Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to managing digital evidences and more specifically relates to managing digital evidences using blockchain technology.

BACKGROUND
[0001] Every year, police departments struggle to manage an increasing amount of digital evidence. In-home digital CCTV cameras are becoming ubiquitous in communities, and cops and detectives are increasingly handling crime scene images, recorded interviews, and citizen-shared digital evidence.

[0002] Departments can no longer afford to disregard all this digital evidence. It is the obligation of police administrators to equip officers with basic digital evidence competence training, notably in the recovery and evaluation of surveillance footage. Agencies must also have a system in place to collect, preserve, and manage digital evidence in accordance with best practices and local laws and regulations.

[0003] The stakes are high. Lost or mismanaged digital evidence throws an agency's integrity into doubt while compromising vital prosecutions. A Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) is a virtual command center for handling all digital evidence collected by a police force. A DEMS, in conjunction with training and department policy based on best practices, ensures that agencies correctly collect and manage case evidence.

[0004] In most circumstances, gathering digital evidence is simple. The difficult aspect is securing and safeguarding it from data breaches, cyber-attacks, and manipulation. It is difficult to avoid these assaults and identify tampering since it is done discretely to appear that it is still intact.

[0005] Digital evidence currently exists in a variety of formats, originating from various technologies such as CCTV, body cameras, drone cameras, home security cameras, and so on. The difficulty for agencies is that the volume of digital evidence is growing at an exponential rate.

[0006] Agencies must keep digital evidence in a controlled environment or secure physical place, with only authorized personnel having access. This is a major issue that agencies face when dealing with digital evidence, especially when there is a large volume of information. While storing data in a virtual environment, agencies must regulate access based on user responsibilities to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to evidence.

[0007] There are techniques known in the art for storing digital evidences. For example, reference can be made to US11423497B2 which relates to storing, retrieving, maintaining, deleting and tracking the chain of custody of digital evidence. Further, reference can also be made to US8438174B2 which relates to digital data identification and the creation, storage, management, processing and comparison of content sensitive digital signatures. However, none of the techniques known in the art disclose managing digital evidences using blockchain technology.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The principal object of the present invention is to provide techniques for managing digital evidences using blockchain technology.

[0002] Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques for broadcasting changes in the blockchain technology when the change is made in any block.

[0003] Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques for allowing authorized users to alter the blockchain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In one embodiment, an environment for managing digital evidences is disclosed. The environment comprises a plurality of computing devices, a plurality of users operating the plurality of computing devices, a blockchain network and a communication network configured to enable communication between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the digital evidences into the blockchain network (106), the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, and each of the blocks store digital evidences.

[0005] In another embodiment, a method for managing digital evidences is disclosed. The method comprises providing a plurality of computing devices, providing a plurality of users operating the plurality of computing devices, providing a blockchain network, enabling communication, by a communication network, between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the digital evidences into the blockchain network (106), the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, and each of the blocks store digital evidences

