Forensic backlogs are an increasing concern for many law enforcement agencies. Forensic backlogs are an increasing concern for many law enforcement agencies. Agencies must shift from simply collecting digital evidence to effectively analyzing the digital evidence collected. Media analysis is time-intensive and requires training to ensure that all pieces of evidentiary value are identified and processed.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched the ICAC Task Force program in 1998 to help law enforcement learn how to prevent, combat and investigate Internet Crimes Against Children.  ICAC Task Force training is scheduled regionally across the United States each year. 

The ICAC conferences are announced each year and include training and events held in:

In order for your digital evidence to be used in a court of law you should take care in your evidence collection procedures from digital devices. Best practices for collection are designed to help you maintain the integrity of evidence. Individual agencies may have their own policies and procedures in place but overall general practices may be similar.

Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems. AI systems are given vast amounts of training data that will be analyzed for correlations and patterns [1]. Once the AI system analyzes these patterns it can make predictions about future states. Machine learning computer algorithms aid AI in learning to work with a large amount of data. Machine learning data and algorithms will continue to gradually improve their accuracy over time. AI systems that use machine learning take data quickly to produce actionable information. It can trace relationships between data points that may be too complex for the human mind to identify. 

The ICAC Task Force program was started in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Justice to help law enforcement agencies learn how to investigate, prevent, and combat Internet Crimes Against Children or ICAC. It was developed due to the increasing number of children and teens using the internet and technology, the availability of child sexual abuse images online, and the heightened online activity of predators seeking contact with underaged victims. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection works within the Department of Homeland Security to manage, control, and protect borders at and between ports of entry. One of the many tasks of Border Patrol agents is their role in the fight against human trafficking. Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was signed into law in 2000, initiating the fight against national human trafficking [1]. 

The United Kingdom is facing a severe absence of forensic processing capacity, leading to a backlog of forensic work requested by law enforcement agencies across the country. Long delays in receiving results can have major implications for the criminal justice system and can leave vital evidence untested, resulting in convictions potentially being overturned or offenders going free. This blog article will discuss the issue of forensic backlogs in the U.K. and the steps that are being taken to reduce them, to the benefit of law enforcement agencies.

As you may know, the dark web is one of the most complex and secretive networks out there that many criminal and intelligence networks use to attack civilians and federal systems. In addition, much of the online child exploitive material and stolen identities are committed using the dark web. As tools are being developed to explore these criminals' hidden servers and chatrooms, law enforcement professionals and investigators still need a process to investigate these types of crimes quickly but with absolute thoroughness.

Online sexual exploitation of children or OSEC is the sexual abuse of children that may be streamed over the internet and the abuser receives payment for the content. Sexual abuse material may be produced, distributed, or possessed. Many abusers also partake in live streaming of sexual exploitation of children or the distribution of explicit images. 

Digital forensics is an important tool in the fight against crime in the current digital age. It is also a rapidly evolving field, with new technologies and techniques being developed all the time. In this blog post, we will take a look at the state of digital forensics, and how it is being used to combat crime and solve digital investigations.

The use of the Cloud has become a common tool used to store data. Cloud storage allows users to add storage capacity, and sync information and data across devices, and remote computing services [1]. With cloud computing, data can be streamed from cloud storage rather than directly from a device.

The preservation of digital evidence begins at the crime scene. It is imperative for all parties involved including forensic investigators to take active measures in the preservation and collection of digital evidence. Not only are computer data and digital evidence fragile, but forensic investigators must also consider laws when seizing and accessing electronic devices and the evidence stored in them.

Victims and witnesses are encountered every day in law enforcement and you can almost guarantee that they will have some sort of digital evidence to go along with their account of the situation or incident. No need to look any further than the window to their world: their mobile device.

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Here's a list of the best 2023 digital forensics conferences around the world designed to help promote training and skills needed to collect and analyze digital evidence from computers and mobile devices.  

Child sexual abuse material or CSAM has become the more common term for child pornography. The term accurately captures the reality of these images and videos. CSAM is distributed heavily through online channels. It has become easier for individuals to perpetuate these videos and images through multiple platforms. These platforms can include social media, online gaming, and email [1]. 

ADF software is deployed in field and lab investigations of smartphones, computers, and devices and is used by digital first responders to quickly collect, identify and report on digital evidence - thereby reducing or eliminating forensic backlogs that many agencies and organizations face today. Organizations have come to rely on ADF’s revolutionary digital investigation approach to solve their forensic backlog problems.

While many of these events may be postponed or rescheduled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), annual conferences are great events for networking with thought leaders and your peers.  In addition, these law enforcement conferences can provide you with the opportunity to get timely, objective, relevant education from a variety of subject matter experts.  You can benefit from training, knowledge sharing, and from the camaraderie and time spent with professionals like you that have dedicated their careers to protect and serve. 

An increase in company privatizations has caused the cases of corporate crimes to increase as well. Corporate crimes can include bribery among public officials, embezzlement of public funds, stock market manipulation, environmental damage resulting from negligence, etc [1]. They are committed by an individual or an official corporate entity to organizational gain. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2021 there were approximately 28,860 individuals employed as private investigators [1]. People or companies hire private investigators for a variety of case types that other professionals do not handle. Private investigators are often tasked with handling sensitive and emotionally-charged situations. Part of the responsibility in such cases is understanding how to retrieve data from devices and memory cards, which can provide evidence to help prove or disprove a client's situation or theory.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is charged with securing the nation’s borders and ensuring that trade and travel regulations are followed. They detect, identify, prohibit, and apprehend individuals with ties to terrorism. They also police the smuggling of humans, narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other prohibited or restricted merchandise [1]. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents’ job is imperative to the nation’s security, without their work many illegal activities would go undetected. 

At one time or another, law enforcement agencies find themselves investigating child sexual abuse material. Now more than ever there are a variety of ways in which this material is distributed amongst persons and online. It has become a priority to provide investigators with the tools necessary to identify and report on these materials. 

You may have heard a bit about the dark web and how it is used for illicit activities such as buying and selling drugs, firearms, or other illegal items. But this is only part of the problem. The dark web has much more to offer a malicious user than criminals looking to sell stolen items. The dark web provides anonymous users the ability to stalk children, steal identities, and do many more criminal activities. 

Video forensic software assists in this task of analyzing and reviewing evidence obtained from a target device such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. Proper video forensics software allows users to identify objects and people in the video, recreate events, and understand how a crime was committed. Video forensics tools will aid in recovering electronically stored videos from devices and filtering them in a manner that is rapid and easily accessible to users. 

Video forensics tools help forensic analysts by providing a way to enhance and analyze video footage. These tools can improve the quality of video footage, make it easier to identify objects and people in the video, and determine the sequence of events.

Photo forensics plays an important role in investigations. Increased access to electronic devices and growing social media platforms mean photos can be an important factor in an investigation.

Digital image forensics is the process of identifying and analyzing digital images for the purpose of providing legal evidence. This process can be used to investigate a wide variety of crimes, including child abuse, identity theft, and copyright infringement. Today’s digital era has caused images and videos to become a source of information and entertainment [1].

As technology continues to change, police departments must look for ways to increase efficiency and management, and one area that requires continuous innovation is police evidence management.

Correctional facilities are facing a growing concern as the use of contraband cell phones within jails and prisons is increasing.

To better understand sex offenders’ risks, patterns in their access to sexual materials online must be monitored. Forensic case management software has the ability to scan an offender’s mobile device, therefore, discovering any new or commonly accessed materials. Rapid analysis and comprehensive reports can be conducted more frequently. Learning to better manage sex offenders assures agencies that victims and communities are being kept safe. 

ADF software is deployed in field and lab investigations of smartphones, computers, and devices and is used by digital first responders to quickly collect, identify and report on digital evidence - thereby reducing or eliminating forensic backlogs that many agencies and organizations face today. Organizations have come to rely on ADF’s revolutionary digital investigation approach to solve their forensic backlog problems.

With today’s modern technology, workplaces have begun implementing programs and devices that increase productivity and the ease of management. US Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that by the end of 2020, up to 77% of jobs would use technology on a regular basis [1]. With an increase in offenders under supervision after their release, probation and parole officers must find ways to incorporate modern technology and software into their daily supervision tasks.

Probation and parole officers may find themselves overwhelmed and with limited resources when it comes to supervising a multitude of offenders. The number of offenders on federal supervised release tripled to approximately 115,000 between the years 1995 and 2015 [1]. New innovations in technology have added to the pressures of community supervision.

Compassionate policing involves law enforcement engaging with their community through the process of building collaborative relationships, mutual trust and respect, common interests, and a sense of shared responsibility [1]. Continuous exposure to confrontation and work stressors may result in an officer's inability to cope with the pressures, and therefore a loss of compassion when dealing with the public. This can lead to strained relationships with the citizens of the community. Compassionate policing goes beyond just the officers and extends to organizations as a whole. Its ideas and practices may also be applied to digital forensics and incident response.  

Investigating events may require the use of experts and professionals from a variety of fields. Evidence gathered at a crime scene could call for analysis by several disciplines such as DNA, drug chemistry, weapons, cyber security, and digital forensics. It is important for law enforcement agencies and corporations to have access to the proper digital forensics services and tools. Evidence obtained from devices following established guidelines by professionals who have digital forensics training strengthens the validity of the evidence and aids in the prosecution of suspects. In this post, we highlight why digital forensics is important when investigating events and how digital forensic services can help you. 

In a technology-dependent society, many of our daily tasks involve an electronic device. Our activity on these devices is stored and can be traced back to its source with the use of computer forensic software. A multitude of crimes are committed in which suspects unknowingly have some trace of evidence left on their electronic devices. This makes digital evidence collection possible. Evidence can come in a variety of forms such as photos, searched items, audio-video files, web history, and more. Even files that have been deleted can often be retrieved again by investigators with the use of computer forensic software. 

While the internet has provided many ways for people to form connections and share information it has also become a mode through which terrorism is facilitated. Organized groups can coordinate and conduct crimes easily and with anonymity. Their audience and reach are limitless, allowing terrorists to communicate globally with very few barriers. Military forces and government agencies must engage in counterterrorism and employ tactics to prevent these terrorist attacks from occurring. Computer forensic software is a major tool in a military force’s arsenal. With the proper software, they can collect and analyze actionable intelligence while also detecting and disrupting threats. This post will provide information on how the internet is used for terrorism and how ADF’s computer forensic software tools support counterterrorism. 

The Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) is at the forefront of combating global human trafficking. ATII harnesses the power of corporate social responsibility by working with organizations to raise awareness, build intelligence, and foster technology advancements and strategic data collaboration to help stop human trafficking.

As early as 1984, the FBI Laboratory and other law enforcement agencies began developing programs to examine computer evidence [1]. Since the publication of ISO 17025 by the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) which was centered around the best practices for computer forensics, standards and guidelines were established to help computer forensics investigators. It became clear that the proper computer forensic software needed to be produced to allow for the collection of data but also function with changing technology in our modern era. The right computer forensic software should allow for each stage of digital evidence collection to be completed successfully. Investigation's reliability is predominantly determined by the validity and correctness of computer forensic software tools and their application process [2]. This post will focus on computer forensic software tools and how they can be beneficial in the process of digital evidence collection. 

Computer forensic software is a key tool used by forensic investigators during digital evidence collection. This software aims to allow forensic investigators to identify, collect, and analyze data quickly and efficiently. There are two types of computer forensics: network forensics and host-based forensics. Network forensics focuses on the investigation of network traffic and session information. Host-based forensics collects and analyzes individual computer systems [1]. Computer forensic software should provide range and flexibility in its use so that a variety of law enforcement entities and corporate companies can apply it in investigations. ADF’s computer forensic software accomplishes this task, among many others.

