Authored by Chad Gish. A few years ago, my lab at Nashville Police Department hit the breaking point. Our backlog was growing, and we were waiting weeks for devices to come back, and I caught myself thinking the same thing many investigators do: We’ll just overtime our way out of this. But you can’t outwork exponential data growth. We were effectively babysitting every step of every case, and the pressure to deliver was relentless.
Authored by Chad Gish. A few years ago, my lab at Nashville Police Department hit the breaking point. Our backlog was growing, detectives were waiting months for devices to come back, and I caught myself thinking the same thing many investigators do: We’ll just overtime our way out of this. But you can’t outwork exponential data growth. As the cases piled up, so did the pressure. In homicide or violent-crime work, time isn’t a luxury; it’s the difference between a solved case and a family that never gets answers. When you’re the lead detective, that weight sits squarely on your shoulders.
Digital investigations are drowning in data. But every file, every record, and every byte still needs to be analyzed, authenticated, and preserved in strict compliance with legal requirements. Any lapse in management or storage can compromise your entire case. Cloud providers do more than promise security and scalability: they prove it. Independent certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II, NIST, and FedRAMP offer critical security assurances to a wide range of users, including law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, courts, and the public. This verifiable compliance ensures stored evidence can withstand legal scrutiny and maintain integrity throughout the judicial process. These certifications aren’t just technical checkboxes—they’re promises that data is protected with the highest integrity.
Videos, images, and audio recordings often provide the most persuasive evidence in criminal cases. Their impact, however, depends on authenticity, integrity, and lawful acquisition. Courts demand proof that digital evidence is reliable, verifiable, and properly documented. When evidence is legally obtained, securely preserved, and accurately authenticated, prosecutors not only ensure admissibility, but simultaneously strengthen their overall case.
You asked, we answered. One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we’ve heard from the field is that it takes too long to set up and start scanning a source drive or image in Magnet Witness. We get it, you’ve got a big case load and don’t have time for extra clicks. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Quick Start in Witness 1.10. Quick Start is the fastest and most direct way to detect and scan your multimedia evidence.
Managing the vast amounts of data generated in today’s investigations has become a major challenge for digital forensics labs. Not only do you need to acquire, process, and analyze the ever-growing volumes of digital evidence coming into your lab, but you must also find a way to securely and reliably manage it throughout your entire investigative lifecycle – any lapse in data availability, integrity, or chain of custody can compromise your entire investigation and derail a prosecution.
As we reach the mid-point of the Magnet Axiom and Magnet Axiom Cyber 9 series, we have continued to build their capabilities, with new and updated features that help you work more efficiently. Some feature highlights from the last three releases include: To keep your cases current with the latest apps and services, we also … Continued
In digital forensics, the fight against technology can sometimes get in the way of the fight for justice. Whether it’s an encrypted phone sitting in a lab queue awaiting support or a crucial lead buried in gigabytes of data, solving a case can sometimes come down to a single update or surfacing a single artifact. And in some cases, that one artifact doesn’t just whisper its significance—it screams.
Photos, videos, and other media files have become critical to investigations. They establish timelines, corroborate witness statements, and reveal details that would otherwise be overlooked. But media is also one of the easiest forms of evidence to manipulate. Editing tools are widely available and simple to use. Metadata can be easily altered with minimal technical knowledge. Deepfake and AI-generated content continues to evolve, making it harder to distinguish authentic from manipulated media. Attorneys may question whether a file is genuine, and investigators must respond with authoritative answers that can withstand scrutiny.
“Push-button forensics” is often viewed skeptically and criticized as a shortcut or a threat to expert examiners. In reality, digital forensic tools designed for ease of use aren’t about replacing human expertise. Their true purpose is to streamline repetitive, time-consuming steps, enabling forensic examiners to focus on what truly matters: in-depth analysis, context, and human judgment.
