Digital evidence is now a silent witness in nearly every criminal investigation. The smartphone alone can reveal call logs, messages, photos, videos and location data, making it one of the most valuable sources of information available to investigators today. Yet many agencies are still relying on outdated, inefficient and legally risky methods to manage and share that evidence.

According to Cellebrite’s 2026 Industry Trends Survey, evidence sharing remains a critical pain point. More than half of respondents say sharing digital evidence externally is moderately to extremely difficult. Two-thirds  are still sharing evidence on portable hard drives, while 62% rely on USB sticks. These methods are slowing investigations down, making evidence difficult to track and putting chain-of-custody at risk.

Let’s start with the good news – cloud adoption is growing: agency receptiveness increased 7% in the past two years to 42%. The bad news? Only 18% of respondents are currently using cloud solutions to share digital evidence. Surprisingly, in most cases the gap isn’t technology, it’s culture. “This is how we’ve always done it” is a hard mindset to shift, even when the stakes are high.

In this blog, we debunk the most common myths holding agencies back from adopting secure, cloud-based digital evidence management (like Cellebrite Guardian) and explain why making the move is the right call.

4 Myths That Keep Agencies from Moving Evidence to the Cloud

Myth 1: Are These Just Standard Procedures?

What feels like standard procedure is really a set of workarounds for limitations that purpose-built solutions have since eliminated. Physical media, manual paperwork, lengthy spreadsheets and having to drive extractions across town to the lab or to prosecutors are not necessarily bad habits; they were  practical responses to real constraints in the past. There simply weren’t better options. In the past, there were no tools tailored for law enforcement to handle the volume of digital evidence, and most lacked the security standards required or were too complex or expensive to deploy at scale.

Times have changed and that’s no longer the case. Technology has advanced significantly and purpose-built platforms now exist to eliminate manual, time-consuming processes. Examiners don’t need to maintain Excel sheets to track device backlogs. Investigators don’t need to fill out stacks of paperwork then drive back to the lab to pick up an extraction. Evidence can be shared instantly and securely, with chain-of-custody maintained automatically, from upload through every access event.

The procedure made sense when it was the only option.

Myth 2: Is Physical Media Safer Than the Cloud?

Physical control does not equal security. Many agencies still rely on USB drives, DVDs or external hard drives to share digital evidence.

Every physical device has a limited lifespan. Flash drives can fail in as little as three years, hard drives degrade and DVDs scratch. Any of these devices can fail at exactly the wrong moment, taking key case evidence with them. There is also the factor of human error, devices can be overwritten and repurposed, damaged or lost in transit; each scenario is a potential chain-of-custody violation.

Another problem to consider is accountability. Physical media changes hands between officers, labs, prosecutors and partner agencies. This opens up questions like: Who handled the media? Were copies made? If so, by whom? And finally, Where is the media now? In a desk drawer, unsecured? Physical media transferred between offices without proper documentation can cast enough doubt on evidence integrity to jeopardize an entire prosecution.

Tangibility creates the illusion of control, yet if you can’t answer who accessed the evidence, when and what they did with it, you don’t actually have control. You have exposure.

Secure cloud platforms replace that exposure with a complete, automated audit trail. Every access event is logged with a timestamp and user ID. Chain-of-custody is maintained from the moment evidence is uploaded through every share, view and download. That means no manual tracking, no gaps and no doubt.

Myth 3: Can the Cloud Be Trusted with Sensitive Evidence?

For most agencies, a purpose-built platform is more secure than on-premise systems and physical media they currently rely on. The concern is understandable, especially when the evidence in question includes CSAM (child sexual abuse material) or other highly sensitive material. But it deserves scrutiny. In many agencies, the way evidence is stored and shared today is much more vulnerable than the cloud alternatives they’re avoiding.

On-premises systems frequently lack modern cybersecurity safeguards. And we already mentioned physical media can get lost and get to the wrong hands. Neither offers the encryption, granular access controls or automated audit logging that purpose-built cloud platforms provide as a baseline.