Computer forensics is just one of the many branches of forensic science. Its importance has become prevalent as technology improved and became an integral part of our society. Computer forensic software tools allow investigators to obtain and preserve evidence from digital devices, whether computers, phones, or storage devices. When done properly, this evidence can be admissible in court and aid in the prosecution of criminals. With established protocols and methods in place, data can be retrieved from a multitude of devices using hardware and software forensic tools. In this post, we will discuss computer forensics and its role in solving crimes. 

The development of new technology has changed the ways information is disseminated and accessed. It has allowed individuals to access a variety of information within minutes. Although, with this growing use and dependence on technology the tactics used in cybercrime have evolved to effectively infiltrate these ever-changing systems. Maintaining the knowledge and tools needed to counteract these cybercrime attempts has become paramount. Any user that is dependent on technological gadgets and software can be at risk of cybercrime. In this post, we will discuss what exactly is cybercrime and how to stay safe. 

Cybercrime has been increasing significantly over the years [1] Crime investigation software is vital for law enforcement agencies to gain actionable and substantial criminal intelligence from cyber crimes committed. Investigating cyber crimes is complex and requires tools to conduct mobile and computer forensics such as Mac forensics, to collect evidence from iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, and Mac devices. Analyzing the data collected is an important part of conducting an investigation. Forensic software tools help agents, officers, and investigators link different artifacts together to generate a full report on the investigation.

Modern times have increased the number of devices, programs, users, and data, making agencies and businesses vulnerable. Cyber-attacks have taken on more sophisticated forms over time. Cyber security allows agencies to protect their internet-connected systems such as software, hardware, and data [1]. Cyber security includes technologies, processes, and methods to defend these computer systems. It is imperative to incorporate strong strategies in cyber security in the world of digital forensics to prevent malicious attacks intended to access sensitive data. In this post, we will provide the top 4 ways to amplify cyber security using Cyber Crime Investigation Software. 

Suspect Technologies provides an AI platform to help law enforcement agencies accelerate and enhance their ability to protect, investigate, alert and report.

As an ADF Partner, Suspect Technologies brings an additional power of analysis to ADF's suite of triage and digital forensic software to support face recognition for age detection which is used to help speed child exploitation investigations.

When it comes to accessing digital data across devices, mobile phones are easily the most common devices that law enforcement, businesses, and military personnel will deal with. In the past, accessing critical files (e.g., law enforcement cases, business intelligence, etc.) involved physically unlocking and searching through devices. The problem, of course, is that accessing smartphones by physically entering the device can lead to data loss, file access issues, and an incomplete view of the device's digital archive.

Grayshift has announced that ADF Solutions is a Certified member of Grayshift's Technology Alliances Program, a digital forensics ecosystem that facilitates open, multi-vendor integration and certifications to improve the effectiveness of digital investigations tools. The program ensures that partner tools: 

• Fully and accurately parse GrayKey extractions
• Improve cross-product workflows
• Explore integrations aimed at accelerating investigations

The partnership between ADF Solutions and GrayShift is designed to give law enforcement agencies confidence that they can expect accuracy in ingesting and displaying data from GrayKey extractions to speed investigations. 

Cyber Crime Investigation is a broad term in the investigation community. Cyber crimes can be as simple as password stealing, phishing schemes, or as complex or cruel as child exploitation, human trafficking, and ransomware attacks. The tactics investigators use to catch the suspects involved can vary based on the type of cybercrime committed. Before investigating, there are still a few key steps an investigator must take to ensure they gather and analyze all the evidence correctly.

Over the years digital investigation software or digital forensics software has expanded which has allowed there to be more options for a digital forensic toolbox. However, the expansion of new digital forensic tools didn’t necessarily come with a roadmap for forensic investigators looking to purchase new digital forensic tools for their toolkits. 

This post will serve as a brief overview for forensic investigators on the importance of cryptocurrency traces and investigating cryptocurrency traces found on suspect devices. Cryptocurrency has grown tremendously over the last decade and has served as a new avenue for criminals to conduct transactions that are not regulated. 

When conducting an investigation involving multimedia, the quantities of files can be quite overwhelming especially when they include Child Exploitation Material (CEM) and Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM). It is not just the CEM or CSAM that is included in the collection or search, typically there are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of files including images and videos, that have to be sorted through. Not only can the number of files be daunting, but the reasons for conducting the intense file filtering also have multiple purposes.

Even though Digital Forensics has expanded its capabilities and use-cases since its inception, it is constantly evolving and you need to be prepared for the changes coming. New features on computers and smartphones are causing existing digital forensics features to be outdated and unreliable when investigating. New crimes are being committed and the tools in existence are not capable of collecting and processing that sort of evidence yet. But not to worry, there are many companies out there researching tools to handle investigations in critical areas of development. Here are 5 key areas you want to make sure your team has the most up-to-date technology and the most experienced training.

This week, hundreds of cyber security and digital forensic experts gathered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to participate in the Techno Security and Digital Forensics Conference. The event hosted at the Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes offered attendees the ability to receive Continuing Professional Education Credits (CPE) depending on their organization. 

Today's access to technology and the Internet is unfortunately making it easier for cyber criminals to commit crimes can oftentimes go undetected. It is the job of ICAC Task Forces, high tech crime units and police leaders to find the most effective ways to fight cybercrime and protect children.  

This post will list all supported web browsers that ADF tools can investigate including Chromium-based browsers. As a digital investigator, you want to be prepared and ready for anything on-scene and that includes being able to collect digital evidence from mobile and computer devices.

The amount of digital information available today is overwhelming. This becomes even more obvious in the area of criminal investigations. The digital evidence that is brought in for law enforcement to examine in regards to a case is often too much and investigators don't know where to start. There are more investigators available than there are forensic examiners and this can create a backlog of digital evidence that cannot be processed as quickly as needed for each case. The case of digital evidence backlog is becoming a critical issue within law enforcement given that some agencies report that their backlog of analyzing digital evidence is up to a year or more. The amount of time taken in analyzing digital evidence can in some instances cause cases to be thrown out of the court system by violating the premise of having an expedient trial. That means that criminals go free or that innocent people go to jail, simply because there wasn't enough manpower to analyze the digital evidence fast enough.

Advanced Digital Forensic Solutions Inc., a company that has been around since 2006 and a leader in forensic triage and collecting information so that decisions can be made. Solutions! ADF strives to live up to its name by being on the forefront with solutions. Solutions to help make your job easier, your backlog slower, and your overall cost lower. ADF Solutions has done it again by grabbing the reins on AFF4 logical imaging and solving an issue in the community.

Digital forensic investigations can be expensive. The price can range from $2000 to well over $100,000 for forensic tools and training [1].

The most common reasons why digital forensics tends to get expensive are: 

• inexperienced/untrained users
• outdated systems
• challenges with acquiring systems
• systems that don't talk to one another
• timing in the collection or reviewing of evidence
• reporting

Getting the "big picture" of a case is challenging when digital forensic data is spread across different disparate evidence types or a large of media sources. Experts from several leading forensic companies shared best practices for collecting, analyzing, and reporting on evidence from multiple mobile phones, a drone, and several vehicles used in a fictional homicide investigation related to suspected fentanyl trafficking. The speakers were:

Here's a list of five of the best 2022 digital forensics conferences around the world designed to help promote training and skills needed to collect and analyze digital evidence from computers and mobile devices.  

Note: The COVID-19 Pandemic is causing some digital forensic conferences to be moved online to virtual events. Other events are getting postponed or canceled. Please check with the individual conference organizer to verify dates and locations. 

ADF digital forensic software and triage software are deployed worldwide by investigators and lab examiners to speed the investigation of mobile phones, tablets, computers, and storage devices. ADF technology software helps digital first responders quickly collect, identify and report on digital evidence - thereby reducing or eliminating forensic backlogs that many agencies and organizations face today.   

Many are not aware of the common threats/investigations that officers, analysts, and investigators face on-scene or in the lab and how computer forensics software can help solve these investigations.

The Global Forensic and Justice Center hosted a panel on The Value of Digital Evidence in Combatting Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking. The panelists included:

• Alexandria Wong, Digital Media (DOMEX) Trainer with the Global Forensic and Justice Center and FIU
• Sondra Skelaney, Gender Violence Prevention Program Coordinator with CASE and FIU
• Ailsa Slack, Director of Customer Success of ADF Solutions.

The panel focused on the role of technology, forensics, and digital evidence and revolved around four central questions which are highlighted below along with the key points discussed by the panel of subject matter experts.

When investigating computer crimes and being called on to conduct computer forensics or forensic phone analysis in the field, it is good to be ready for whatever comes your way. One phrase you commonly hear when talking to anyone in the cybercrime arena is “there has to be more than one tool in the toolbox”, and this is a very true statement, no one tool does it all, and all tools do it slightly differently. You do not use a large Phillips screwdriver to remove a small screw from a picture frame and you do not use an eyeglass screwdriver to remove a wood screw, this is because you know your tools and your toolbox.

VR is an exciting and revolutionary modern technology that is steadily being released to the public, with companies such as Steam, PlayStation, Oculus, HTC, and most recently Meta rapidly releasing content to be consumed by people all over the world. But as with all technological advancements, there are certain risks, dangers, and adversities. As a disclaimer, sensitive topics such as child exploitation and sexual abuse will be mentioned in this article.

Conferences are an excellent opportunity for like-minded individuals in a shared career to network, expand your knowledge, find solutions to problems, or to present your ideas and knowledge. Furthermore, they're a great opportunity for others to get to know you and your work. You also have the chance to learn outside of your field and area of work. We've compiled a list of the best forensics and law enforcement conferences in the UK for 2022. 

When conducting on-scene triage for any type of crime it is essential to be prepared for any devices you may encounter. It is important to pre-plan and try to figure out what type and how many devices you may encounter, but no matter how many times you read the report or conduct pretextual calls your estimate is going to be off. You need to be prepared and have the ability to adapt and overcome.

Digital forensics is the science of recovering files, artifacts, and evidence from digital devices including mobile phones, tablets, computers (including Windows, Mac, and Linux), external drives, drive images, and other media storage (USB flash drives, memory cards, etc.). 

Cryptocurrency has expanded in use since it was created in 2009. The idea of creating a decentralized currency to avoid the regulation of banks and governments created a new avenue not only for criminals but also for terrorist organizations. Terrorists such as jihadists around the world have been trading crypto coins to purchase weapons and drugs to continue their attacks on innocent civilians.

When starting an investigation we start thinking about what we need or who we need to contact when it comes to specific crime types. As investigators we do this second nature, it is a process that just happens, and if we have never investigated a certain crime it can be overwhelming at times. Specific crimes often need specialized training and have agencies that may need to be contacted for assistance. When it comes to the digital evidence we also start thinking of the steps that need to be taken and how we are going to put things together. Let’s not let this be overwhelming as well.

Human trafficking encompasses a set of horrific and egregious crimes plaguing our world and destroying individuals and their families. These criminals use innovative and ever-changing methods to hide their activities and keep their victims silent, making their crimes difficult to detect and their identities challenging to discover. However, the same financial motivation that pushes individuals to commit these crimes can be their undoing when law enforcement has access to the most up-to-date digital forensics software, is able to locate the bank accounts and exact transactions involved in illegal activities.

