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Cloud-hosted digital forensics
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When the National Policing Digital Strategy 2020-2030 highlighted how an estimated 90% Of crimes now have a digital element, the scale and importance of digital forensics became impossible to ignore.
Digital forensics officers handle vast amounts of data
– sometimes multiple terabytes for a single case – and that data needs processing in a secure and timely manner to support the police as they work against the clock to charge suspects.
With smartphones holding around 128GB of data, and digital devices like video doorbell systems and Alexa and Google home devices becoming a part of everyday life, the volume of data available will only continue to grow – and this is already proving a challenge for UK police forces. A 2022 HMIC report revealed that there were 25,000 devices awaiting digital forensic examination, catapulting digital forensics to the higher end of the government’s priority list.
Node4’s Cloud-Hosted Digital Forensics solution is built on Microsoft Azure, a highly secure cloud network capable of supporting the efficient processing of large volumes of data.
For police forces looking to enhance their digital forensic capabilities to meet ever-growing demand, adopting the Cloud-Hosted Digital Forensics solution would leave the implementation of and migration to Microsoft Azure safe in Node4’s hands.
Powerful enough to process terabytes of data at a time, Azure can support officers in their pursuit to review data at a faster pace. The speeding up of the review process then causes a positive chain reaction, with cases progressed and suspects subsequently charged more quickly and efficiently.
By increasing the likelihood of processing data within custody time limit for greater offences, forces will see a reduced need to bail suspects and issue multiple arrest warrants as a result. A more rapid response to ongoing threats enables increased disruption of criminal activity, enhanced safeguarding of victims and witnesses, and a chance to bring suspects to justice quicker, resulting in improved citizen satisfaction, community reassurance, and willingness to report crime.
This digital forensics solution is built using Scale Sets, which means a force can scale investment in the platform up or down to meet its needs, depending on the volume of data in play, the number of officers processing that data, or the number of devices used to process it.
This scalability and ‘pay for what you use’ approach offers police forces a flexible, cost-effective way to store, process and archive digital forensic data that greatly reduces the need to invest in third-party services. For forces that share digital forensic services,
usage can be tagged to ensure its associated spend is assigned to the correct force.
With Microsoft Power BI connectivity, police forces can also choose to enhance their Azure platform with insights, presented in easy-to-understand dashboards perfect for aiding decision-making.
Crucial for all, but especially in the world of policing, Microsoft Azure is highly secure and well-equipped to support with governance and auditing. Digital forensic exhibits can contain highly sensitive information – Azure’s layers of security, pen testing and vetting can
instil confidence that data is being safely handled and securely stored in an off-site environment – a critical requirement for digital forensics units. This solution also helps forces ensure compliance with data regulations and forensic science regulator codes of practice.
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- 2026