Overcoming Digital Forensic Challenges: Smarter Solutions for a Data-Driven World
As digital evidence continues to grow, forensic teams are facing mounting challenges including massive data volumes, locked devices, inefficient workflows and security risks. Investigative teams must sift through complex evidence from multiple sources while ensuring compliance and maintaining the integrity of the chain of custody. Delays, manual processes and fragmented data storage only add to the burden.
Findings from the 2025 Industry Trends Survey help us better understand the full scope of these challenges and how modern solutions can help. Let’s break it down:
The Challenge
The Reality
The Solution
Data Overload:
Massive volumes of digital evidence come from multiple devices.
The Reality
Digital forensic examiners handle an average of 2 to 5 devices per case. Agency management is seeing a 76% growth in data from devices over the past three years.
The Solution
Simplified Evidence Workflow
Modern forensic solutions consolidate insights into a single, comprehensive report, ensuring thorough and efficient case review.
Locked & Encrypted Data:
Critical evidence is often hidden behind security barriers.
The Reality
Two-thirds of devices that reach the lab are locked.
The Solution
Expanded Access to Critical Data:
Advanced tools help forensic teams unlock and extract data from a wider range of devices, revealing crucial evidence.
Inefficient Workflows:
Manual processes slow down investigations.
The Reality
On average, examiners face a 3 to 4 week backlog.
The Solution
Improved Efficiency:
Automated workflows and intelligent processing reduce backlogs, enabling faster case resolutions.
Evidence Integrity Risks:
Mishandling digital evidence can compromise cases.
The Reality
60% of examiners say their agency primarily stores digital evidence on internal servers / home-grown solutions / USB sticks.
The Solution
Secure & Compliant Storage:
Centralized, scalable and fully auditable evidence management solutions help maintain chain of custody and meet security standards.
Limited Collaboration:
Sharing evidence across teams is slow and insecure.
The Reality
59% of examiners say that data is usually shared via portable hard drives / USB sticks.
The Solution
Seamless Collaboration:
Digital evidence-sharing platforms enable secure, real-time access for all case stakeholders, improving teamwork and efficiency.
Data Overload:
Massive volumes of digital evidence come from multiple devices.
The Reality
Digital forensic examiners handle an average of 2 to 5 devices per case. Agency management is seeing a 76% growth in data from devices over the past three years.
The Solution
Simplified Evidence Workflow
Modern forensic solutions consolidate insights into a single, comprehensive report, ensuring thorough and efficient case review.
Locked & Encrypted Data:
Critical evidence is often hidden behind security barriers.
The Reality
Two-thirds of devices that reach the lab are locked.
The Solution
Expanded Access to Critical Data:
Advanced tools help forensic teams unlock and extract data from a wider range of devices, revealing crucial evidence.
Inefficient Workflows:
Manual processes slow down investigations.
The Reality
On average, examiners face a 3 to 4 week backlog.
The Solution
Improved Efficiency:
Automated workflows and intelligent processing reduce backlogs, enabling faster case resolutions.
Evidence Integrity Risks:
Mishandling digital evidence can compromise cases.
The Reality
60% of examiners say their agency primarily stores digital evidence on internal servers / home-grown solutions / USB sticks.
The Solution
Secure & Compliant Storage:
Centralized, scalable and fully auditable evidence management solutions help maintain chain of custody and meet security standards.
Limited Collaboration:
Sharing evidence across teams is slow and insecure.
The Reality
59% of examiners say that data is usually shared via portable hard drives / USB sticks.
The Solution
Seamless Collaboration:
Digital evidence-sharing platforms enable secure, real-time access for all case stakeholders, improving teamwork and efficiency.
How It Works: A Smarter Investigative Workflow
From intake to case resolution, every stage of the digital forensic process plays a critical role in uncovering the truth. By integrating advanced tools and automation, forensics teams can organize workflows, securely manage evidence and collaborate more effectively. Here’s how Cellebrite’s forensic solutions improve each step of the investigation. Click on each step in the workflow for additional information.
Report
Guardian is a cloud-based solution that brings together centralized digital evidence management with real-time review capabilities, allowing an entire case team access what they need from anywhere. Examiners can maintain an unbreakable chain of custody and audit trail from the moment a device is submitted to the lab.
Guardian is a cloud-based solution that brings together centralized digital evidence management with real-time review capabilities, allowing an entire case team access what they need from anywhere. Examiners can maintain an unbreakable chain of custody and audit trail from the moment a device is submitted to the lab.
Inseyets.UFED provides tools to unlock secured data from a wide range of devices, ensuring that forensic experts can access necessary information for their investigations. It ensures comprehensive and lawful data collection, even overcoming encryption and data deletion.
Inseyets.UFED extracts critical digital evidence data for lawful access from a range of devices and ensures extractions are comprehensive and forensically-sound by maintaining data integrity throughout the collection process. It gives a complete picture by capturing data from encrypted and deleted files, social media apps and cloud services.
Inseyets.PA (Physical Analyzer) helps forensic experts decode, decrypt and make sense of digital evidence. It provides advanced analytical capabilities to uncover hidden connections and patterns, generating actionable intelligence through customizable dashboards and visual event timelines.
Inseyets.PA allows forensic experts to conduct a detailed examination of the decoded data, uncovering hidden connections and patterns. Get more from your examinations with enhanced capabilities like translation, media classification data visualizations, and cloud-based extractions.
Inseyets allows teams to create and share customizable, dynamic reports to capture and communicate findings effectively. This helps in better communicating findings across teams and ensuring evidence is properly reviewed.
Guardian enables secure, real-time sharing of evidence where case stakeholders can perform review directly from their browser. Evidence is delivered immediately for easier collaboration and accelerates the sharing of examination results across the team.
