Evaluating A Selection of Tools for Extraction of Forensic Data: Disk ...

There are many other types of hardware interfaces that are popular in the market, such
as USB drives, SSD and SCSI drives. Due to the time constraint of this study, certain
type of storage devices with specific hardware interface is chosen for investigation.
The disk imaging tools test results may only be applied to those hardware interfaces
that are evaluated. The reliability of the research may be limited to the hardware
interfaces that are tested on the selected disk imaging tools. If different hardware
interfaces could be included in the research, it would provide a more comprehensive
view of the validity of the selected disk imaging tools and would be the starting point
for further research.
A limited set of test scenarios are designed and tested due to the time constraint
and the complexity of each test. Also, there are challenges with the testing
methodology in the proposed research. Results of the disk imaging testing may only be
reliable in the controlled environment. Sometimes, it is difficult to replicate the
environment used in the testing. Wilsdon & Slay (2006) highlight that there are no two
laboratories that use the same examination workstations with the same configuration.
The test scenarios used are designed to be as hardware independent as possible. More
robust testing scenarios could be added to the research to enhance its reliability.
Technical difficulties are expected during the disk imaging tools testing and
these difficulties may prevent certain tests from being conducted or completed.
Hardware failure is also expected and this may produce false results for the research.
Certain precautions can be undertaken to resolve these issues such as running
hardware against diagnostic software and reviewing test logs of each test. However,
challenges are expected and issues of both reliability and validity are defended in
Chapter 5.
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