Custody is not filled out completely, or does not accompany the computer hardware you are shipping to us, we will have to immediately return all hardware to you and refuse the forensic examination job.
   
   
4. If you are only shipping one hard drive to us, then discard the second page of the Chain of Custody.  If you are shipping more that one item, list each item on the first page, and list each item separately on the bottom of the first and the second pages as an item shipped to us.  If a third page is needed for shipping, reprint the second page.
   
   
5. All hardware components and the completed Chain of Custody form MUST be sent via certified mail to a traceable, certifiable record of when the items were in transit
   
   

Without a complete and accurate documentation trail of who handled the hardware, when, where and why, your legal case can be lost before it even begins.  This documentation trail is called the 'Chain of Custody Log.'  The purpose of a chain of custody log is to prove that the integrity of the evidence has been maintained from seizure through production in court. Chain of custody logs document how the data was gathered, analyzed, and preserved for production. A chain of custody log for electronic data must demonstrate the following: the data has been properly copied, transported, and stored; and all media has been secured throughout the process.

Again, before shipping any computer component to use for examination, you MUST print out, and fill in by hand our Chain of Custody form.  You can see and print the form here