WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AROUND 75 % OF THE CASES WE HANDLE DEAL WITH INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN , YOU CAN SEE WHY SPEED AND ACCURACY ARE SO IMPORTANT .
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WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AROUND 75 % OF THE CASES WE HANDLE DEAL WITH INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN , YOU CAN SEE WHY SPEED AND ACCURACY ARE SO IMPORTANT .
become very time-consuming , with a growing number of devices requiring analysis and investigation on each case .
“ If you go back 10 or 20 years , the vast majority of people would have had one phone in the house and probably one PC ,” explains West Midlands Police ’ s Digital Forensics / Incident Response Supervisor , Detective Sergeant John Price KPM , who has been recognised for his leadership and innovation on the 2024 New Years Honours list with the King ’ s Police Medal for Digital Forensics . “ Today , when we enter a suspect ’ s house , most have a work phone , a personal phone , tablets and laptops .
Plus , there are doorbells , dashcams , body cams , car cams , security cameras , smart TVs , game consoles and a whole load of other Internet-enabled devices that record data and could be potential evidence or exhibits .”
The solution
Knowing the digital forensics team couldn ’ t continue with its on-premises IT infrastructure , West Midlands Police turned to Node4 for assistance . With regular input from the detective and other key stakeholders within the West Midlands Police Force , Node4 – in partnership with Microsoft and Exterro – built and delivered
FTK Central , the UK ’ s first cloud-based digital forensics analysis solution .
FTK Central processes data on seized devices , building links between different exhibits and enabling concurrent investigations that lead to faster convictions . Node4 hosts the digital forensics analysis application in one of its state-of-the-art data centres . It also manages the IT infrastructure and ensures all gathered data is stored in compliance with policing and wider data protection standards . FTK Central went live in May 2022 with 50 users and , so far , has been instrumental in processing data for 70 cases .
The results
Officers can now log into the analysis platform from their station and review all exhibit data in situ instead of travelling to the digital forensic team ’ s offices – saving critical time and resources and dramatically speeding up investigations .
“ When you understand that around 75 % of the cases we handle deal with
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