New Information Components in the Formation of Electronic Evidence in Criminal Cases (the Modern Trail of Electronic-Digital Traces)

This work aims to examine the trace picture in cyberspace under contemporary conditions. The concept of a digital trail (in our treatment—electronic-digital) was proposed by V. B. Vekhov back in 2008 and refined in later publications. Tracking the trail of electronic-digital traces is of key importance in investigating crimes involving the use of information-technology devices. However, numerous new forms of information and means of concealing traces in cyberspace have now emerged. Certain modern concepts in electronics substantially influence the transformation of the electronic-digital trail, introducing significant changes into its chain, creating gaps, diverting it, anonymizing the start and/or end point of a request, fragmenting and hiding traces. The aim of the paper is to reveal the specifics of the trail in the context of non-classical forms of placement and use of electronic information. The article analyzes how the trail changes when using virtual machines with multi-level nesting and virtualization tools (e.g., VPN services), polymorphic programs, distributed and cloud information, blockchain, RAID arrays, means of concealing the electronic-digital trail, and certain promising developments in computer technology. The study relies on dialectical materialism as a general method and on general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, modeling, extrapolation, etc.). As a result, specific properties and characteristics of the electronic-digital trail are identified for the concepts considered in the sphere of electronic information. It is established that new concepts in the field of electronic information significantly alter the trace picture in cyberspace and require specific approaches; therefore, research at the intersection of technical sciences, programming, and criminalistics is of particular importance—research that reveals the distinctive features of new technologies and forms of information and that requires the development of specific forensic recommendations. Given ongoing scientific and technological progress, such research must accompany technological innovations on a permanent basis and, in some cases (e.g., quantum technologies), be forward-looking, providing law-enforcement authorities with effective tools even before the technologies themselves are widely disseminated and used for criminal purposes.

1. Rossinskaya E. R., Semikalenova A. I., Ryadovskii I. A., Saakov T. A. Theory of Information-Computer Support for Criminalistic Activity. Moscow: Prospekt Publ.; 2022. 256 p. (In Russ.)

2. Davletov A. A. Foundations of Criminal-Procedural Cognition. 2ed. Yekaterinburg: University for Humanities Publ.; 1997. 191 p. (In Russ.)

3. Danilenko Yu. A. Criminalistic Recognition in the Tactics of Producing Investigative Actions in the Investigation of Crimes in the Sphere of Computer Information. Scientific Notes of V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Juridical Science. 2023;9(2):294-298. (In Russ.)

4. Vekhov V. B. Digital Trail: Concept and Features of Forensic Computer-Technical Examination. In: Mikhailov M. A., Omel’chenko T. V. (Eds.). Criminal Proceedings: Procedural Theory and Forensic Practice. Simferopol: Arial Publ.; 2019. P. 18–20. (In Russ.)

5. Karepanov N. V. Features of the Technology of Aggregation, Research and Use of Electronic Digital Traces of Crime. In: Bakhteev D. V. (Ed.). 21st-Century Technologies in Jurisprudence. Yekaterinburg: Ural State Law University named after V.F. Yakovlev Publ.; 2022. P. 86–104. (In Russ.)

6. Oleinikova P. A., Karavaeva A. V. Search for Traces of the Use of the Oracle VM VirtualBox Virtual Machine for the Presence of Forensically Significant Information. Vestnik Altajskoj akademii ekonomiki i prava. 2022;101:189-195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17513/vaael.2448 (In Russ.)

7. Meshcheryakov V. A. Theoretical Foundations of the Mechanism of Trace Formation in Digital Criminalistics. Moscow: Prospekt Publ.; 2022. 176 p. (In Russ.)

8. Jesús Nazareth Benitez González. Virtual Private Networks Design Technologies. Young Don Researcher. 2016;2:24-26. (In Russ.)

9. Vekhov V. B. Problems of Combating Extremism on the “Darknet”. In: Brazhnikov D. A., Kalinina L. E. (Eds.). Shumilov Readings. Moscow: Russian Customs Academy Publ.; 2023. P. 47–53. (In Russ.)

10. Anosov A. V. The Use of Blockchain Technology in the Process of Forming and Accounting Criminological Information. Bulletin of the Kazan Law Institute of MIA of Russia. 2018;2:211-216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24420/KUI.2018.32.13968 (In Russ.)

11. Shneiderova D. I. Digital Traces in the System of Traces in Cases of Theft in the Sphere of Cryptocurrency Turnover. Vestnik of the Far Eastern Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation. 2024;2:102-111. (In Russ.)

12. Polyakov V. On Using the Concept of “Artificial Intelligence” in Forensic Science. Legal Linguistics. 2022;25:21-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14258/leglinleglin(2022)2504 (In Russ.)