Evidence Collection and Forensics Policy - SME

The P31S Evidence Collection and Forensics Policy details how an SME can manage the acquisition, handling, and storage of digital evidence relating to security incidents, breaches, or internal investigations. Its purpose is to provide a legally sound, audit-ready framework that meets ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, and other compliance requirements, while remaining accessible to organizations without dedicated IT security teams. The policy is tailored especially for smaller enterprises (as indicated by its SME designation and references to 'General Manager' instead of roles such as SOC or CISO). It lays out clear responsibilities: the General Manager acts as the primary decision-maker, reviewing, approving, and documenting formal investigations and evidence procedures. IT Providers or external consultants collect and preserve evidence using secure, well-defined processes, while chain of custody documentation ensures that authenticity and integrity are never compromised. Scope extends widely, it applies to all staff, systems (including laptops, mobile devices, SaaS, and cloud drives), and any event requiring evidence for disciplinary, legal, regulatory, customer, or insurance actions. The procedures dictate that evidence collection must be authorized, documented, and subjected to strict access controls (only accessible to the GM and IT Provider). Supporting forensic readiness, the policy recommends using cryptographic hashing for validation and insists on logging every access or action to build accountability. Risk treatment guidance is provided to minimize exposure or legal risk, requiring data minimization, redaction, and formal legal review when necessary. In scenarios where forensically sound evidence collection is impossible (e.g., system crash), exceptions and alternate handling methods are defined and must be approved by the GM. The consequences for policy violations, altering evidence, unauthorized access, or sharing, range from disciplinary action to legal escalation. Annual reviews of the policy by the General Manager ensure ongoing relevance and compliance with reference frameworks and controls. Triggers for earlier review include significant incidents or changes in legal/regulatory expectations. The policy’s modular structure also ensures smooth linkage to related policies in governance, access control, logging, incident response, and privacy, building a resilient and compliant regime suitable for SME deployment without operational disruption or specialist staffing.