The Forensic Analysis Industry Crisis: When Evidence Can No Longer Be Trusted

The forensic analysis, image analysis, and legal/law enforcement case management industry is in crisis.

Essentially, forensics will need to pivot entirely, or new entrants will swiftly replace the incumbents.

Existing tools are unable to capture deepfakes. That is macro-level basic functionality. What are they going to do with the micro-level artifacts? The slight adjustments? The minor alterations? They are an industry in crisis.

A Greenfield for New Entrants

It is a greenfield for new entrants who can provide:

Chain of Evidence Integrity

• Clarity in the custody of the chain of evidence acquisition from sensory devices
• Verify with 100% provenance all CCTV systems footage
• Validate the activities of sophisticated Edge Devices performing Real Time on-Device Analysis and Decision Making

Authentication of Critical Systems

• Ensure that Dashcams on Police and Civilian vehicles are authentic
• Validate Bodycam footage from Law Enforcement Officers
• Determine the veracity of Cell Phone Recorded Video Footage
• Ensure that the breadcrumbs from active Social Media accounts in the vicinity before, during, or after an incident are real

Advanced Surveillance Validation

• Prevent MiTM interference with IMSI/EMEI Catchers and equivalents to Harris Corporation Stingray type Surveillance Systems
• Guarantee Vetronics systems are performing as per specification (SCADA)
• Validate all satellite imagery
• Reliably assure, with proof, that SIGINT, MASINT, GEOINT, HUMINT, OSINT, etc., have not been subject to bad actor activities

Beyond Sophisticated Data: The Basic Vulnerabilities

Not just the list above, which could be considered reasonably sophisticated in terms of structured and unstructured data acquisition, data creation, and decision-making devices.

Bad Actor AI-Enhanced Systems vs Legacy Infrastructure

In this contemporary generative AI landscape, the most basic tasks—which often contain the most crucial evidence or information—are wide open to attack by sophisticated AI-enhanced systems and methods that are as good as invisible to existing vendors:

• Simple OCR (Optical Text Recognition)
• Simple HTR (Handwritten Text Recognition)
• Case Management software provider platforms for logging time and date stamps
• Voice - PTT (Push to Talk) and Broadcast Systems for LE and Military for Conduct and Behaviour during Public Safety or Public Order events
• Ingested and curated information for the creation of Books of Evidence
• Written statements that are often digitized using HTR
• Typed documents that are often digitized using OCR

All vulnerable to artifact augmentation, alteration, obfuscation, deletion, and addition.

The AI Poisoning Problem

Ignorance of the law is not a defense under the law.

If they can address all of those challenges, then the most significant challenge has yet to be addressed:

The Veneer Problem

• Incumbents have painted a veneer of AI and ML on top of their legacy products
• How do they detect data poisoning?
• How do they detect model poisoning?
• How do they avoid output pollution? (GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out)
• How do they even know?

The Absence of Self-Describing Data

None of the data they have is self-describing. Many of the systems mentioned above have proprietary data types and are closed source. Many of the Case Management providers to Law Enforcement and the Legal professions have no ability to expand into this domain from the foundation of their current IP base.

The Impossible Pivot

Starting Over?

A complete rewrite is not possible. They would essentially be starting anew, and the intangible assets on their balance sheets would go to zero. If they are a listed company, then the EBITDA would plummet.

Even if they did succeed, the time and cost of onboarding, education, and creating confidence in their existing client base would be an enormous burden on cash flow and human resources.

The Constitutional Crisis

The Effect on Public Trust

When the trustworthiness of the legal system is eroded to its core because all evidence may or may not have been tampered with, and in the absence of a simple mechanism to detect fake, tampered, or altered evidence, how can a defendant get a fair trial?

This isn't just a technology problem—it's a constitutional crisis waiting to happen.

The Solution: Cryptographic Provenance from Origin

The answer lies not in retrofitting existing systems, but in building new infrastructure from the ground up with cryptographic provenance embedded at the point of data creation.

Every piece of evidence needs to carry its own proof of authenticity. Every sensor, every camera, every recording device must cryptographically sign its output at the moment of creation.

This is the future of forensic integrity. The question is: who will build it first?

The incumbents are trapped by their legacy. The field is wide open for those bold enough to start fresh with truth as the foundation.