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Accreditation in the United States:
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The 2009 National Academy
of Sciences report titled “STRENGTHENING FORENSIC SCIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES:
A PATH FORWARD” recommended that
accreditation should be mandatory for all forensic laboratories.
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Any public or private laboratory conducting forensic analysis in
any of the four sub-disciplines of ASCLD/LAB's Digital & Multimedia Evidence
Discipline can apply for accreditation.
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Most public Digital Forensics laboratories in
the United States are
ASCLD/LAB accredited or are working towards accreditation.
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Several private Digital Forensic laboratories
have already attained ASCLD/LAB accreditation.
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What are you going to do?
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Quality Management System:
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Policies, standard procedures, and work
instructions to ensure the quality of test results are in place.
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Internal
and external quality audits are conducted.
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Appropriate standards and controls are
used during examinations.
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Examiners are trained, proficiency tested,
and competent.
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Gap
Analysis:
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This is
critical component that should be
performed before submitting any application for accreditation.
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The problem is twofold: knowing
what
clauses in ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and the ASCLD/LAB International Supplemental
Requirements (2011 Edition) are applicable to Digital Forensics, and what you have to do to
attain compliance with them.
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Neither ISO/IEC 17025:2005 nor the ASCLD/LAB
International Supplemental Requirements (2011 Edition) indicate which clauses are
applicable. Neither do they indicate how to attain compliance.
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A thorough Gap Analysis of all your
documentation and physical plant is necessary to determine compliance/noncompliance
with applicable clauses and identify
any required
additional documentation and resources.
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