Process-Embedded Ethics in OT Digital Forensics: A Principled Investigation Framework for Water Infrastructure ICS/SCADA Systems

The integration of information technologies into operational technology (OT) environments that encompass industrial control systems (ICSs), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, and critical infrastructure such as water and wastewater management facilities has introduced significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities alongside urgent questions of ethics and accountability. The existing digital forensic ethics frameworks were developed for enterprise IT contexts and provide no specific governance for investigations conducted within safety-critical OT environments, where a forensic misstep can disrupt water delivery or disable safety controls. This paper employs a four-stage qualitative research design that consists of a systematic literature review, ethical framework analysis grounded in principlism cyberethics principles, forensic process mapping, and multi-case analysis of five documented real-world incidents to address this gap. The paper identifies and categorizes six primary ethical challenges that are unique to OT/ICS/SCADA digital forensics, maps each to the investigative phase at which it arises, proposes theWater ICS SCADA Ethical Digital Forensics (WISE-DF) framework as a six-phase principled investigation model with ethical safeguards embedded as mandatory procedural gates, and provides actionable recommendations for investigators, organizations, and policymakers. Validation employs three complementary approaches: standards-alignment against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications (SP800-82r3) and Internal Report (IR 8428), the AmericasWater Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA 2018), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 2024); counter-argument testing of each recommendation; and Daubert-consistency evaluation assessing whether WISE-DF compliance produces forensic evidence that is capable of meeting U.S. federal admissibility requirements. Although the Daubert standard applies specifically to U.S. federal proceedings, the ethical framework and WISE-DF gates are designed to be generalizable across jurisdictions. Water and wastewater management serves as the primary illustrative case domain; the framework is designed to be generalizable across OT sectors.