ADF Solutions has long been the standard in on-scene forensic examination of digital devices for all types of investigations. Our law enforcement customers are routinely called on to handle all types of investigations, including many that are disturbing in nature, such as child exploitation cases. Along with the stressful workload, law enforcement professionals are often portrayed in a negative light. Members of the Law Enforcement community are selflessly helping every day both in and out of the work environment. We would like to showcase the good work being done by the law enforcement community, beginning with ADF's current Digital Forensic Intern and member of the New York State Police (NYSP), Eric Lunser.

ADF's Quick-Saved Credentials profile is a powerful profile that extracts the usernames and passwords from Web Browsers and is built so it will not trigger antivirus applications when attempting to collect web credentials. This makes the investigator's job easier on-scene, requires less interaction with the device, and allows for more records to be parsed thereby giving the computer forensic investigator the ability to quickly collect critical information for their investigation.

Learn how to use the ADF Quick Saved Credentials Profile to uncover Web credentials in this short 2-minute video tutorial. Collecting saved credentials quickly gives access to accounts that may have been previously unknown and allows investigators to do preservation orders and search warrants. 

Meet Teresa Jauregui, Legal Director, for the National Child Protection Task Force, NCPTF.

Meet Aaron Kahler, Founder and Chief Executive at Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII). 

January brings awareness to Human Trafficking, a crime that involves exploiting a person for labor, services, or commercial sex. Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking and it is not only limited to the exploitation of children. Human trafficking is a global problem and can occur just about anywhere, and often involves multiple jurisdictions, whether local, state, or international.

Stopping human trafficking and modern slavery is a priority for many law enforcement agencies around the world, with specialized investigators leading the fight. The Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign defines human trafficking as involving the "use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be of any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations."

ADF Solutions has been committed to the forensic market for well over 15 years and has continually improved its product offerings as we continue to move forward. As a company, we are focused on solutions … it’s even in our name. You’re trying to solve investigations. We’re focused on developing technology solutions that will help you do your job faster with a primary focus of helping you protect victims. A pretty good reason to wake up and go to work each day.

ADF tools have the ability to scan all available Mac computers (M1 and T2 chips) with all types of encryption and virtual drives by running a remote agent that communicates with the desktop application. 

We at ADF are always proud to showcase our partners from around the world and introduce their unique perspectives on digital and cyber forensics. We are proud to highlight and share the thoughts of one of our newest ADF Partners, Cindy Vazquez at DG Forensiks in Mexico City, Mexico.

Welcome! You have a requirement or need and decided to evaluate one of the ADF products for your computer forensic, mobile forensic, or triage workflows. You have observed the videos and have most likely been through a demonstration or two and have a better understanding of the functionality you are looking for. We here at ADF Solutions want to make sure you get the most out of your evaluation, and that starts with a smooth transition to the evaluation phase.

With any of the ADF Mobile products, if you are using the default settings, the mobile backups are being saved to the local drive. The mobile backups can be quite large and quickly fill up your drive leaving you no storage space.

Let’s take a look at how to archive your mobile backups with or without the corresponding scan results.

ADF Solutions’ partner recently held a global Dark Web Hackathon in advance of Human Trafficking Awareness Month. The Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) the organization that combats human trafficking through increasing awareness, facilitating intelligence integration & technology advancement, and encouraging strategic data collaboration, today announced the winners of the inaugural annual Darkwebathon. The five-day virtual event attracted more than 330 registrants and generated thousands of reports sharing the ultimate goal of creating actionable intelligence so that law enforcement agencies can be equipped with real data to make arrests. 

Investigating crimes against children has been at the forefront of law enforcement’s initiatives to dedicate the specialized manpower and equipment in order to battle this issue. It is not an easy issue to tackle as it manifests in many different ways and sometimes requires three or more specialized units working together to bring the offenders to justice and then another specialized unit to manage the offenders after release. On top of all the investigation time, we add digital devices to the mix, used to commit and perpetrate these crimes. When it comes time to conduct a search warrant, knock and talk, interview, or victim/witness statement, investigators need a solution to find the relevant data, minimize the number of devices brought back to the lab, minimize the impact to victims, witnesses, and innocent family members. 

Check out our law top law enforcement webinars.

With an ever-increasing number of adults owning a smartphone, it is no wonder that more and more crimes now commonly require mobile device evidence collection and analysis. The need for digital forensics tools is increasing around the world. The ultimate field forensics for the front line solution for police, sheriffs, school resource officers, field agents, and investigators. Connect a suspect device via a USB port to quickly collect evidence and perform an advanced logical acquisition (multi-protocol data transfer).

When selecting a new application for use in your lab or out in the field it's always a good idea to shop around and see what’s available to you whether it is new or updated, it is good to take a look around. ADF Solutions has been in the Digital Forensics field for almost 2 decades and has built upon itself to become a leader in the early case assessment and triage market as well as a formidable candidate for the lab when the work needs to be done now. Digital Evidence Investigator (DEI) is our flagship product and a solid forensic application with a lot of functionality and features.

In today's digital age, virtually every crime brings with it the potential for an abundance of digital evidence.

When conducting digital forensic investigations that involve live (up and running) computers, it is imperative to collect volatile memory so that all your bases covered and so that no vital evidence is lost.  A live analysis conducted in the correct manner will yield the results you are looking for in your investigation.  It has become commonplace and an accepted practice to collect data from a live computer, especially in cases of child exploitation. ADF software makes it easy for detectives and investigators to perform a RAM capture in the proper manner with as little intrusion as possible.

The number of backlogged digital evidence requests has continued to rise over the years. The total number of backlogged evidence requests was over 570,000 in 2014 and every one of those requests is associated with a case that affects real people. This is why we love forensic triage, and why you should too.

During a criminal investigation, prioritizing the evidence is paramount to your success as an investigator. Filtering what is critical to the case and what isn't is the difference between the success and failure of an investigation. 

Forensic triage - sometimes referred to as "digital forensic triage" - is the process by which you collect, assemble, analyze, and prioritize digital evidence from a crime or investigation.

The ADF Solutions suite of products are designed to get you to the relevant information in your digital forensic investigation, in a short amount of time so that decisions can be made. We at ADF understand that every department, agency, task force, or company is not going to be the same and therefore a cookie cutter approach to collecting the data is not appropriate for the task at hand. Our products, such as Digital Evidence Investigator for computer forensics and Mobile Device Investigator for mobile forensics give you the ability to obtain data from devices with different methods so that you can zero in on your targeted information with speed and accuracy. PRO versions combine both computer and mobile in one product.

As the world’s financial systems advance in digital technology and cryptocurrency, the need for digital forensics grows greater. The use of blockchain technology has allowed crimes to go undetected through the eyes of a regular investigator. These crimes no longer take months of in-depth planning and deception before executing but can now be committed within minutes because of the processing power of computers and the speed of the internet. Crimes such as:

The 2021 Northwest Regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Conference has returned this year. The conference is a multi-state, multi-disciplinary Internet Crimes Against Children event which provides training to prosecutors, digital forensic examiners, sheriffs, police investigators and ICAC Task Force members.  

Dates: October 6-8, 2021

Location: Redmond, WA

There are many ways to learn digital forensics. From Certified Training to short How-To videos designed to teach you skills in just a few minutes. One of our favorite forms of learning, however, is our one-hour digital forensic best practices webinars led by our Director of Training, Richard T. Frawley. Rich spent 22 years in law enforcement. Most of that time was as a digital forensic analyst. Here are some of our favorite learning webinars from this year:

Within ADF software and forensic triage products, including Digital Evidence Investigator, Triage-Investigator, or Triage-G2, an investigator can quickly find Dark Web traces. This can be done in Quick Profiles but in this video, Rich Frawley shows how to use an Intermediate Profile to triage a suspect machine to identify Dark Web traces. These can be found in ADF's Anti-Forensic Traces Capture. 

In this 3-minute "How To" video, you'll learn the benefits of having a digital forensic triage process that works from field to lab. Using ADF digital forensic tools, examiners can prepare field investigators to find digital evidence and intelligence on mobile phones, tablets, computers, and storage devices starting on-scene. 

The 2021 Crimes Against Children Conference will be the 33rd annual conference organized by the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC) and the Dallas Police Department. More than just another law enforcement conference, the event brings together child advocacy, child protective services, and law enforcement investigators.   

Dates: August 9 -13, 2021

Register for the CACC conference. 

Live sessions will be held from the 9th to the 13th of August, 2021 with content available to registrants through December 17, 2021. 

The Encrypt backup feature in iTunes locks and encodes your information. In this short How To video, Director of Training, Rich Frawley shows investigators how to remove the known iTunes backup password, if required.

The 2021 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation training conference will be held online this year. This annual training event is designed to train and educate prosecutors, digital forensic examiners, investigators, and law enforcement professionals on specialized training in the subject of investigating and prosecuting technology facilitated Crimes Against Children. 

Investigators can now scan all available Mac computers (including macs with T2 or M1 chips) with all types of encryption and virtual drives by running a remote agent that communicates with the desktop application. Now you can perform digital forensic triage on all Macs including

• macOS T2 chip
• macOS M1 chip
• Mac Fusion Drive

On-scene, it can be impractical for investigators to seize all the digital devices they locate so investigators that are able to triage on-scene only seize devices with relevant data.

Without digital forensic triage, investigators have to collect every device. 

The DEI PRO Field Tablet is the ultimate field forensic field tool for mobile and computer investigations. Watch this 8-minute overview to see the many features available to frontline investigators on this rugged Dell Latitude tablet. 

Digital Media Investigators throughout the United Kingdom rely on the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) in their digital investigations involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). 

Bringing together professionals from across the United States dedicated to helping protect children, the National Child Protection Task Force virtual conference will teach advanced techniques for cyber investigations. 

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) has announced the dates for the NCCC  2021 National Cyber Crime Conference (MASS.gov).

At the scene of any crime or incident it is important to protect and collect evidence. There are different types of evidence, including physical and digital. ADF Solutions focuses on retrieving digital evidence from devices starting on-scene. 

Digital Forensic Triage is the process of finding digital evidence important for investigations.

Smartphone Triage is becoming more and more important with the exponential increase in the number of devices and explosion of digital data. Mobile device forensic examiners can use smartphone triage as a first step in early case assessment of incoming devices. 

Crimes against children investigations can lead CSAM investigators to have to review thousands or even tens of thousands of images. Investigators need tools to help them find relevant evidence quickly. 

ADF Solutions, the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, today announced the ability for on-scene and lab investigators to leverage the facial analytics and age detection capabilities of Suspect Technologies to speed child exploitation and human trafficking investigations. 

Do you need to acquire digital evidence from an iPhone, Android or tablet device quickly? 

ADF Solutions mobile phone forensic software makes it easier to quickly collect digital evidence from smartphones and tablets with the Digital Forensic screenshot feature in Mobile Device Investigator or ADF PRO tools. 

As an investigator you want to be prepared to quickly collect evidence on-scene. This means, when performing smartphone forensics, you need to have the best tools to capture the evidence you encounter during your triage, including cloud storage such as Dropbox for iOS. 

Regular Expressions - (also known as "regex") are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation and they can be particularly useful in mobile and computer forensics investigations. 

One of the ways we allow investigators to find and focus on relevant evidence is by allowing investigators to customize and bring in a unique set of keywords using a substring or with regular expressions. ADF forensic tools also implement regular expression keywords in our trace captures and keyword lists. So why are Regular Expressions different from using regular keywords?

ADF digital forensic software is known for rapid file and artifact collection but we're also widely respected for our seamless user interface. No matter whether you are using Mobile Device Investigator, Triage-Investigator, Triage-G2, Digital Evidence Investigator or our PRO tools, ADF tools are designed to make it easy for investigators to quickly determine what to scan and how to scan it. 

