Building your public sector digital forensics lab
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Building a successful public sector digital forensics lab requires balancing people, process, and technology
- Secure facilities, documented standard operating procedures, and validated workflows are essential to ensure defensible results
- The right mix of hardware, software, storage, and training enables labs to scale as evidence volumes and case complexity increase
Digital forensics is as much about the hardworking people who bring their knowledge and experience to every case as it is about the technology. Having the right tools in place matters, but so do the processes, physical setup, and training that support them.
Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner looking to streamline operations or building a new digital forensics lab from scratch, there’s a lot to get right.
This guide walks through six essential areas public sector labs should focus on to build a defensible, scalable operation.
1. Define your scope and secure your budget
Before you dive into the work, start by defining your scope: which cases you’ll take on and which you’ll refer out. You don’t have to be able to do it all, but you do need to know where to turn when the inevitable curveball arrives.
Defining your scope
Start with the basics:
- What case types do you typically see?
- What kinds of devices do you typically encounter?
- Are there case categories where digital evidence could play a bigger role? (A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction today may help prevent a mass shooting a year from now.)
Build your budget strategy
Fiscal constraints are a reality for most agencies. Here’s how to approach budgeting by lab size:
- Smaller labs or labs on a tight budget: Prioritize high-ROI tools like Magnet Graykey and Magnet Axiom that can help demonstrate value as time to evidence decreases and solve rates improve
- Larger labs: Use tools like the Magnet Efficiency Calculator to understand how Magnet Review and Magnet Automate can help reduce backlogs and streamline your processes.
Securing the necessary budget to support your lab’s caseload can be challenging. Grants can help close funding gaps, especially for new labs and task forces. The Magnet Grant Assistance Program offers support at every stage of the grant writing process.
2. Set up your physical space and establish standard operating procedures
Ensure physical security
Regardless of size, every digital forensics lab needs a dedicated, secure workspace.
Both physical and digital evidence must be secured according to departmental policy, and workspaces should be protected against unauthorized access.
Establish standard operating procedures
Your lab’s digital forensics work should be governed by a clear set of standard operating procedures (SOPs). You can draft SOPs from scratch, or you can work from model documents like those from SWGDE or the DOJ.
The field of digital forensics is always changing, but an SOP built on sound principles will adapt with the field and help ensure your findings stand up in court.
3. Acquire the right hardware and extraction capabilities
Purpose-built hardware is critical for handling evidence correctly.
Processing computer
Configurations may vary, but most labs should plan for:
- A powerful, modern CPU
- Plenty of RAM
- Multiple internal hard drives
Several vendors offer ready-made forensics workstations, or you can build your own. High-performance laptops can also be valuable for forensic field work.
Extraction equipment
Matching your hardware to evidence types is key:
- Hard drives: hardware and software write-blockers will cover most standard extractions
- Specialized evidence: vehicle infotainment systems and IoT devices may require dedicated tools
- Mobile devices: purpose-built solutions like Magnet Graykey support both iOS and Android devices and provide access to critical data, including deleted artifacts and credential stores
4. Choose your software stack
Once the data is extracted and processed, the next challenge is turning raw data into usable evidence. Most labs rely on a combination of core analysis tools and specialized solutions.
Digital evidence analysis tools
Many digital forensics labs build their workflows around Magnet Axiom, which supports a wide range of data types and stays current with evolving applications and artifacts.
Key capabilities include:
- Portable Case: share evidence with non-technical stakeholders, complete with filtering, tags, and notes.
- Mobile View: intuitive browsing of mobile app artifacts
- Magnet Review: share findings from Axiom online
- Magnet One: take the entire process to the cloud for remote collaboration and secure storage
Specialized tools
More complex cases often require deeper multimedia analysis:
- Magnet Griffeye®: boosts efficiency in large multimedia investigations and helps reduce forensic examiner exposure to traumatic material
- Magnet Witness: streamlines investigations with multiple video inputs from body cameras, DVRs, and more
- Magnet Verify: authenticates media and verifies provenance when chain of custody is critical
Whatever tools you choose, validation and verification should always be part of your workflow.
5. Data storage and sharing
Forensic extractions generate massive volumes of data. Your storage and sharing strategy is just as important as your analysis tools.
Storage fundamentals
Whether you store casework on individual hard drives, network-attached storage (NAS), tape, or the cloud, data integrity is of utmost importance. If you lose your data, you lose your case.
Best practices include:
- Maintaining off-site backups
- Working from verified copies rather than original evidence
- Storing completed analyses and reports as securely as original extractions
Secure sharing
When providing data to investigators, law enforcement agencies, attorneys, or other authorized parties, protecting it against unauthorized access is critical.
Options include:
- External hard drives: Many labs still use the tried-and-true external hard drive, but don’t forget to encrypt
- Magnet Review: enables real-time access from a web browser, eliminating the risks and hassle of physical drives
6. Invest in continuous training for your team
Your analysts and examiners are your lab’s most important assets. Ongoing training helps ensure your team stays current with the latest developments in the field.
Free and low-cost digital forensics training
Federal funding supports free and low-cost digital forensics training for law enforcement through organizations like:
Many examiners also pursue graduate degrees in digital forensics or earn other independent certifications, a great way to use continuing education benefits.
Vendor training
Vendor-led training can complement foundational education. The Magnet Training Annual Pass, gives teams access to the full library of Magnet Forensics training, covering both tool-specific instruction and general digital forensics training content.
Ready to build your lab?
Building a public sector digital forensics lab can feel like a lot to navigate, especially when starting from scratch, but we’re here to help.
Our team of forensic experts, many of whom are former law enforcement, can help agencies prioritize, plan, and build the right lab. Contact us to get started.