Magnet Forensics and NCMEC: Providing intelligence sharing to safeguard victims

In 2023, Magnet Forensics delivered a major breakthrough for internet crimes against children (ICAC) investigations by partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The partnership gave investigators the unprecedented ability to instantly match suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) case data against NCMEC’s multiple repositories of suspected CSAM data in real time. 

Partnering for stronger collaboration and intelligence sharing

The exclusive integration of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Griffeye Intelligence Database (NCMEC GID) into the Magnet Griffeye product suite is transformative.

Investigators can instantly compare case material against NCMEC’s trusted reference data, transforming what was once a time-consuming process into a streamlined workflow, allowing them to:   

• Verify potential illegal files against NCMEC’s database
• Streamline case reviews by quickly identifying known CSEM, allowing investigators to focus more time on identifying previously unknown victims
• Reduce exposure to harmful material to protect investigator well-being 
• Promote consistency across investigations by enabling reliable recognition of known CSEM 

What are hashes and why is hash matching important in ICAC cases?

A hash is a digital fingerprint that is a unique string of characters that represents a specific piece of digital content such as an image, file, or other dataset. Hashes play a critical role in digital investigations, from ensuring the integrity of the case to verifying suspected CSAM against known datasets.

Given the overwhelming volume of data that law enforcement processes, leveraging Magnet Forensics software and NCMEC data is a significant win for those who investigate crimes against children.

The ability to share hashes allows more efficient collaboration within, and between, agencies, and makes it easier to share intelligence across jurisdictions—all to help investigators prioritize and focus on critical evidence.

Expanding our partnership with NCMEC to protect those who matter most

Our partnership with NCMEC continues to grow stronger, and now we are giving users of Magnet Griffeye the ability to match against NCMEC’s victim identification for improved workflows during media analysis and immediate feedback for charging decisions through a SHARE submission. This new capability allows investigators to quickly and reliably determine through hash matching technology whether content matches files of previously identified CSAM victims, which can dramatically reduce investigative time and increase the identification of previously unknown victims. 

“Protecting children depends on strong collaboration across the community,” said John Shehan, senior vice president, NCMEC. “Our work with Magnet Forensics is focused on helping investigators quickly recognize known child sexual exploitation material so they can spend less time reviewing previously identified content and more time identifying victims who may still need help. At NCMEC, we value partnerships that support investigators and ultimately help us better safeguard children.”  

We look forward to continuing our partnership with NCMEC as we explore new ways to streamline workflows, strengthen collaboration, and further support ICAC investigations.

Join us for an upcoming webinar on March 11 that goes into more detail about our partnership with NCMEC. See for yourself how the latest integrations within Magnet Griffeye are helping advance ICAC investigations.

Register for “A unified workflow for modern CSAM investigations” here.