CyanLine Simplifies and Optimizes Acquisition of Digital Forensic Evidence Through Innovative Fast Disk Acquisition System (FDAS)

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Ensuring that enough disks are brought to the investigation site, dealing with malfunctioning units, and then keeping 36 disks properly organized is not a simple task... With FDAS, a new evidence directory is created for each disk

New Jersey (PRWEB) June 26, 2014

CyanLine, a leader in computer forensics and network security solutions, has announced that its innovative method of acquiring digital forensic evidence significantly decreases the time and intricacy of e-discovery workflow processes. “Through the use of Fast Disk Acquisition System (FDAS), law enforcement personnel and agencies can expect to gain in speed and efficiency, as FDAS is a single unit that eliminates the need for write-blockers and multiple separate disk drives, often used to gather evidence at e-discovery sites. Instead, FDAS is used to duplicate disk evidence into separate evidence directories on one single unit.

While other available systems require a forensic investigator to bring a blank destination drive, computer with appropriate imaging software, additional cables and devices, and writeblocker just to capture a single drive, CyanLine’s FDAS is all-in-one. Its simple unit seamlessly connects to the drive and can seamlessly transfer content with the push of just two buttons.

Forensic investigator, Corey Cardio, says he utilized the streamlined workflow now made possible by FDAS during a recent examination. “We were tasked with the gathering of images for an entire training room of a financial institution that consisted of 18 computer workstations. Within just a few hours and a single FDAS, we were able to create forensic images of all 18 disk drives and head back to the office to begin the analysis,” stated Cardio.

The same evidence gathering would normally involve transporting 36 different disks back to the agency, including the 18 original disks with writeblockers, in addition to 18 new disks for each copy of the image.

“Ensuring that enough disks are brought to the investigation site, dealing with malfunctioning units, and then keeping 36 disks properly organized is not a simple task,” Cardio continued. “With FDAS, a new evidence directory is created for each disk and we can create many of them on a single unit.”

According to experts, the drastically improved workflow provided by FDAS is a crucial advantage for digital forensic investigators, and a major benefit to count on the high-speed and efficiency with which FDAS creates the images. As demonstrated in a recent benchmark video, CyanLine’s FDAS is able to capture an image 6 times faster than an industry leading forensic imager. With an 80GB SSD with eSATA in use, Tableau TD2 created a forensic image and checksum in about 1 hour. CyanLine’s FDAS detained the same details in less than 11 minutes.

The digital forensic community has experienced a high level of commotion due to the performance comparisons and also its practical experiences with CyanLine’s new MiniDAS product, which encompasses most of the benefits of FDAS, downloaded to a portable thumb drive. The company reported the product has been heavily downloaded from its system hundreds of times now, fulfilling installation requests from over 15 different countries since its release.

MiniDAS allows investigators to not only collect a disk image, but also its critical metadata, which includes valuable information such as the total number of hours the disk has been in use, the power cycle count, and errors on the drive. As a service to law enforcement agencies, MiniDAS is currently available at no charge and can be found at http://www.cyanline.com/minidas.

About CyanLine
Based in New Jersey, CyanLine specializes in computer forensics and network security solutions to help individuals, companies, law firms, and law enforcement agencies on both a domestic and international level. Forensic scientist and licensed private investigator, Steven Branigan, CEO, has made it his mission to create forensically sound products to advance the investigative industry. Renowned speaker and instructor, Branigan is an active member in the High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA), Federal Bureau Investigation’s Infragard, New Jersey License Private Investigators Association, and on the Digital Forensics Certification Board. Branigan is the author of High Tech Crimes Revealed and recently published an article in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Branigan has received awards from the U.S. Secret Service and New Jersey State Police. More information can be found at http://www.CyanLine.com.

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