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our lives in many ways, including our ability to give back. In the midst of the holiday season, this is a time where people often reflect on the year and contemplate giving. So often, many of us volunteer at food pantries, organize toy drives, participate in charity fun runs, or find ways to participate in community service with others. 

When I began my career in Law Enforcement I had no idea I would end up one day investigating computer crimes, let alone be a Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE), a designation issued by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS). The process to achieve the CFCE status consisted of 2 weeks of a bootcamp style indoctrination in the computer forensics world, a world that was only being taught by Law Enforcement at the time and which was followed by a year of completing peer reviewed problem sets as well as a comprehensive final exam. The process to become a CFCE, which was difficult and rewarding, and it was entirely managed by the volunteers who taught and mentored me. 

While many of these events may be postponed or rescheduled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), annual conferences are great events for networking with thought leaders and your peers.  In addition, these law enforcement conferences can provide you with the opportunity to get timely, objective, relevant education from a variety of subject matter experts.  You can benefit from training, knowledge sharing, and from the camaraderie and time spent with professionals like you that have dedicated their careers to protect and serve. 

At ADF, we are mission driven. We are delighted to serve those who serve and some of our most exciting times are when we are adding new features and capabilities, when we learn how they are being used, and of course, on launch days. We hope you'll love what we've created.

Speeding your investigations has always been a primary focus for ADF Solutions and with the launch of ADF Mobile Preview capabilities, you can start looking at phone content immediately without waiting for a backup or imaging to finish. 

Today's access to technology and the Internet is unfortunately making it easier for cyber criminals to commit crimes can oftentimes go undetected. It is the job of ICAC Task Forces, high tech crime units and police leaders to find the most effective ways to fight cybercrime and protect children.  

When collecting digital evidence, speed is often the name of the game, such as when you are serving a search warrant, dealing with a mass casualty incident, working a consent search, or trying to ascertain where to focus your efforts when dealing with multiple devices. When dealing with these types of use cases, one-dimensional or one size fits all evidence collection, will not pass muster and you need the ability to cut through the noise and get to the relevant information fast. 

NW3C stands for the National White Collar Crime Center, an organization that is committed to helping educate law enforcement professionals on a variety of relevant topics. The organization based in Richmond, Virginia has over 70,000 members worldwide and was founded in 1987. 

Getting ready to work off site, out of the lab, out of your office, and in someone else's domain is never an easy task. Whether it's a search warrant, in a client's office, suspect's residence, or some other off-site location, being prepared is the key to your success as a digital forensic investigator.

Intelligence gathering is a discipline that's on a different playing field than your typical law enforcement search warrant or forensic triage examination. ADF's Triage-G2 and Triage-G2 PRO enable military field operatives to rapidly collect and exploit captured equipment, media and documents in theaters of operation around the world and reduce time on target for:

ADF Authorized Partner, First Digital & Techno-Law Forensics and the Computer Forensics Institute of Nigeria are hosting the International Digital, Mobile and Computer Forensics Conference & Training Expo as a virtual edition.

The conference, also known as DIGIFOR2020 will be held September 23-25, 2020 and will feature sessions including:

ADF prioritizes digital evidence collection and provides investigators and examiners post-scan options to speed investigations. Post scan options let digital forensic investigators get fast and relevant evidence to make decisions on-scene and in the forensic lab.

Are you ready for a big one? Anticipating what your evidence collection needs will be while you are on-scene includes trying to ascertain how many electronic devices you will encounter. ADF makes it easy for you to be prepared. 

Anyone who is charged with a "knock and talk" or executing a search warrant knows that the ability to overcome and adapt on-scene is vital to a successful outcome. This is what drove ADF to empower investigators to be able to create a digital evidence Collect

ion Key (CKY). 

ADF launches New Law Enforcement Capabilities to Speed Modern Slavery Investigations  

Bethesda, Maryland: ADF Solutions’ new Anti-Human Trafficking Search Profiles were built in conjunction with the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) to help law enforcement quickly identify and investigate human trafficking at the scene of the crime. 

Learn how to easily remove CSAM images and other properties from view

One of the most important factors in a child exploitation investigation, is having the ability to show a report to a colleague, co-worker, prosecutor, or present to present your findings in court without re-victimizing the subject of the photo, or shocking the sense of the viewer of the report. Having a professional report that still reflects the properties that need to be presented is essential to your case.

Digital Forensic Investigators and Examiners need to be able to find evidence quickly and one of the ways that ADF provides this capability is using PhotDNA. 

Two of the biggest factors law enforcement officers face today are how they handle a dangerous situation and how quickly they can that situation. When lives are on the line, one of the major obstacles in resolving that situation is a lack of information.

Kik, also known as Kik Messenger, runs on Android, iOS, and Windows operating systems and is a free app used by more than 200 million people worldwide to send and receive messages that can include photos and videos as well as other content. Kik is popular with children as young as 13 as well as young adults. Because of its popularity with children, the Kik app has become a magnet for child exploitation. 

In this short digital forensic How To video, Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley, walks you through the best settings for Mobile Device Investigator^®.  Learn how to choose the best Search Profile Capture selection and how to decipher which captures will get you the information you need for your investigation with our mobile phone forensic software. 

Tactical site exploitation requirements cover a wide range of objectives, goals, and users. This includes digital forensics, rapid assessment (or triage) of digital data and devices, collection of data on devices to bagging and tagging of devices. Users range from non-technical operators to technically trained forensic examiners. The most common devices that operators encounter today are mobile computing devices, mainly iOS and Android phones and tablets. 

Why take Digital Forensic Screenshots?

Taking a screenshot of a connected iOS or Android mobile device consists in making a copy of what is displayed on the device screen. This method makes it possible to collect digital evidence that would otherwise not be available in a advanced logical acquisition because the data is protected.

Industry Events: Network, Learn, Grow

Here's a list of the best 2021 digital forensic conferences around the world designed to help promote training and skills needed to collect and analyze digital evidence from computers and mobile devices.  

Note: The COVID-19 Pandemic is causing some digital forensic conferences to be moved online to virtual events. Other events are getting postponed or cancelled. Please check with the individual conference organizer to verify dates and locations. 

Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) requirements cover a wide range of objectives, goals, and users. This includes digital forensics, rapid assessment (or forensic triage) of digital data and devices, collection of data on devices to bagging and tagging of devices.  

The Best Digital Forensic Conferences of the Year - with COVID-19 Pandemic Updates

Below is a list of some of our favorite annual conferences which are in addition to our list of 2020 Law Enforcement Conferences in North America.  

Note: The COVID-19 Pandemic is causing some digital forensic conferences to be moved online to virtual events. Other events are getting postponed or cancelled. Please check with the individual conference organizer to verify dates and locations. 

Insight, Collaboration, Agility

AFCEA of Bethesda is has moved the LEAPS 2020 conference to a virtual event. The dates will remain the same with a Wednesday evening virtual reception and panel and a Thursday conference which will feature interactive sessions led by government and industry leaders in public safety and law enforcement. 

DATES: 

July 29, 2020 - July 30, 2020

As digital technology becomes more advanced, the potential for its criminal application is magnified. This can result in overwhelming amounts of digital data for law enforcement to inspect in a limited timeframe. Although opportunities to find digital evidence on a perpetrator's or victim's computer may be numerous, the time it takes to search through such vast quantities of data contributes to the issue of growing forensic backlogs. 

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the International Association of Chiefs of Police moved the annual IACP Technology Conference online for 2020. The virtual event taking place June 24 and 25 is designed for law enforcement leaders but it is also attended by front-line officers and police professionals responsible for technology within their agencies. 

This week kicks off the 2020 National Child Protection Task Force Conference. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NCPTF has moved the conference and training online as a virtual event with the focus on cyber response for missing child investigations. The topic is of vital importance since so many children around the world are online and at increased risk during the pandemic.

Each year, ADF works to pull together a comprehensive list of Law Enforcement conferences and events from around the world to help make it easy for professionals and industry to search and find the best events to attend. 

An increasing number of investigations in the United Kingdom involves financial transactions using Revolut. The company claims the Revolut app is "The UK's fastest growing financial super app" and it is now available in the United States. 

Child sexual exploitation and modern slavery are related aspects of human trafficking which result in the commercial exploitation of children and often being victims of Child Sexual Abuse Material creation as well.  

Digital Evidence Investigator Certified User Training is now available online as self-paced learning. This class was built to serve individuals and agencies that want the benefit of getting DEI Certified User credentials from ADF Solutions. 

Advanced Digital Forensic Solutions, Inc Receives 2020 Best of Bethesda Award

BETHESDA May 21, 2020 -- Advanced Digital Forensic Solutions, Inc has been selected for the 2020 Best of Bethesda Award in the Computer Integrated Systems Design category by the Bethesda Award Program.

The ADF digital forensic screenshots feature enables frontline investigators to capture screenshots from any connected iOS or Android mobile device. This feature is useful for investigators who need to capture data that may not be included in a backup or to capture how a particular mobile app or screen appears to the user.

ADF’s newest software versions include new field tablet capabilities and smartphone collection features 

Learn how to use the ADF Quick Saved Credentials Profile to uncover Web credentials in this short video tutorial. Collecting saved credentials quickly gives investigators access to accounts that may have previously been unknown and allows investigators to request preservation orders and search warrants.  

ADF's Quick - Saved Credentials profile is a powerful digital forensic triage profile that extracts the usernames and passwords from Web Browsers. It is the only Search Profile that may trigger the anti-virus on the machine.

Military forward operators can benefit from text analysis and translation

ADF Solutions, the leading provider of sensitive site exploitation software, now includes the ability for military forward operators to leverage the power of text analysis to speed their investigations of structured and unstructured data in over 200 languages. 

Jim, we want to thank you for the time you’ve taken to chat with us about your work and about your expertise in the areas of white collar and cyber crime. It’s an area ADF is proud to support investigators in. Your work with NW3C covers areas of white collar cyber crime such as fraud, bribery, money laundering, and more. We’ve been proud to partner with NW3C before in our joint webinar and most recently in your Capture the Flag competition!

Gina: How did your background, and 25 years of service in the United States Marine Corps Military police, prepare you for what you’re doing now?

Empowering front-line military operators and intelligence agents. 

Today’s smartphones, tablets, and computers are faster, smarter, and capable of holding more and more data than ever before. They offer more storage and the ability to connect to the cloud and to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.  

Faced with more and more data, more and more police forces are adopting forensic triage methodologies to handle digital evicence on-scene, in the lab, or both in the field and lab. 

What is CEM

In Australian states and territories, CEM refers to “Child Exploitation Material”, otherwise known as child abuse material, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and child pornography. For digital forensic examiners, telecommunications-based child exploitation includes viewing, copying, downloading, sending, exchanging, soliciting, and making CEM. 

In our series on our Culture Code, I want to dive into the first “E” in our LEGEND - Engage and Energize! While last time I explained how ADF as a whole leads and learns, this time I thought I’d highlight one of our team members who I think truly exemplifies the idea of engagement and energy both within the company and within the field of digital forensics; Rich Frawley, our Digital Forensic Specialist. Chances are you know Rich already from ADF’s free short How To videos, his engaging and thoughtful webinars, or through his assistance in technical enablement and support. 

One year ago today, we launched Mobile Device Investigator^Ⓡ (MDI), ADF’s powerful mobile phone forensic software that allows anyone, from seasoned investigators to non-technical team members, to quickly conduct iOS and Android investigations in the field. Using MDI, investigators can acquire evidence fast and return devices to cooperating witnesses on-scene, and triage devices that need to be seized and brought back to the forensic lab. 

