Mobile-device-investigator

With each new release by a Mobile OS developer comes changes that affect the way the data is obtained from these devices, with the release of iOS 16 by Apple, there were some major changes.

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.

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

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.  

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. 

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

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.

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.

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).

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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). 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

In today's digital age, the sheer volume of photo evidence available can be staggering.

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. 

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 

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

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.