Basis Technology beefs up DHS’s digital forensics capabilities with its ‘Autopsy 3’

Basis Technology, ta supplier of multi-lingual search, text analytics and open source digital forensics software, announced on May 12 that it has launched an initiative with DHS  to develop law enforcement-specific features and add-on modules to the Autopsy 3 open source digital forensics platform.

Under this agreement, Basis Technology will leverage the input from law enforcement agencies nationwide with the support of DHS to provide a solution that addresses some of the most time consuming parts of the forensic investigation process: picture, video and timeline analysis.

DHS has a history of supporting open source software projects for the use of the larger law enforcement community. By funding the development of low-cost yet sophisticated open source tools, DHS is providing federal, state and local law enforcement agencies with technologies that will enable forensic investigations to be performed more efficiently, without the burden of having to purchase costly technology and software licenses.

Basis Technology’s Autopsy modules for image and timeline analysis will assist forensic investigators with picture and video review and categorization and timeline analysis capabilities to more effectively identify victims of abuse and exploitation.

“Basis Technology has long supported digital forensic investigators with its open source Sleuth Kit tool and Autopsy platform,” said Dr. Brian Carrier, vice president of digital forensics at Basis Technology. “With the support of the Department of Homeland Security, we are creating new open source tools to further enhance law enforcement investigations.  These free tools will play a critical role in protecting vulnerable populations by enhancing law enforcement’s ability to efficiently and effectively identify victims of abuse and exploitation, largely children, and those criminals responsible for these heinous crimes.”

The Autopsy platform is a free and open source tool that runs on Windows-based computers providing the critical technology component needed by law enforcement agencies to be successful in the digital age. The platform is primarily maintained by Basis Technology and performs critical functions, such as hash analysis and keyword searches, as well as Web artifact extraction.

With the addition of new modules focusing on picture, video, and timeline analysis, law enforcement investigators will have access to state-of-the-art tools to more quickly locate and identify evidence from computer hard drives and other sources of digital data.

The first version of Basis Technology’s open source law enforcement digital forensics image and timeline analysis module is currently undergoing beta testing with select law enforcement agencies, and will be available free of charge to the entire law enforcement community in Q3 2014.

Additional capabilities and modules will be developed as part of the ongoing contract with the Department of Homeland Security.

For additional information on Autopsy 3 and Basis Technology’s Open Source Digital Forensics solutions, please visit: http://www.basistech.com/digital-forensics/.