We’re living in a wild time right now with the Coronavirus changing work for millions of people across the US and worldwide. All of a sudden, people who worked in offices are now working remotely. Your commute is nonexistent, leaving more time to sleep and less incentive to get up and moving as before - especially on a rainy day. 

Today’s investigators and prosecutors are very familiar with the extreme difficulty in child exploitation cases: getting through your forensic backlog to get to the data in time. Law enforcement officers routinely report that a lack of technology which, combined with stringent time limits, can severely restrict their ability to check devices in a timely manner. ADF understands that digital forensic examinations can be both costly and time-consuming, which hampers investigations into suspects that have downloaded or participated in Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). 

ADF Solutions Introduces Field Investigator™ for Teams

There’s a new way to give digital forensic examiners control of investigations and empower non-technical front-line investigators. Meet Field Investigator™ for Teams, the best way to deploy digital forensic triage capabilities to agents for on-scene digital evidence collection and analysis.

The National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) recently kicked off a weekly Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) Capture the Flag (CTF) competition. Individuals can join the free challenge to hone their digital forensic skills and test their knowledge. 

Knowledge is power. At ADF, we strive to empower our users and prospective users by giving you easy access to free tutorials and knowledge base articles. We’ve received rave reviews for our short How To videos, so we wanted to share another way investigators can get support - the ADF Knowledge Base. 

It's a known issue that many agencies and departments are facing worldwide; how to fight and reduce backlog to stay up to date on cases so that they don't get stale. It's a serious issue, but we at ADF can show you a few ways to fight in-house forensic backlog with digital forensic triage.

How We Lead

Our mentality at ADF is that in order to grow as a company, and as human beings (who doesn’t want to get better?), everyone has to find ways to both lead and learn. ADF’s co-founders led the way by developing DOMEX and digital forensic triage tools 15 years ago.

Putting Victims First. That’s the message that Richard W. Brown, the CEO of Project VIC International impressed upon me when I had the opportunity to speak to him about how and why he helped found the non-profit organization which helps law enforcement agencies around the world fight child exploitation. 

As the COVID-19 virus spreads around the world, ADF Solutions has been working to respond with urgency and empathy. Our top priority is the health and safety of our team members, customers, partners, prospects and everyone’s families. 

You first met LEO in September 2018 when ADF shared an announcement about the upcoming Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas. We came up with the idea of LEO one day when our team was sharing stories about the many successes our Law Enforcement customers were having using our digital forensic software to quickly solve crimes. 

RAM, short for Random Access Memory, is physical hardware that temporarily stores data for quick read and write access. Think of RAM as a scratch pad you use while working; although all the information you need and may refer to is stored in a binder (in this analogy, your hard drive), the information on the scratch pad is what you are using and need right in the moment. With RAM, it is right there for you to access. While RAM helps with the speed and efficiency of the computer, it can all be lost in an instant as it is volatile.

The Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) is the United Kingdom’s national system used by law enforcement to help fight the growing problem of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The system helps police detect, flag and analyse illegal digital media images. 

With the spread of COVID-19 the last few weeks have been challenging to say the least. There has been a lot of information to digest, a lot of opinions to muddle through, and now many disruptions to our daily lives. And now, millions more people are working from home. 

The inaugural conference for Virginia police, sheriffs, prosecutors, digital forensics investigators, and cybercrime specialists was held last week at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. The first-ever CIIFER conference (which stands for Cyber-attacks, Internet Investigations, Forensic Analysis, and Electronic Records) featured training from industry professionals, university professors, and Commonwealth attorneys. 

Gina: Charissa, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. As a young female in business, your work ethic and drive have been an inspiration! What advice would you give to young women who want to succeed in the workplace?

ADF is delighted to announce the work we did with the 114th Partnership to create a new Spark 101 STEM Skills video titled "Computational Thinking in Forensic Software Development." The video highlights careers in the digital forensics field and is available as a free resource to teachers seeking to foster students' interest in careers in STEM:

Child pornography- more properly identified as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). It’s appalling that there is a need for a definition for this kind of material. U.S. Federal Law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor- meaning any person less than 18 years old. 

Nearly 1,000 homicide investigators from across California gathered this week at the 51st annual California Homicide Investigator (CHIA) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 3-day training event, sponsored by ADF, featured case presentations and investigator training from leading prosecutors and investigators. 

ADF computer triage has long been admired for some of the best digital forensic triage capabilities on the market. Since 2006, ADF digital forensic experts have been building triage tools to empower investigators to quickly collect evidence and on-scene intelligence from computers and digital devices.

When you find yourself looking for something to watch this season, you may find yourself scrolling through Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime Video to find something to watch. Choosing what to watch while you relax in front of the TV or your computer can cause you to tense up before you’re able to settle back in. 

In this how-to video, we will cover backing up and scanning encrypted iOS devices. This skill is important to know because encrypted iOS backups return more data than unencrypted backups.

The numbers surrounding pornographic images of children, and the child abuse that creates it, are so staggering that it’s difficult not to be disheartened. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), their cyber tipline received over 42.9 million reports by November 2018. NCMEC had also reviewed over 267 million images and videos, and identified over 15,800 victims of online child exploitation and abuse.

As communities search for new ways to employ wounded, injured, or ill special operations veterans, there's a new federal government program that offers hope. 

The program which provides financial support for communities seeking to further increase their effectiveness in the fight against child exploitation is run by the U.S. Department of Justice. Communities will benefit in two key ways: 

1. Employ wounded veterans paid for via federal grant money
2. Help communities fight the ever growing battle to stop child exploitation

Looking to add key words on-scene? ADF has you covered. In this how-to video, investigators and analysts will learn how to add keywords directly from the Collection Key. As a digital evidence investigator, ADF provides the ability to create a collection key with or without Search Profiles and add keywords just before the start of a scan.

Our digital forensic specialist knows that as someone who used to go out and execute search warrants and conduct knock and talks, the ability to overcome and adapt on-scene is vital to a successful outcome. In this how-to video, Rich explains how to create a Collection Key without Search Profiles and how to add keywords prior to starting a scan from the Collection Key. 

ADF Solutions Releases New Digital Forensic Software to Power Field Investigations

Triage digital evidence with a single license for smartphones, tablets, and computers

ADF Solutions, the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, today announced new software versions for Digital Evidence Investigator^Ⓡ, Triage-Investigator^Ⓡ,  Triage-G2^Ⓡ, and Mobile Device Investigator^Ⓡ software.

ADF Solutions is proud to announce that we have joined forces with Carahsoft, the leading government IT Solutions provider as an authorized reseller of our products.

Everyone wants to belong somewhere. They want to be part of the team and to be able to contribute to life in meaningful ways. This is true for life and for business. 

This blog post will feature our Settings page, and tips and tricks to understanding it. The first thing users will notice on the settings page is the Backed-Up Licenses. This displays all licenses that have been backed up on this computer. When selecting a license it will display all the information pertaining to that license and also enable users to delete the license from the backed up licenses folder. Additionally, the information here can be used when making a support call or using the support portal.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) has announced the dates for the NCCC  2020 National Cyber Crime Conference (MASS.gov).

We could have just written a mission statement. Maybe we’d throw in some core values, and hit you with some motivational quotes from great thought leaders. We could have done that, but that’s not the ADF way. ADF is an innovator, so we took those ideas and went further. Meet our Culture Code: a living, breathing set of standards, principles, values, and goals that we put our hearts and souls into as a team, because we are #AllinForensics. 

Our newest How-To video will cover how to image from either the Desktop tool or the USB device (Collection Key) on a Boot and Live Scan. 

When using ADF tools to collect files, either by File Properties, Hashes, or Keywords, ADF tools provide  three methods for file identification:

Conferences are an excellent opportunity for like-minded individuals in a shared career to network, expand your knowledge, find solutions to problems, or to present your ideas and knowledge. Furthermore, they're a great opportunity for others to get to know you and your work. You also have the chance to learn outside of your field and area of work. We've compiled a list of the best forensics and law enforcement conferences in the UK for 2020. 

With ADF digital forensic software tools, it's possible to scan multiple devices simultaneously and have them as part of one scan. However, there are some items we need to keep in mind when preparing to scan multiple devices.

Triage- the word is normally associated with hospitals, where doctors and nurses prioritize patients’ treatments based on the severity of their condition. The concept has been around since the Napoleonic wars and is responsible for saving innumerable lives ever since.

When your case is complete and it comes time to archive your case,  the best method is to archive with the Stand Alone Viewer, located within reporting.

While many of these events may be postponed or rescheduled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), annual conferences are great events for networking with thought leaders and your peers.  In addition, these law enforcement conferences can provide you with the opportunity to get timely, objective, relevant education from a variety of subject matter experts.  You can benefit from training, knowledge sharing, and from the camaraderie and time spent with professionals like you that have dedicated their careers to protect and serve. 

Software updates are something we look forward to, and when we receive that new download from our go-to tool, it makes the day even more special.  When it comes time to upgrade or re-install ADF software, as a user, you do not want your data to be lost after either the software upgrade or when selecting a new Search Profile folder.

When you first start the ADF application you will notice the tool will look to see if any new data needs to be merged or migrated.

With the ever-increasing amount of digital photo evidence, it's nearly impossible for investigators to quickly review photo evidence in a timely manner. Enter ADF Photo Probability for on-scene triage and digital investigations; one of the ways that ADF helps reduce the "noise" in a case and helps you get to the evidence faster.

Mobile Device Investigator (MDI) is the leading digital forensic triage tool for iOS and Android devices. In this short "How To" video, ADF's digital forensic specialist and trainer, Rich Frawley, will show you how to create a Search Profile with MDI. 

ADF's digital forensic team will be participating in the First Forensic Forum (F3) annual conference and training workshop. The 19th annual event will take place November 12-14, 2019 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 

The U.S. Department of Justice launched the ICAC Task Force program in 1998 to help law enforcement learn how to prevent, combat and investigate Internet Crimes Against Children.  ICAC Task Force training is often held annually within regions across the United States. 

COVID-19 Announcement: Due to the global pandemic, many conferences are being rescheduled. Please check the event websites before making any travel plans and stay safe.

The 2020 ICAC conferences are announced each year and include training and events held in:

The 2020 Northwest Regional ICAC Conference, has been announced for October 5-9, 2020. The conference is a multi-state, multi-disciplinary Internet Crimes Against Children event which provides training to prosecutors, digital forensic examiners, sheriffs, police investigators and ICAC Task Force members.  

The 2020 Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas, will be the 32nd annual conference organized by the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center and the Dallas Police Department. More than just a law enforcement conference, the event brings together child protection, advocacy and investigators. The event will be held online this year instead of at the usual Sheraton Dallas Hotel location.   

Dates: August 10-13, 2020

Register for the Dallas CACC conference. 

COVID-19 UPDATE: This year's event will be held virtually. 

ADF digital forensic software comes with approximately a dozen out-of-the-box default search profiles designed to make it quick and easy for non-technical field investigators to quickly search for digital evidence. 

In this short How To video, you'll learn how to import and export an ADF digital forensic Search Profile. This allows investigators to create a Custom Search Profile on one computer and export it so that it is available to be imported into another installation on another computer so forensic examiners or senior investigators can create and share profiles with:

October 2019 kicks off with the 5th Annual Northwest Regional ICAC Conference, a multi-state, multi-disciplinary event designed to provide lecture and lab training to prosecutors, digital forensic lab examiners, and law enforcement investigators focused on the investigation and prosecution of technology and Internet facilitated crimes against children. 

In this short How To video, digital forensic specialist Rich Frawley, will show you how to collect and share digital evidence files with prosecutors and third parties using ADF Software. This video is ideal for learning how to share evidence with prosecutors for review. 

