Building the Case for Digital Evidence

Every crime has digital evidence, whether it's a suspect's cell phone, a witness's cell phone video, camera footage from a doorbell, a fitness tracker, or data from any number of IoT devices and sensors. This wealth of digital data is both an asset and a challenge for law enforcement. Six out of ten professionals now rank digital evidence as more important than DNA evidence. However, the sheer volume of digital evidence--the average device holds 60,000+ messages, 32,000+ images, and 1,000+ videos--provides challenges for understaffed teams that often rely on manual processes to review these valuable assets.

As digital evidence continues to grow in volume and importance, law enforcement agencies across the nation are looking for ways to more efficiently review, manage, and secure this critical asset. Continue reading

Defining the Value of Digital Assets

Digital assets are more than just bitcoin and they are having an incredible impact on how legitimate and illegitimate transactions are conducted. Breaking it down to a simple level there are three basic forms of digital assets:

  • Digital currency is the electronic form of traditional currency. It is what is stored in a digital wallet, transmitted electronically and then turned into actual cash when withdrawn from a bank or ATM.
  • Cryptocurrency is the encrypted form of digital currency that uses blockchain technology to move it around. Cryptocurrency does not require a financial institution to verify the transaction.
  • Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a one-of-a-kind digital asset that represents a real-world item such as photos, music, videos and trading cards.

Unfortunately, as with any new technology, bad actors are finding ways to exploit these assets while the rest of the world is still trying to fully understand them. Continue reading