As a seasoned Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigator with years of experience in conducting investigations and training law enforcement teams, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges that come with combating the exploitation of our most vulnerable population – our children. The rapid advancement of digital technology has not only provided new opportunities for criminals to harm children but has also created a complex landscape for investigators to navigate.
Detego Global has worked closely with ICAC, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and Indecent Images of Children (IIOC) investigators, as well as offender management teams, to develop a suite of cutting-edge features designed to accelerate investigations and enhance offender management. By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies, Detego enables investigators to sift through vast volumes of data and pinpoint relevant information in seconds, all while prioritizing the well-being of those who conduct these critical investigations.
One of the standout features in Detego’s latest release is the revolutionary Xpress HashScan Mode in Field Triage. This innovative feature, crafted with insights from military and law enforcement experts, dramatically enhances digital forensic triage capabilities and enables swift decision-making during on-scene and lab-based investigations. By streamlining the evidence discovery process, the Xpress HashScan Mode for pictures and videos ensures the rapid identification of key images and videos across a range of investigations, including ICAC, CSAM, IIOC, and human trafficking cases. This mode not only preserves the forensic integrity of evidence but also delivers unmatched accuracy levels by using universally recognized, court-approved hash sets such as MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256.
With this new feature, Detego’s Field Triage module now offers three powerful scanning modes: Full Scan, Xpress HashScan for pictures and video files (helping pinpoint vital images and videos 6x faster than before), and Xpress HashScan for all file types (offering speeds that are 3x faster than before). These ultra-fast routes to uncovering critical evidence significantly accelerate case resolution. The highly portable rapid triage technology delivers swift and efficient scanning capabilities, with patented, easy-to-use Red-Amber-Green visual alerts that instantly notify investigators if a device contains indecent images or videos, illicit search terms, anti-forensics or dark web programs and processes. Additionally, Detego can identify millions of known child abuse images, videos, and other datasets belonging to CAID (Child Abuse Image Database) and Project VIC databases, ensuring comprehensive investigations from the start.
In addition, Detego Analyse AI+ introduces advanced semantic search, which leverages AI to search for broader concepts and contexts within images and videos, saving investigators hours of manual data sifting. This tool significantly reduces the limitations of keyword searches, allowing investigators to pinpoint advanced concepts such as “man with child” or “distressed children.” Investigators can also swiftly scan evidence for similar images by uploading reference images or utilizing the “show similar” feature on existing images, accurately matching specific locations, signs, movements, objects, and unique patterns or designs in tattoos, wallpapers, graffiti, or clothes – all in a matter of seconds.
Investigative teams can also accelerate casework with highly accurate face recognition watchlists. Easily upload photos of suspects, witnesses or victims and match them against images and videos in seconds. When used on a standard laptop/computer, Detego’s rapid matching technology identifies more than ten faces per second, 2x faster than the industry average. Analyse AI+’s advanced semantic search helps teams to conduct more granular searches by adding filters to face recognition watchlists to identify persons in specific locations, performing certain actions, holding objects, or displaying particular emotions. For example, finding a suspect pointing a gun at another person, identifying someone loading people into a boat or recognizing a distressed child in a warehouse.
Another groundbreaking feature is Detego Analyse AI+’s rapid AI transcription functionality, which accurately transcribes and indexes words from a wide range of audio and video files, recording transcription speeds well over 1,000 words per minute. This eliminates the need to manually review hours of audio/video recordings and helps investigators identify relevant data using advanced text and keyword-matching capabilities.
Detego Global is committed to supporting the digital forensics community and actively promoting investigator wellbeing. The platform includes wellbeing features, such as Image Blurring, Video Frame Extraction, and optional Thumbnail Removal, which are proven to help reduce triggers and exposure for investigators. These features contribute to the larger conversation around mental health awareness in this field and our shared responsibility as a technology provider to safeguard the wellbeing of users.
In addition to these innovative features, tools such as Ballistic Imager from Detego offers lightning-fast data extraction capabilities, allowing investigators to capture 1TB of data from laptops, desktops, and servers in under 8 minutes without removing hard drives. The platform also provides robust mobile forensics and mobile triage capabilities, enabling the extraction and analysis of evidence from tens of thousands of mobile devices, including branded and non-branded mobile phones running Android or iOS and burner phones.
Detego Global’s all-in-one platform facilitates thorough analysis of evidence, enabling investigators to uncover hidden links between devices, suspects, and files. By consolidating all the information into a single platform, investigators can generate court-ready evidence efficiently, ensuring their investigations are well-documented and legally sound.
As a former ICAC investigator, I am excited about the possibilities that Detego Global’s latest features bring to our field. By empowering investigators with cutting-edge tools that accelerate investigations, enhance offender management, and prioritize the wellbeing of those on the front lines, Detego Global is revolutionizing child protection efforts worldwide. With these advancements, we can work more efficiently and effectively to bring justice to victims and prevent future crimes against children.
Written by Rob Maddox – Technical Sales Engineer and Director of Training: North America
Rob brings over 25 years of law enforcement and corporate experience as a digital forensics and cybersecurity practitioner, trainer and manager to Detego Global. He has provided Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) support to victims of cyber incidents, demonstrating a deep commitment to his clients’ recovery and resilience.
As a trainer, Rob has developed and delivered over 26,000 hours of training across 25 countries for numerous organizations and the U.S. government. He designs content and practical exercises based on real-world investigative experience, empowering practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to accomplish critical missions with confidence.