The real question becomes whether your current setup is as secure as you think.

Is your costly data storage hardware truly more secure than an AWS data center, when more than one person has a key to your server room?

Cellebrite Guardian is built specifically for law enforcement evidence management, with security that goes well beyond compliance checkboxes. Guardian operates within a SOC2 and CJIS-compliant environment, with evidence encrypted at rest and in transit, role-based permissions, and a tamper-evident audit trail on every access event. And for agencies operating under the strictest federal security requirements, Guardian Collaborate has achieved FedRAMP® High Authorization, one of the most rigorous security certifications available to cloud platforms in the U.S. government ecosystem.

Myth 4: Is Moving to the Cloud Too Costly or Too Slow?

Moving to the cloud is usually a reallocation of existing costs, not a new expense, and most agencies are live within weeks. Budget and time pressures are real – consider what traditional methods already cost your agency.

The physical costs of secure hardware and powerful review workstations are out of reach and unsustainable. Investigators driving evidence around spending work hours on logistics that could be spent on active cases. Portable hard drives, USB sticks and DVDs are a recurring line-item, and when they fail, it means replacing the device, repeating work, delaying the case and potential evidentiary risk. Stalled investigations and deferred prosecutions have costs too, even if they don’t appear on a procurement budget.

When you account for investigator hours, physical media purchases, hardware maintenance and the downstream impact of evidence delays, moving to the cloud is often a reallocation of funds with a measurable return.

For the “too lengthy” concern: this is where the SaaS model changes the equation entirely. Guardian is not an on-premises deployment. There’s no hardware to procure, no IT infrastructure to configure before you can get started. Most agencies are live within weeks, not months. Cellebrite provides onboarding support, evidence workflow guidance and training for both examiners and investigators, so teams aren’t left to figure it out on their own.

The barriers to adoption are lower than most agencies expect. The cost of staying with the status quo is higher than most realize. You don’t need to buy more powerful hardware. You simply need a smarter cloud sharing and review tool.

What Happens When Agencies Make the Switch

Agency leaders need to recognize that digital evidence workflows affect the entire organization, not just the lab or a single unit. The full chain, from extraction to prosecution, moves only as fast as the evidence review process allows. Bottlenecks anywhere in that chain slow everything downstream.

The Omaha Police Department is a case in point. Facing a backlog of 300 phone extractions with turnaround times stretching into months, Omaha adopted a centralized, cloud-based digital evidence management solution. The backlog dropped to zero. Multiple stakeholders could review evidence simultaneously, notes were shared in real time and prosecutors were looped in earlier in the investigative process.

The bottom line: two consecutive years of 100% homicide clearance rates.

Technology was only part of the story. What drove the result was leadership setting a clear vision for collaboration and actively breaking down silos. The question wasn’t “what tools can we buy?” It was “how do we make our teams’ workflows easier?” That shift in framing made all the difference.

How to Lead the Shift

Rethinking digital evidence management is an operational and cultural shift, and it starts with leadership.

Agencies that make the move reduce case backlogs, improve prosecutorial outcomes and protect sensitive materials with greater confidence. The myths holding many back—that physical is safer, that cloud can’t be trusted, that change costs too much or takes too long—don’t hold up against the evidence. The real cost is staying with workflows that were designed for a different era.

Change is hard in any organization, and especially in the high-stakes, fast-moving world of law enforcement. But the demands of justice, the needs of victims and the expectations of the communities agencies serve require leaders who are willing to be agents of change. The tools are ready, the question is whether the organization is.

Ready to see how you can make the transition to the cloud? Learn more about Cellebrite Guardian platform.

About Author

Ryan Parthemore, Director of Product Growth at Cellebrite, brings over 20 years of law enforcement experience, specializing in digital forensics. He has performed thousands of digital forensic examinations, completed extensive training and testified as an expert witness in state and federal courts. At Cellebrite, Ryan uses his extensive background to help law enforcement agencies improve their case resolution processes through innovative SaaS solutions.

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