A European patent was granted to a digital forensic company, Evidence Talks, for their Spektor Remote Forensics in March 2013, with another pending in the US.
The product provides forensic investigators with real-time remote access to process digital evidence with military level security, in a case managed environment. Although it was launched in 2007, the absence of a patent on this technology meant its detailed information was not freely available, the firm says.
Andrew Sheldon, pictured, director of Evidence Talks in Milton Keynes, said: “Spektor Remote Forensics means that organisations no longer need to send a technology expert to collect digital evidence from a site – now anybody can do it. Neither do they have to rely on accessing an existing network, or a person with the IT skills to set one up. This is vital news for those in industries where data holds IP, legal or military significance. So far it has dramatically reduced investigation lifecycles and can slash the associated running costs by 58 to 93 per cent.”
Within minutes a translator could be invited to view and interpret on-screen information, in real-time, according to the company.
“Although there are solutions available that enable remote access to centralised evidence or across corporate domains, Spektor Remote Forensics is the only one that dynamically creates a secure network between experts and remote evidence on different networks in a fully case-managed environment,” added Andrew.
The remote access to digital evidence travels through a VPN tunnel rather than trying to pull and download information from the user’s computer so it can operate on it is claimed low bandwidths.
A case manager grants the appropriate forensic analyst permission to access evidence through FIMS (Forensic Incident Management Server). FIMS creates an encrypted dynamic network – which is why there is no need to access a pre-existing network.
Corporations can use local staff to collect data rather than in-house or contracted people leaving their laboratories.
