Standard operating procedure
Also known as: Standardarbeitsanweisung, SOP
A written, approved sequence for a recurring forensic step – from first preservation at the desk to handover to the authorities.
Standard operating procedures make forensics independent of the form of the day of individual people and are a precondition for repeatability. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (incl. EC3) (Europol) report finds that they exist nationally but are not shared. In a company a one-page instruction for first responders is often enough: do not switch off, do not log in, disconnect from the network, note the time, call forensics.