Abstract

This research paper explains the important role of digital forensics in investigating cybercrimes and supporting legal proceedings. In today’s digital age, most of our activities like communication, banking, shopping, and studying take place online. While this offers many benefits, it also opens the door for cybercrimes, which are crimes that happen using computers, mobile phones, or the internet. This paper discusses how digital forensics works, including the tools and techniques used to recover deleted files, analyze emails, trace online activities, and more. It also explains the different steps of a forensic investigation, such as identifying devices, preserving data, analyzing evidence, and presenting findings in court. The study highlights how digital forensics supports both police investigations and legal cases. Courts rely on proper digital evidence to prove guilt or innocence, so the evidence must be handled very carefully to ensure it is not tampered with. The research also looks at the legal side of digital forensics how evidence is presented in court, the importance of the chain of custody, and how expert witnesses explain their findings to judges and lawyers. In addition, the paper explores real-life case laws in India where digital forensics played a key role in solving cybercrimes and helping the courts make fair decisions. It also points out the challenges in this field, such as lack of trained experts, outdated laws, limited tools in developing countries, and privacy concerns. Finally, the paper gives suggestions to improve the use of digital forensics. These include better training, new laws that match today’s technology, international cooperation, setting up forensic labs in every state, using new technologies like AI and blockchain, and educating the public on cyber safety. In summary, this research shows that digital forensics is a powerful and necessary tool in today’s world. It helps fight cybercrime, supports justice, and makes the digital world a safer place. With the right support, digital forensics can become even more effective in the future.

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