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 illustrates an environment for managing digital evidence, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0007] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for managing digital evidence, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0008] While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and the detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.
[0009] As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein are solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers, or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, and the like are included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.
[0010] In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element, or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.
[0011] The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, several materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 1, an environment 100 for managing digital evidence using a digital ledger technology is depicted. The environment 100 comprises a plurality of computing devices 102-1, 102-2…102-n (collectively referred as 102) corresponding to a plurality of users 104-1, 104-2…104-n (collectively referred as 104), a blockchain network 106 and a communication network 108. The communication network 108 may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the internet, or a combination of them. In one embodiment, the communication network 108 enables communication with, within a blockchain network 106. In one embodiment, the digital evidence includes information about the CCTV cameras, crime scene images, recorded interviews, and citizen-shared digital evidence.
[0013] The plurality of users 104 acts as a node in the blockchain network 106. Each of the plurality of users 104 participates in the blockchain network 106 using the plurality of computing devices 102. Each of the user 104 operates a computing device from the plurality of the computing devices 104. In one embodiment, the plurality of computing devices 102 include, for example, but not limited to, a laptop, a computer, a mobile device, a tablet. In one embodiment, the computing devices 102 hosts or runs one or more applications for interacting with the blockchain network 106.
[0014] The blockchain network 106 includes one or more blockchain 110. The blockchain 110 is made up of a chain of blocks, each storing data. Before uploading to the blockchain 110, the blockchain network 106 is responsible for becoming a distributed Node, responsible for issuing each user a user ID, password, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) biometric function. All other users have read-only access to the blockchain 110 and can examine what is on it at any moment without requiring authentication. This provides defendants, defense attorneys, judges, citizen review boards, and the general public with equal access to verification of the integrity of all submitted evidence, yet only authorized individuals may change the blockchain 110, which cannot be done anonymously. Private information is not shared since no victim/witness information is recorded in official Evidence Logs.
[0015] By providing this unprecedented openness into the evidence supply chain, officers and investigators will be able to respond to general enquiries about cases more quickly, freeing them up for other public duty. Every trustworthy entity and department that installs the software and adds proof blocks to the blockchain 110 is referred to as a Node in a private blockchain. Every node on the blockchain 110 has real-time access to all the information and data on the blockchain 110.
[0016] Each transaction is assigned an authorization code, which is then returned to the merchant. The transaction and authorization code are then recorded on the bank statement or receipt, and each transaction recorded on the bank statement is labelled with the date, time, and place of the transaction.
[0017] Before storing data in the blockchain 110, the transaction is hashed. Hashing is a process of transforming the transaction data into a fixed-length hash value. It is not possible to modify/alter the hash value to obtain the transaction data. Hashing ensures that even a slight alteration in the data results in a completely different hash value. The process hashes the evidence to immutably capture the status of the evidence, write notes, and register their results into their account, where they will build their own personal digital ledger.
[0018] Because the change is logged at each node, it will be simple to determine where the loss or modification happened. If a piece of evidence is altered, all users in the chain may know which law enforcement officer was the last to handle it.
[0019] The digitalization of forensic evidence is an urgent necessity since it is an environmentally friendly concept. Blockchains 110 are digitally distributed ledgers of cryptographically signed transactions in chronological order that are categorized into blocks and are totally available to anybody in the blockchain network 106.
[0020] Unlike traditional security methods, blockchain Technology employs cryptographic hashing, in which each block contains a cryptographic hash of the preceding block, resulting in a growing collection of records known as Blocks. These blocks are safe and unbreakable. The present invention helps to manage digital evidence from the moment it is recovered until it is presented as evidence in a court of law. It assures the preservation of evidence throughout the Chain of Custody procedure, which is crucial to the concept of digital forensics. The adoption of blockchain technology can safeguard poorly targeted police officers and defendants from chain of custody concerns, which can lead to wrongful firing for officers and, in the worst-case scenario, false incarceration for defendants.
[0021] Further, conventionally there was a chance that an attack might harm or distort the digital crime evidence data that was gathered during a criminal investigation. This data is transported and managed on a physical hard drive until it is examined and presented to the court. Because the continuity of storage cannot be guaranteed, digital crime evidence recordings that were challenging to get and analyze are not accepted as court evidence. Once kept, criminal evidence data cannot be changed, however investigative data is regularly altered. To manage criminal evidence effectively, we presented a two-level blockchain architecture in this study to strengthen the integrity of digital crime evidence.
[0022] The present invention solves this problem with the use of distributed ledger (blockchain 110). In a decentralized setting, only authorized players may access the hot and cold blockchains to segregate, store, and exchange the original data from the investigation, identification information, and recordings of digital criminal evidence. The two-level blockchain technology maintains digital criminal evidence recordings as well as investigation and identity data from on-site investigators with confirmed IDs. The same transaction may also be kept on the ledgers of all institutions taking part in the channel by splitting the data into two blockchains, and the identical block can be produced by executing a smart contract. Once generated in blocks, digital criminal evidence videos, identification information, and both can't be removed by any person. Furthermore, since the block is shared by all institutions in the two-level
[0023] However, because CCTV and EDRs have been shown to be crucial pieces of evidence in recent criminal investigations, it is also becoming more and more obvious how critical it is to manage digital crime evidence videos in a secure manner. The quantity of data that must be processed within one block of the blockchain when the transaction is confirmed and the block is formed rises when significant volumes of data, such as crime evidence films, are stored in the blockchain. Therefore, the blockchain system's performance suffers.
[0024] In one embodiment, to effectively manage the vast amount of crime data while considering the properties of criminal evidence, the present invention uses a two-level blockchain system that consists of hot and cold blockchains. The utilization of the evidence in criminal cases as proof to guarantee immutability characterizes it. In one embodiment, blockchain-based systems for large-scale numerous data sets, including hierarchical, multi-level, and on/off-chain blockchains, have been extensively examined. To manage the data of various terminals or nodes, such as IoT devices, the existing hierarchical blockchain or multi-level blockchain is ideal. Additionally, some research mixes off-chain and on-chain scaling. There is an oracle problem that necessitates verification every time because the off-chain is made up of external data rather than blockchains, whereas the on-chain is made up of blockchains. In other words, there hasn't been any research on an effective blockchain system that takes data usage into account.
[0025] The present invention uses a Hyperledger Fabric framework, one of the consortiums blockchains, to partition the blockchain into two tiers for retrieval and utilization while retaining security. Crime evidence information can include investigative information and data for recording, such videos, are two categories of often updated data. This system divides and maintains crime evidence into two categories: cold evidence, which has not been edited, and hot evidence, which has been heavily modified in each criminal investigation (such as investigation or identity information) (e.g., criminal evidence videos).
[0026] Referring to FIG. 2 now, a flowchart of a method 200 for managing digital evidence is disclosed. At step 202, the method comprises capturing digital evidences from a plurality of sources, where the digital evidences may be in different formats. At step 204, the method comprises uploading the digital evidence into the blockchain. At step 206, the method comprises allowing only authorized users/nodes to alter the blockchain. At step 208, the method comprises broadcasting the details of alteration to all the blocks in the blockchain.
[0027] The various actions, acts, blocks, steps, or the like in the flow diagram may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some of the actions, acts, blocks, steps, or the like may be omitted, added, modified, skipped, or the like without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0028] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
, Claims:I/We Claim:
1. An environment (100) for managing digital evidences, the environment comprising:
a plurality of computing devices (102);
a plurality of users (104) operating the plurality of computing devices;
a blockchain network (106);
a communication network (108) configured to enable communication between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein:
the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the digital evidences into the blockchain network (106);
the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, and
each of the blocks store digital evidences.

2. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of users represent a node in the environment (100).

3. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
only authorized nodes are allowed to make changes in the blocks, and
the changes are broadcasted to each of the plurality of blocks.

4. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blockchain network (106) further comprises a hot blockchain and a cold blockchain.

5. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blockchain network (106) further comprises a Hyperledger fabric framework to partition the blockchain(110) into two tiers for retrieval and utilization of digital evidences while retaining security.

6. A method for managing digital evidences, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of computing devices;
providing a plurality of users operating the plurality of computing devices;
providing a blockchain network;
enabling communication, by a communication network, between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein:
the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, and
each of the blocks store digital evidences.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising uploading, by the plurality of computing devices, the digital evidences into the blockchain network.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of users represent a node in the environment (100).

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein only authorized nodes are allowed to make changes in the blocks.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the changes are broadcasted to each of the plurality of blocks.