In this short 4-minute Mac forensics "How To" video, ADF forensic specialist, Rich Frawley, shows you how to conduct a boot scan of a MacBook Air with APFS & FileVault2 enabled.

Digital Evidence Investigator is built for front-line field investigators and lab examiners who need to do digital forensic investigations on Mac, Linux, or Windows. Combined with Mobile Device Investigator, Digital Evidence Investigator PRO gives you all the best computer forensic capabilities along with iOS and Android mobile forensics in a single affordable forensic tool. 

In this short video ADF's Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley, demonstrates the installation process for DEI and DEI PRO, on an offline computer that does not have Internet access. You can refer to our Technical Specifications for minimum requirements and supported Operating Systems.

Digital Evidence Investigator is built for front-line field investigators and lab examiners who need to do digital forensic investigations on Mac, Linux, or Windows. Combined with Mobile Device Investigator, Digital Evidence Investigator PRO gives you all the best computer forensic capabilities along with iOS and Android mobile forensics in a single affordable forensic tool. 

In this short video ADF's Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley, demonstrates the installation process for DEI and DEI PRO, on a computer that has Internet access. You can refer to our Technical Specifications for minimum requirements and supported Operating Systems.

Fast investigations require rapid access to evidence. ADF software enables investigators to quickly view the links of artifacts captured from a target device so you can easily understand a user's activities. 

In this short 5 minute video, you'll learn how to filter digital forensic scan results in ADF software. Filtering is available in any table while analyzing any of your scan results. In this how-to video, we'll look at:

Investigate on-scene with a single license for smartphones, tablets, and computers 

In this short How To video we are going to explore the Text Analytics capabilities built into ADF’s digital forensic software with the integration of Rosoka. ADF is bringing the power of Rosoka for automated entity extraction and language identification with gisting, through a tightly integrated user experience in the Rosoka Add-on. 

Digital Evidence Investigator PRO enables front-line field investigators to quickly create an iOS forensic backup of an iOS mobile device on-scene or back in the lab. In this short video, ADF Digital Forensic Training Manager, Rich Frawley, will show you how to easily backup an iOS device with DEI PRO.

Investigators can leverage ADF digital forensic software on the front-line to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases

Bethesda, Maryland: ADF Solutions, the leading provider of intelligent forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, today announced Bret Peters has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of ADF Solutions. The ADF Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint Bret Peters to the position of CEO based on his demonstrated leadership and vision for the company. Bret has also been elected to the ADF Board of Directors. 

ADF & Rosoka Bring the Power of Entity Extraction and Multi-Lingual Translation to the Front-Line in Triage-G2^Ⓡ

Bethesda, Maryland: ADF Solutions, the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, today announced the ability for on-scene and lab investigators to leverage the power of Rosoka to speed their investigations of structured and unstructured data in over 200 languages. 

Rosoka text analytics brings the power of automated multilingual entity extraction directly into ADF digital forensics software through a tightly integrated user experience. Rosoka text analytics runs locally on the investigator’s computer, processing documents in over 200 languages to identify entities, and locations in unstructured documents. Learn more about the partnership at www.adfsolutions.com/partner/rosoka

Digital Evidence Investigator PRO enables front line field investigators to quickly create a forensic backup of an Android device on-scene or back in the lab. In this short video, ADF Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley, will show you how to easily backup an Android device with DEI PRO.

Learn how to create a forensic backup of an Android smartphone or tablet with Mobile Device Investigator™ in this short How To video from ADF's Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley.

Learn how to create a forensic backup of an iOS smartphone or tablet with Mobile Device Investigator™ in this short How To video from ADF's Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley.

Front line investigators and digital forensic examiners are encountering an ever increasing number of images in almost every investigation they perform. This exponential growth in the volume of images can challenge investigators searching for illicit online activity, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), extremist propaganda, or other types of image content. 

In this short video, ADF digital forensic specialist, Rich Frawley, demonstrates ADF's digital forensic image recognition and classification capabilities. 

ADF digital forensic tools come with out-of-the-box Search Profiles. In this short video, you'll learn how to use Digital Evidence Investigator PRO to demonstrate how to create a search profile.

Technology has become more powerful and portable, allowing a more significant amount of information to be created, stored, and accessed. This shift in the information technology landscape (mobile, cloud, IoT, etc.) has made the collection and analysis of digital evidence a critical factor in investigating and solving virtually all types of crimes. 

There are serious Internet related crimes, that need to be investigated quickly, child exploitation related offenses for instance. For example, in the United Kingdom, the National Crime Agency recently estimated that about 140,000 out of nearly 3 million registered dark web accounts registered on child abuse sites are UK-based.

Today is the final day of the 2019 NSA Annual Educational and Technology Expo which ran June 15-18, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky.  The annual event featured more than 60 session topics and over 500 vendors who come together to educate and showcase new ways to empower our nation's sheriffs to serve and protect their communities. 

Seminar topics ranged in topic from leadership and community policing, to court security, jail operations and law enforcement operations, to resource programs, technology solutions, homeland security and more.  Some of our favorite session topics were: 

Every year, we look forward to the Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference in Myrtle Beach, not only because it features some of the best digital forensic training content, but also because we get so see so many of our law enforcement and investigator friends along with ADF Authorized Partners. 

When making decisions on scene it is critically important for an investigator to scan and analyze the Operating System Drive or Partition, or what is commonly referred to as the C:\ drive. ADF digital forensic software tools give investigators out-of-the-box Search Profiles designed to quickly scan and analyze OS partitions with targeted paths that would not be present on a non OS partition.

If you come across a non OS drive or partition, a storage partition, or external storage drive, instead of using the built-in Comprehensive Search Profiles, you can create a Custom Search Profile for non operating system drives using Digital Evidence Investigator^®. 

Learn how to quickly scan iOS devices, smartphones or tablets, in this 2 minute short "How To" video created by Rich Frawley, our Director of Digital Forensic Training. Rich will walk you through how to attach and scan an iOS device with Mobile Device Investigator® (MDI) using an iPhone.

This week, nearly 1,000 law enforcement professionals from across the United States and around the world are meeting in Jacksonville, Florida for to discuss and discover new technologies designed to promote public safety, police safety and policing techniques. 

Most children in the United States now have access to internet services. The internet enables children to have access to vast amounts of valuable and educative information that facilitates their growth. However, the internet further exposes children to numerous dangers. Some of the risks children are exposed to on the internet include pornography, racist, sexist, violent, and demeaning information.

These risks prompted the formation of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force program. The organization is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces that represent over 4,500 local, state, and federal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. The state and regional ICAC task forces are maintained and expanded by the ICAC program to address technology-facilitated child exploitation crimes.

Police Week Provides Much Needed Camaraderie For Our Police  

It's indisputable that all of us throughout the United States benefit from the work of our police officers. Indeed, they do all they can to keep our communities safe and orderly. Police Week is a great opportunity to celebrate law enforcement professionals and all they do every day of the year.  

As you get started performing an advanced logical forensic acquisition of an Android device with Mobile Device Investigator^®, you will want to learn how to attach an Android device to your forensic computer. This short video will show you how you can quickly and easily collect digital evidence from Android mobile phones and tablets. 

The 2019 Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina will take place June 2-5 at the Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes.  Attendees will have the ability to receive Continuing Professional Education Credits (CPE) depending on their organization. 

Nearly 1,000 attendees are expected to attend with more than 100 sessions by about as many speakers.  We recommend you select the full conference pass which gives you access to the keynote address, all sessions, the exhibit hall (50+ exhibitors) and networking receptions, breakfast and refreshment breaks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as well as lunch on Monday and Tuesday.  

With a record number of attendees, speakers and exhibitors, the 2019 National Cyber Crime Conference organized by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office this past week was a huge success with law enforcement professionals from 38 states, Canada, the UK and Africa. 

The NCCC event was especially important to ADF since it's our first major conference of the year and it's where we officially launched our new Mobile Device Investigator™ for iOS and Android investigations.  Our launch featured a demo by our digital forensic specialist, Rich Frawley who joined ADF after 22 years in law enforcement. 

Digital Evidence Investigator^® gives investigators the ability to customize Search Profiles and determine exactly what and where you want to look for digital evidence. This is especially convenient when looking to tailor a search for a forensic triage type scan or a targeted collection. This is accomplished by using the Targeted Folders Option when creating a custom file capture.

If you're headed to the 2019 National Cyber Crime Conference in Noorwood, MA next week please make time to stop by the ADF Solutions booth to say hello and to enter our drawing for a US combat veteran, handmade keepsake from a Flag of Valor for your home or forensic lab.

Rich Frawley, our Digital Forensic Specialist, who spent 22 years in law enforcement will be leading 3 digital forensic training sessions:

• Solving Crimes Against Children with Digital Evidence Investigator (In the NW3C Lab)
• Introducing ADF Mobile Device Investigator (iOS & Android)
• On-Scene Digital Investigation Best Practices: from CyberTip to Court-Ready Paperwork

ADF Solutions’ New Software Delivers Forensic Capabilities to Police and Investigators

Bethesda, Maryland: ADF Solutions, the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, today announced the release of Mobile Device Investigator® the newest forensic software to investigate iOS and Android devices.  Qualified professionals can request a free trial of Mobile Device Investigator™ at www.tryadf.com.

Mobile Device Investigator® is a stand-alone digital forensic software tool for advanced logical iOS and Android mobile device investigations. With Mobile Device Investigator® also called MDI, front-line investigators can: 

When conducting an investigation, it is important to be flexible and follow the direction of your investigation with as few obstacles as possible. If your examination brings you a new file type, such as a video generated by a hand held camera, or a proprietary file created by a unique software, you want to be able to search for, or collect these files types right away either on-scene or back in the lab.

ADF offers the best digital forensic solution for getting relevant data from an Apple Mac laptop or desktop running APFS since it is easy to use and offers investigators a quick and easy way to collect and analyze evidence.  In this short 3-minute video, ADF's digital forensic specialist, Rich Frawley shows how to boot a MacBook Air (APFS, non-encrypted) with Digital Evidence Investigator.

When investigating crimes against children cases, Project Vic data sets and Digital Evidence Investigator^® (DEI) go hand in hand.

DEI and ADF's other forensic triage and investigation tools give investigators and examiners the ability to categorize image and video media fast -- which is paramount in the fight against child exploitation.

Whether you are an ICAC, CAC, or affiliate task force, DEI is the best tool to help you investigate CSAM / CEM and solve internet crimes against children. In the short 6-minute video below, ADF's digital forensic trainer is going to show you how easy it is to add Project Vic datasets or hashes to a Search Profile.

Due to an increase in crimes involving the use of computers and cell phones, there is a growing need for Digital Media Investigators, sometimes referred to as DMIs. They have an important role to play in police investigations and that role is becoming more critical with the proliferation of digital data. 

Digital media investigators do more than just sit in a lab looking at hard drives. They are often digital first responders and go out into the field with other law enforcement agents to investigate crimes first hand and offer advice on how to gather digital evidence at a crime scene. Collecting, analyzing and reporting on digital evidence to be used to prosecute and convict criminals is a vital role for DMIs in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

As a forensic investigator, there will come a time when you will come across the occasional computer that is difficult to get to the HDD and it may be encrypted by default, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro. In this short video, you'll learn how to easily conduct a boot scan of a Microsoft Surface Pro with Bitlocker activated.

ADF Bret: Hi Brett, thanks for taking time to talk! My first question is, what’s with the extra “t”? I’m just kidding of course.  Growing up, one of my best friends spelled his name with two “t”s so we just refer to one another as Brettt so as not to offend one another.   

