Over 90% of all crime contains digital evidence [1]. With the abundant use of digital devices, this...
As a former Scotland Yard Detective and now the Director of Sales for EMEA at ADF Solutions, I work with agencies across the globe who grapple with the same question: Is investing in digital forensic triage really worth it?
When the case type is a Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) investigation, the answer is an unequivocal yes. The right digital forensic tools can compress timelines from months to hours, surface the highest-value evidence first, and, most importantly, help safeguard children faster.
The Need for Triage is Urgent: What the Data Shows
Independent data underscores the sheer scale and evolving nature of online child sexual abuse, and it’s precisely why agencies are embracing triage-first workflows:
- NCMEC’s CyberTipline received more than 36.2 million reports in 2023, with over 100 million files related to suspected child sexual exploitation. In 2024, the CyberTipline still recorded 20.5 million reports, reflecting both the staggering scale and evolving reporting methods.
- Mid‑year 2025 data shows sharp increases in online enticement and a surge in reports involving generative AI in child sexual exploitation—signs of a rapidly shifting threat landscape.
- INHOPE hotlines analyzed 2.5 million CSAM URLs in 2024, a 218% increase versus 2023, with 65% confirmed illegal and 37% categorized as newly produced content.
- The Internet Watch Foundation reported 392,665 suspected reports in 2023, illustrating continued growth in case signals seen by hotlines and platforms.
- In England and Wales, an estimated 7.5% of adults report sexual abuse before age 16, highlighting the long-tail societal harm and the vital need for faster interventions today.
These trends matter operationally. The combination of volume, velocity, and new modalities—end‑to‑end encrypted platforms, self‑generated content, financial sextortion, and AI‑assisted creation—demands workflows that can quickly triage at scale, direct the right devices to the lab, and escalate imminent risk without delay.
Understanding the Evidence Triage Investment
Rolling out a triage capability entails licensing, maintenance, training, and hardware. For CSAM or child exploitation investigations, specialized capabilities are needed to handle sensitive material legally and ethically, protect investigators from unnecessary exposure, and preserve evidential integrity. Budgets are tight and backlogs are real—so the question isn’t whether triage has costs, but whether outcomes justify them. In our experience, they do.
What triage changes is the order of operations. Instead of fully processing every device the same way, investigators can quickly score, filter, and prioritize across computers, mobiles, removable media, and cloud-derived data. That means earlier arrests when risk is acute, quicker victim identification, and fewer non-relevant devices clogging the queue. In short, triage turns investigations into a series of fast, evidence-led decisions.
Real-World Benefits in CSAM Investigation
In child protection, minutes matter. Rapid identification of child sexual abuse material and predatory communications can be the difference between intervening in time and arriving too late.
What Effective Forensic Triage Does
The triage process quickly evaluates digital devices to prioritize the collection of evidence, highlight essential data, and define the extent of an investigation. Furthermore, it
- Surfaces contraband indicators in minutes so teams can act while still on scene
- Reduces lab backlogs by ruling out non-relevant devices early
- Limits investigator exposure through targeted previews and safe review workflows
- Preserves evidential chains with defensible, well-documented processes
- Accelerates suspect interviews with timely, actionable leads
Our ADF triage workflows are designed to prioritize high-value artifacts immediately—CSAM hits, grooming chats, browser and app histories, recent downloads, and external storage activity—so investigators can focus resources where they matter most.
ADF Pro in action to combat on-scene CSAM investigations
Success Stories From the Field
Multi-Device Scene Investigation
A U.S. ICAC detective executed a warrant with 12+ devices on scene. Using ADF triage, the team rapidly ruled out unrelated devices and zeroed in on those with probative material. What might have taken months of full examinations was reduced to hours, enabling swift suspect action and victim safeguarding.
"On a recent case involving a live victim, we served a warrant at the target location and used ADF's triage solution to process 12 devices. We ruled out unrelated devices and determined the location of the victim and suspect. If it hadn't been for our ADF tools, we would have taken months to analyze all the devices, which would have delayed our investigation."
Safeguarding Victims, Preventing Further Abuse
A UK agency deployed ADF to overcome examination delays. Triage uncovered a live chat with a second suspect and first-generation CSAM along with directing messages for two children. The second suspect was arrested immediately and the children were safeguarded. Over 12 months, the team submitted roughly 250 fewer devices to the Digital Forensic Unit (DFU)
"We were concerned that the devices would sit in the queue and not be examined in a timely manner so we used ADF Pro to triage the devices we had seized. The easy to use interface and rapid results meant that we were able to identify a chat with a second suspect located elsewhere in the UK. It also revealed first generation CSAM and chat messages directing the abuse of 2 children. We were able to immediately contact the local police force and have the second suspect arrested and the children safeguarded. “—freeing capacity for the most serious cases.
Both cases demonstrate not only time savings but also investigative empowerment—the ability to discover evidence and act on that to the benefit and safety of children at risk.
The Bottom Line for Leaders
When you compare costs to outcomes, the value proposition is clear. Triage does not replace full forensic analysis; it ensures that the right devices and the right artifacts reach the lab first. The results are faster victim identification, reduced backlogs, and stronger prosecutions. In CSAM investigations—where vulnerable victims are at stake—speed is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
What a Good Triage Practice Looks Like
Agencies seeing the biggest impact tend to standardize on a few core practices:
- Deploy field‑ready digital forensic tools that can quickly preview, score, and safely present likely CSAM, grooming indicators, and high‑risk communications
- Use targeted search profiles for CSAM investigation, including hash-matching, image similarity, keyword lists for grooming and enticement, artifact parsers for major apps, and external media scans
- Apply a two‑speed approach: a rapid “go/no‑go” profile for on‑scene decisions and a deeper triage profile for priority queuing
- Integrate reporting to produce defensible summaries for supervisors and prosecutors, while minimizing unnecessary exposure for investigators
- Feed triage outputs into the lab’s full forensic suite for the prioritized subset of devices and extractions
Conclusion
Our mission is to help investigators get to the crucial evidence first. ADF triage profiles focus on speed, clarity, and defensibility—so teams can safeguard children sooner and build stronger cases. We also provide training and workflow guidance to help agencies operationalize triage across units and regions.
If your agency is assessing how to stand up or upgrade a triage program for CSAM investigation, we’re happy to share profiles, playbooks, and training paths tailored to your environment.
Get in touch today for a free consultation and see how ADF Solutions can protect vulnerable children in your community.
