Digital document integrity

The revolution in digital data processing has brought many benefits to the way we create, organise and manage information, whether in the form of images, documents, audio or video files. The conversion of such information into digital form provides us with capabilities such as online storage and retrieval, efficient search processes and worldwide data transmission. But digital data also brings with it a major problem, namely the ease with which such information can be copied and tampered with, without the forensic trail of evidence that we have relied on for analogue and hard-copy files. The need has therefore arisen for technologies which are able to safeguard the integrity and authenticity of digital records, particularly if such records are subject to legal and/or ethical scrutiny. The preservation of integrity of digital records is particularly important where they are subject to concerted and possible criminal attack