Brett:     A rose by any other name…

ADF Bret: You’re a digital forensic examiner providing private consulting and training to government agencies and you’ve also found time to write quite a few books, including Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard, Hiding Behind the Keyboard, and X-Ways Forensics Practitioner’s Guide, all of which have received nominations for Best Forensic Book of the Year.  How did you get started writing books for the forensic community and what (besides the money and fame) keeps you writing?

Brett:  Much like any author writing forensic books, I wanted to write the books that I wish were already written by someone else. I would have bought them if they already were written! My first two books were published within the same year, so they competed against each other for Best Forensic Book of the Year and the X-Ways book won. That was neat, and certainly having Eric Zimmerman as my co-author helped. I will keep writing books whenever I need a book that hasn’t already been written, so hopefully we get more authors writing books.

Of all the investigations that a law enforcement agency may undertake, there may be none as difficult to deal with as crimes perpetrated against minors. The proliferation of online child exploitation material continues to be an issue worldwide, from child pornography to the facilitation of human trafficking. Luckily, investigators are not having to combat this problem alone thanks to industry solutions like those provided by ADF Solutions and the organizations below.  

Whether you are preparing to go on-scene or you are in your digital forensic lab getting ready to perform triage or one or more digital forensic scans, this video tutorial will show you how you can easily create a keyword capture and add keywords to a Search Profile.  We begin from when you have started to create a Custom Search Profile and want to add your own unique keywords.

ADF software lets investigators and examiners search for files by keyword(s) using substrings or regular expressions.  ADF software allows you to search for keywords in all file and folder names, file content and metadata, and artifact records from other captures.

ADF digital forensic software including Digital Evidence Investigator^® (DEI) and Triage-Investigator^® come with out-of-the-box default Search Profiles. In this short video tutorial, we use Digital Evidence Investigator to demonstrate "What is a Search Profile?".

In DEI the Search Profiles are maintained in the Setup Scans Menu option. The Search Profile, when run, will collect the information selected within the Search Profile. Search Profiles will run from the desktop application or from the collection key on a Live or Boot scan.

Learn how to conduct a Windows live scan with ADF Solutions Digital Evidence Investigator.  Two USB ports are required to complete a scan, one for the Collection Key and one for the Authentication Key, once the scan has started the Authentication Key can be removed. A USB hub may be used in cases where the target computer only has one USB port. 

When running a live scan from a Collection Key it is possible to create a RAM dump of the computer. RAM dumps can then be analyzed with appropriate software (e.g. Volatility). 

When you're faced with a mountain of digital evidence, how do you start sifting through it? For law enforcement, litigation support, and incident response agencies organizing and prioritizing digital media and electronically stored information (ESI) is crucial.

Adopting an Early Case Assessment (ECA) methodology helps expedite and improve overall case efficiency and productivity; reducing backlogs and increasing turnaround times.

If you haven’t yet met Phillip Moore and you’re in the digital forensics or incident response fields, you’re likely to at least know him from one of his top forensic blogs:

Following the recent ICAC Task Force Commanders Meeting, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program announced the date and location of the 2019 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation. 

In the early 18th century, triage was used to refer to the action of sorting items according to quality and was taken from the French word trier which means to sort, separate out or cull. 

>> Continue reading or watch the Benefits of Triage webinar recording. 

Sensitive Site Exploitation refers to techniques used by military and intelligence officers to collect and exploit captured equipment, media and documents in theaters of operation around the world.  The process of exploiting sensitive or tactical sites to gather intelligence from targets for counter terrorism, force protection, or other national security needs is performed by forward operators using exploitation kits that can: 

In 2009, the number of backlogged digital evidence requests in publicly funded forensic crime labs was 1,600. By the end of 2014, that number had risen to 7,800. While that's tiny in comparison to the total number of backlogged evidence requests (over 570,000 in 2014!), every one of those requests is associated with a case that affects real people. This is why we love forensic triage, and why you should too.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) has announced the dates for the 2019 National Cyber Crime Conference (MASS.gov).  This year's conference will be held April 29 - May 1, 2019 in Norwood, Massachusetts thanks to Attorney General Maura Healey, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), SEARCH, and the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute 

First 100 registrants get a discount: 

Join ADF Solutions for a webinar hosted by the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), a nonprofit, membership-affiliated organization comprised of state, local, federal and tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial and regulatory agencies.  

NW3C provided a nationwide support system for law enforcement and regulatory agencies involved in prevention, investigation and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime.  Support is delivered via training in computer forensics, cyber and financial crime investigations and intelligence analysis as well as original research on and analytical technical support for investigating and prosecuting white collar and related crimes. 

With the ever increasing demand for law enforcement to learn how to treat digital evidence and the growing demand for qualified digital forensic analysts, forensic examiners, and corporate investigators, it's important to find the best digital forensic training. 

We like training taught by instructors with deep experience in digital forensics, and preferably by instructors that have years of relevant law enforcement experience.  

That's why we recommend ADF Digital First Responder^® training, taught by digital forensic experts that spent years in law enforcement investigation. The 8-16 hour training includes online self-paced learning for the following digital forensic tools: 

• Mobile Device Investigator
• Digital Evidence Investigator
• Triage Investigator
• Triage-G2 with the Rosoka Add-on 

In addition to vendor specific training, there are plenty of options from law enforcement and digital forensic experts. One of the best sources for Digital Forensic Training is often at digital forensic conferences, which are now increasingly available online as virtual events with live and recorded training. 

See our list of the Best 2021 Digital Forensic Conferences.

January 2019 is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Human trafficking has been a federal crime in the United States since The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 was passed into law as a federal statute.  Each year since 2010 has been designated National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month with January 11th each year being observed as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. 

Military and intelligence officers process an ever-increasing amount of data from which they need to gather actionable intelligence. This data comes from a variety of devices seized in combat operations or during an investigation.  

Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) is the "collection and exploitation of captured equipment, documents, and media to generate actionable intelligence." DOMEX analysis helps officers, special forces, and field operatives on the front lines complete a holistic picture of the intelligence available to them at the time. 

One of the reasons that investigators choose ADF software as their primary triage tool is because it can be used standalone or in conjunction with traditional forensic software.  Forensic Triage is ideal for front-line investigators because it's fast, easy-to-use, and can net results in situations where time matters. Deployed in a forensic lab, triage software can reduce forensic backlogs and allow forensic examiners to prioritize deep dive forensic investigations.

The term triage naturally brings to mind a medical emergency where you need to get in quickly, assess the damage and deal with the most serious problems first. Digital forensic triage has the same application but it's applied to a crime scene or investigation which involves computers or other digital media. Standard forensic methods normally take place in a forensic lab where a trained forensic examiner would perform a complete examination. Digital triage is a front line step in saving time and reaching satisfactory results faster.

ADF triage performance is fast -- built to be under two minutes for certain scans. Digital forensic triage speed and performance can vary based on a number of factors including the triage software you are using, the search criteria you choose, the suspect hardware configuration, and how much you know about what you are looking to understand in your investigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC Program) in 1998 as part of a national strategy to combat and prevent child exploitation.  ICAC Task Force training is often held annually within regions across the United States.  The exact dates and locations of these law enforcement conferences vary from year to year but below is a short list of the typical conference names and locations:

The Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Child Abduction Response Team (CART) and Offender Registration and Enforcement once again hosted the Florida ICAC Training Symposium. 

Photo Forensics as a term will typically refer either to the profession dedicated to authenticating digital images to determine authenticity, or, it may refer to the capability of digital forensics software to find and identify photos. 

23 Industry Events: Network, Learn, Grow

The knowledge and training you can gain at digital forensic conferences around the world can make the difference in crime solving.  In addition to networking, annual conferences are one of the best ways to learn from peers, stay on top of the latest strategies and tactics, get an advance look at industry trends, and they can be a great place to talk face-to-face with digital forensic vendors. In addition to keynotes and lectures, many annual conferences also offer hands-on lab sessions or pre-conference training classes. Below is a list of some of our favorite annual conferences which are in addition to our list of 2020 Law Enforcement Conferences in North America.  

ADF Solutions Newest Software Release Makes It Easier to Fight Against Child Exploitation

As the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, we are delighted to announce the ability for on-scene and lab investigators to rapidly collect media files using Digital Evidence Investigator^Ⓡ, Triage-Investigator^Ⓡ, and Triage-G2^Ⓡ software and export media files to the Griffeye Analyze platform. 

Annual law enforcement conferences are great events for networking with thought leaders and your peers.  In addition, conferences can provide you with the opportunity to get timely, objective, relevant education from a variety of subject matter experts.  You can benefit from training, knowledge sharing, and from the camaraderie and time spent with law enforcement professionals like you that have dedicated their careers to protect and serve. 

Project VIC is a nonprofit organization founded by Rich Brown and former U.S. law enforcement officials who saw the need to normalize data between digital forensic tools, software vendors, and service providers in order to focus the community on building enhanced workflows to more rapidly identify victims of child exploitation (CSAM, CEM) and human trafficking.

The best tools for rapid Mac forensics investigations just got better with ADF's release of new software versions to support the collection of artifacts with Mac OS Mojave Forensics and MacOS High Sierra as well as from Windows. 

ADF's New Forensic Software Empowers Investigators and Prosecutors

ADF Solutions, the leading provider of automated forensic software for investigators and lab examiners, announced today the release of new software versions 1.4 for Digital Evidence Investigator^Ⓡ, and versions 4.4 for Triage-Investigator^Ⓡ, and Triage-G2^Ⓡ software.  

"We are very excited to be the first digital forensic software to parse macOS Mojave log files natively under Windows strengthening our macOS support", stated Raphael Bousquet, CTO, and co-founder of ADF Solutions. "In our world of fast and efficient forensic analysis, we strive to reduce data noise for the investigator. The addition of picture and video classification is a great step in the right direction!"

A precise timeline view links user activities with pictures, videos, and files of interest so investigators can quickly build a digital forensic report to share with prosecutors or other investigators.  The new version leverages enhanced automation and enables investigators to run in-depth digital forensics scans quickly.  The highlights of this new release for the investigative and forensic community include:

October 26, 2018 is the inaugural National Financial Crime Fighter Day created by Banker's Toolbox as a way to honor and celebrate the critically important work done by financial crime fighters and professionals who work every day to protect our financial system. 

What's the fastest, easiest way to perform RAM Dump? While there are many tools and techniques available to examiners for recovering data from volatile memory, ADF Digital Evidence Investigator^®, Triage-Investigator^®, and Triage-G2^® are fast and easy. 

A simple 2-step process lets even the most non-technical field investigators or highly trained digital forensic examiners quickly perform a RAM capture when running a live scan on the computer from a collection key: 

1. Click "Create RAM Dump" from the main menu
2. The RAM Dump will be saved to the collection key as a .bin file and then zipped

This October kicks off with the fourth annual Northwest Regional ICAC Conference, a multi-state, multi-disciplinary event designed to provide lecture and lab training to prosecutors, digital forensic examiners, and law enforcement investigators focused on the investigation and prosecution of technology facilitated crimes against children. 

A criminal forensic lab located in one of the largest U.S. Federal agencies was working on an extensive child exploitation case and had seized 37 total hard drives that contained over 38 terabytes of data. The case was high profile and the forensic team had a short window of time to examine the contents of the confiscated drives. Technical resources were limited and imaging drives and conducting traditional forensic examinations would be very time consuming. With the amount of data that needed to be searched, the investigators realized that it could potentially be weeks before the examinations were complete and the case could move forward. In addition the case would require significant disk storage space to hold all of the images.

