EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Growing volumes of data and an increasing number of digital storage devices have made the traditional methods for electronic investigation unsustainable. For example, when dealing with an individual’s home, investigators and law enforcement officers must deal with large numbers of devices, including multiple computers, mobile devices and a variety of digital storage media. Investigations that involve data stored in corporate systems are even more challenging, with a larger number of devices and high volumes of data stored in a variety of difficult-to-access formats. In light of these challenges, the traditional methods of analyzing each data repository individually using forensic tools is immensely time consuming. Further, it relies on human memory and brain power to extract intelligence and find links between disparate data sources. Nuix’s approach involves collecting all available data in a single storage location, then analyzing it all using Nuix’s advanced electronic investigation tools. Investigating across all data sources simultaneously, rather than one at a time, is a much more efficient and sophisticated method to extract points to prove or intelligence across large volumes of data. Nuix tools were designed to thoroughly and efficiently analyze vast data sets. In addition, they can automatically highlight intelligence items such as names, email addresses and phone and credit card numbers. In the small number of areas Nuix software is unable to investigate, it can compile a list of data sources that investigators need to examine in even greater depth using complementary forensic tools. For investigators, this approach saves considerable time and effort, which is a benefit in itself for many overworked and cash-strapped law enforcement agencies. Nuix tools can automatically highlight and cross-reference intelligence across multiple data sources and investigations. This can bring to light connections that human investigators, however brilliant, can easily miss. The number of devices containing data involved in a typical investigation doubles each year, and the volume of data grows even faster.
By Guest Blogger: Nuix