During the week of September 16 - 22, 2018, we invite you to join us in recognizing the critical role that forensic science plays in criminal investigations and we give thanks for the dedication of the thousands of forensic professionals who serve our communities nationwide.  

ADF Authorized Partner, CBIT Digital Forensics Services, based in Australia will be hosting J.J. Wallia, C.E.O and co-founder of ADF Solutions, for a presentation on the latest version of Digital Evidence Investigator^® – plus a free half-day training session with Certified ADF Instructor Zoran Iliev using ADF Solutions to accelerate Digital Forensic investigations.

Join ADF Digital Forensic Specialist, Rich Frawley as he presents "On-Scene Digital Investigation Best Practices: From Search Warrant to Court Ready Paperwork" at the Techno Security & Digital Forensics conference in San Antonio, Texas.  The Techno event is a follow up to the top rated Techno Security & Digital Forensics Myrtle Beach event earlier this year where ADF was a Gold Sponsor.  

Rich Frawley, ADF Digital Forensic Specialist will be presenting "On-Scene Digital Investigation Best Practices: From Search Warrant to Court Ready Paperwork" at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia this week.  

Coming off the 30th annual Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas, conference organizers announced that the 31st annual conference is scheduled for August 12-15, 2019 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.  

With more than a dozen out-of-the-box Search Profiles inside Digital Evidence Investigator^® (DEI) and all the ADF digital forensic and triage tools, the ADF Digital Forensic team has created software that enables investigators and forensic examiners to capture files, artifacts, and the digital evidence needed in a wide variety of evidence collection situations. 

This week, hundreds of leading law enforcement officials from the US, Canada and Europe descended on the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC to participate in the High Technology Crime Investigation Association's annual law enforcement conference.   The event featured 72 speakers over the three days of sessions and training and was kicked off with an opening keynote from Chief Superintendent Jeff Adam, C/Supt. DG Technical Investigation Services for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Other notable speakers included representatives from:

• The National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) 
• Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal - Forensic Lab
• Naval Criminal Investigative Service 
• New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
• Virginia Department of Forensic Science
• Portland Police Bureau

The investigation began after images consistent with child pornography were uploaded to a social media platform.  A search warrant was executed at the residence and an on-scene forensic exam of all electronic media was completed by members of the State Police Computer Crime Unit.  Using ADF Digital Evidence Investigator^®, investigators discovered images and videos of sexual abuse of an under age child and were able to identify a resident of the household as the suspect. Specifically, investigators located thumbcache images that resulted in identifying a female child that was being sexually abused and identified the suspect.

ADF is helping stop crimes against children by providing law enforcement with the right tools and training to combat internet crimes against children.  As part of our mission to help fight child exploitation, ADF is a returning sponsor of the Crimes Against Children Conference.  If you are attending, join ADF Digital Forensic Specialists (Rich Frawley), as he leads a lecture and lab training for participating law enforcement officers:

• On-Scene Digital Investigation Best Practices: From CyberTip to Court Ready Paperwork (Lecture)
• Solving Crimes Against Children with ADF Digital Evidence Investigator^® (Hands-on Labs)

Each participant will learn digital forensic best practices for child exploitation cases and receive an extended trial of our DEI software. 

Attend HTCIA Pre-conference Training in Washington, DC on August 19th where we will be hosting two hands-on lab sessions for digital investigators.  Conference attendees arriving early can register to attend one of two sessions:

• Directly Scanning a Suspect's Computer or Devices
• Child Exploitation Investigations Done in Record Time

The High Technology Crime Investigation Association's International Conference (HTCIA) & Training Expo is one of the oldest and most respected technology investigation and law enforcement conferences in the world.  This year, the event will be held in Washington, DC at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel and will feature an opening keynote from Chief Superintendent Jeff Adam, C/Supt. DG Technical Investigation Services for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RMCP). 

Conference sessions include a variety of topics including:

Earlier this year, ADF partnered with Flags of Valor, a company dedicated to serving U.S. military and law enforcement with high quality, handmade wooden wall art. Flags of Valor was founded to provide job opportunities to combat veterans and today the majority of Flags of Valor craftsmen are service-disabled with combat related injuries.

ADF Solutions, provided hands-on lab training for digital forensic investigators and examiners from throughout the United States at the National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation (NLETC) Conference held in in Atlanta, Georgia this week.  The conference seeks to grow and expand the education of law enforcement officers, police investigators and prosecutors in an effort to promote best practices for investigating Internet Crimes Against Children.  

Last week, leaders from the military, special operations and industry gathered together in Tampa, Florida for the 2018 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) and Exhibition.  The event, sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) emphasized the USSOCOM Commander's vision to "Win - Transform - People" and was joined by international military members from US partner nations.

ADF was delighted to sponsor certified forensic examiner training focused on Basic Computer Forensic Examiner (BCFE) training held by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) in Orlando, Florida.  The event attracted hundreds of corporate security, university and law enforcement officers from around the United States, as well as various officials from the Department of Defense and federal agencies.

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far far away
(2006 to be exact and the galaxy was Maryland USA)
It was a period of innovation.
Computers, USBs, all kinds of devices ... 
Some people were committing digital crimes
from their seemingly hidden bases in the digital world. 

This week, ADF is sponsoring training for companies and law enforcement agencies that seek to train individuals and teams on computer forensic training. 

Here are a few of the highlights of the best parts of the 2018 National Cyber Crime Conference hosted by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) this past week. 

More Than 100 Digital Forensic Training Sessions for Police and Investigators

Local, state and federal agency attendees with varied experience and diverse backgrounds were able to attend a plethora of the best in-person digital and computer forensics education available.   With labs and lectures delivered by educators, trainers and fellow forensic specialists, attendees were able to choose from a wide range of topics including: 

Digital forensic experts understand the importance of remembering to perform a RAM Capture on-scene so as to not leave valuable evidence behind. Capturing volatile data in a computer's memory dump enables investigators and examiners to do a full memory analysis and access data including:

There are many cases where time is critical in a police investigation. This is increasingly true in a world where digital evidence can be an essential element in capturing a suspect or solving a crime. Digital data can implicate or clear suspects and utilizing digital evidence to your investigative advantage can allow you to act quickly while on-scene.

Starting digital investigations while at the scene has become increasingly important in fluid crime situations such as terrorism threats, active shooter situations, gang activity, or sex trafficking. Field digital forensic investigations (a.k.a. field triage) can also be useful in CyberTip investigations or any crime where a digital device may have photos, video, audio, or other data that could be useful in identifying suspects, victims or protecting evidence.

Today, ADF is announcing the release of new digital forensic software versions for our products: 

• Digital Evidence InvestigatorⓇ (DEI) version 1.3.0 
• Triage-InvestigatorⓇ version 4.3.0
• Triage-G2Ⓡ version 4.3.0

Looking for a great work environment with talented, motivated team members on a mission? If you have a passion for results, then ADF may be the right career for you. 

This April, ADF will sponsor The National Cyber Crime Conference in Massachusetts, hosted by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.  The conference brings together police, prosecutors and forensic examiners from all 50 states, Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, for three days of training designed to help attendees face the challenges posed by digital evidence and technology in criminal investigations.  This law enforcement conferences international attendees have come from Canada, Ireland, England as well as Trinidad and Tobago. 

"In summary, I would say DEI is one of the more intuitive tools I've used, because it guides you through your investigation step by step and could easily be used without much training" ...Read the full 2018 Forensic Focus Review of ADF's Digital Evidence Investigator tool.

ADF sponsored the 2017 Florida ICAC Training Symposium which was sponsored by the FL ICAC Task Force, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Child Abduction Response Team (CART) and Offender Registration and Enforcement. 

The three day event, held in Tampa, Florida is an annual event designed to expand the efforts and knowledge base of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors by providing highly specialized training focused on investigating and prosecuting technology-facilitated crimes against children.

Join ADF for the First Forensic Forum (F3) Annual Training Workshop being held in the United Kingdom.  F3 provides an open forum for any organizations focused on digital forensics.  

The emphasis of F3 training days and seminars is focused on the technical aspects of digital forensics. Computer technology in all its forms is a fast-moving area, and in order to function effectively, forensic computing analysts are constantly faced with the necessity of updating and expanding their knowledge. The First Forensic Forum aims to provide them with the opportunity to do so by drawing upon the expertise of member organisations. The majority of F3 members are involved in the analysis of computer-based evidence of various types, and some are also authors and manufacturers of forensic computing tools and solutions.

Join ADF at the High Technology Crime Investigation Association Conference for Forensic Investigators and Law Enforcement.  The HTCIA  event will be held in California and features 84 labs and 90 lectures for Investigators, Law Enforcement and Legal professionals. 

Investigators, Police and Legal professionals who stop by the ADF booth will receive a FREE evaluation kit of ADF Digital Evidence Investigator® forensic software. Our latest release of Digital Evidence Investigator software will also be featured in the Vendor Showcase. 

ADF will sponsor the Northwest Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Conference. Microsoft has partnered with ICAC to host the event which is designed to expand the efforts and knowledge base of law enforcement investigators, digital forensic examiners, and prosecutors. The event will provide highly specialized lab and lecture based training focused on investigating and prosecuting technology-facilitated crimes against children.  Anticipated curriculum will include both child sexual exploitation as well as human trafficking topics and will consist of lectures, case studies, computer labs and exhibitor workshops.

ADF will exhibit at the Military Police & Law Enforcement Expo to showcase Digital Evidence Investigator to Military Police Soldiers from regiments stationed in Missouri (Military Police, Chemical, and Engineer), Emergency Services, and Force Protection as well as personnel from the Capability Development and Integration Directorate (CDID).

ADF will sponsor the Crimes Against Children Conference which provides practical and interactive instruction to those fighting crimes against children and helping children heal. Attendees include government and nonprofit agencies in law enforcement, child protective services, and victims of crime.

ADF has just released a new software update for our entire product line of digital forensic software  (Digital Evidence Investigator 1.2, Triage-Investigator 4.2 and Triage-G2 4.2). This latest update includes many product enhancements and features including:

ADF Solutions, a leading provider of digital forensic and media exploitation software, has released Triage-G2, the latest evolution of ADF's award-winning media exploitation tool. Triage-G2 is deployed by special forces, military and intelligence agencies worldwide and has a proven track record of supporting site exploitation missions, including Tactical Media Exploitation, DOMEX, MEDEX, and biometric identity operations.

Designed for nontechnical operators, Triage-G2 employs a simple two-step process to rapidly scan, extract, and analyze critical intelligence from computers and digital devices. The tool can be deployed on existing computing devices and on a small portable USB key. The collected data can then be easily distributed via portable reports or ingested into data repositories, which include Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination Systems (PED).

ADF Solutions, a leading provider of digital forensic and media exploitation tools, has released Triage-Investigator, the latest evolution of ADF's award-winning digital forensic triage tool designed for field deployment. Triage-Investigator has a proven track record of providing investigators with easy, quick access to court-defendable evidence to process criminal cases.

ADF Solutions, a leading provider of digital forensic and media exploitation tools, has released Digital Evidence Investigator (DEI), an end-to-end solution designed to streamline digital investigations. DEI has been built from the ground up and leverages ADF's proven track record of reducing forensic backlogs.

This 3 day course uses HTCI’s proven hands-on training methods to train the investigator on the forefront of cyber investigations. It provides the investigator a simple USB/DVD deployment method to scan computers.

New South Wales Police are training front line officers in the use of specialized digital forensic tools including ADF Triage-Examiner. “The NSW Police Force is on a mission to boost the digital capability of the state’s law enforcement, enlisting the support of 50 frontline officers specially trained in identifying and preserving electronic evidence.”