Revolutionizing digital forensics: How Magnet Automate is eliminating lab backlogs at scale

Law enforcement and investigative teams are inundated with devices, data, and demands. Digital forensics labs are often overwhelmed, leaving critical evidence to languish in long queues and potentially compromising justice. But what if that backlog could disappear for good?

Meet Magnet Automate—the powerful workflow automation platform that’s transforming digital forensics labs around the world. Whether you’re handling several cases a week or hundreds per month, Automate can modernize your lab like never before.

Backlog? Gone, for good

Most forensic labs are stuck in a cycle—more devices come in and more work piles up, and analysts scramble to keep up. Meanwhile, victims and investigators wait. Magnet Automate breaks this cycle, automating the entire digital evidence processing pipeline—from acquisition to analysis to reporting. Magnet Automate empowers teams to process more cases in less time without compromising quality, and at a scale never seen in our industry. The result? Labs that once struggled to keep up are now justice accelerators, delivering timely, high-quality digital evidence to investigators and prosecutors without delay. Here’s how:

• A Magnet Automate client is called a node, and these nodes can be scaled to fit your lab’s needs, from a node installed on one workstation to a fleet of ten or more. As your caseload grows, Magnet Automate grows with you, always working efficiently across your environment.
• Build simple yet powerful workflows in minutes with Magnet Automate’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Automate isn’t limited to just Magnet products, it can integrate with any tool that supports a command line interface (CLI). Easily chain together tools, such as Axiom and its post-processing features, X-Ways forensics, Cellebrite Inseyets, or use custom scripts. Unlock the full potential of your digital investigations with seamless automation that saves time, enhances accuracy, and drives results.
• Devices can be added manually, or you can use a watch folder where Automate monitors a designated folder and automatically begins processing as soon as an extraction is added.
• 24/7 unattended processing means extractions are automatically queued and processed using your selected workflow. If you have five nodes, that means five extractions are being processed, analyzed, and reported simultaneously—with the rest queued up and starting the moment a node becomes available. This keeps the lab running around the clock without manual intervention.

A simple Magnet Automate workflow is shown, which begins with an acquired source, such as a Graykey or Cellebrite extraction, or an imaged hard drive. This workflow then proceeds through Axiom Process, followed by post-processing tasks such as building a timeline and categorizing pictures using Magnet.AI. The final step is generating an Axiom Portable Case report. Notice how simple it is to create a workflow in Magnet Automate—drag the desired elements into the workflow area and connect them in the order you want.

The intuitive visual interface makes it easy to create complex workflows with minimal effort. This workflow begins with an extraction or image, which is processed using both Axiom and X-Ways. A Project VIC JSON file is then generated, and Griffeye is used to further process the case. Finally, both an Axiom Portable Case and Magnet Review case are created, with the Review report being uploaded to Magnet Review. Keep in mind, once a workflow is created, it remains available and can be reused indefinitely, saving time and ensuring consistency across cases.

Faster access to critical evidence

With backlogs out of the picture, getting evidence into the hands of investigators quickly becomes a game-changing part of an investigation. In the past, delays in processing meant critical evidence might not reach the lead investigator until long after a case had been opened, allowing suspects to continue their criminal activities unchecked. With Magnet Automate, investigators and examiners can now work in tandem, creating a dual-investigation process. As soon as evidence is processed, it’s available for immediate review, allowing investigators to begin analyzing the data right away. Plus, by eliminating manual touchpoints, Automate frees up valuable time for examiners to focus on the analysis itself, rather than just overseeing the process.

With quicker access to digital evidence, investigators can stop offenders before they escalate, catching the next armed robber before they hit their next target or arresting a burglar before they have the chance to commit a spree of break-ins. The acceleration of access to digital evidence isn’t just about speeding up processes; it’s about saving lives and stopping crime before it spreads.

While this deployment of Magnet Automate shows six nodes, the platform is designed to scale to fit any lab—whether you’re running a single node setup or managing a large environment with dozens of nodes.

Scalable, flexible, and tool-agnostic

What makes Magnet Automate uniquely powerful is its flexibility. The platform supports both OpenAPI and command line interface (CLI) integrations, making it easy to incorporate other tools into your workflow automation. Whether you’re using Magnet Axiom, FTK, Magnet Griffeye, X-Ways, or any other tool with a CLI, Magnet Automate becomes your workhorse. It choreographs the entire workflow, seamlessly integrating forensic tools and scripting environments. You can even process forensic images with Cellebrite Inseyets Physical Analyzer in a Magnet Automate workflow.

Standardization and consistency

Once workflows are built and defined, they can be replicated across devices, ensuring every step—whether it’s processing, post-processing, or reporting—follows the same standards. This reduces human error, ensures uniform quality, and helps maintain legal and procedural integrity. Regardless of the number of cases your lab handles, Magnet Automate ensures consistency in processes, delivering the same high-quality results every time.

Seamless integration with Graykey Fastrak and Magnet Tools

Magnet Automate seamlessly integrates with Graykey Fastrak. Once data is acquired through Fastrak, Automate immediately triggers the workflow, starting the process without delay. Additionally, Automate can generate Magnet Review reports and automatically notify all relevant stakeholders once the report is complete. Investigators, only needing a computer and internet connection, can access the Magnet Review report from anywhere in the world.

Improved work-life balance and well-being

Forensic labs are high-pressure environments. Examiners often work long hours, juggling multiple cases, tight deadlines, and carrying the weight of their overwhelming responsibilities. Magnet Automate not only improves efficiency but also plays a key role in enhancing the well-being of your team.

By automating routine tasks and workflows, Magnet Automate reduces the manual effort involved in digital evidence processing. With tasks like data extraction, processing, analysis, and reporting streamlined, analysts can focus more on high-value activities, without the constant pressure of babysitting multiple workstations.

Additionally, because Magnet Automate enables 24/7 unattended processing, personnel are no longer tethered to the lab, allowing for a better work-life balance, which leads to a healthier, more productive team. When your staff isn’t overwhelmed by constant manual tasks, they can perform their best work without sacrificing personal well-being.

The Magnet Automate Dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of system activity. It includes windows displaying the status of each node, the overall case status (such as the number in progress or those that have been completed), currently active cases, and the different types of platforms that have been processed.

Ready to transform your lab?

In a world where speed and accuracy matter, Magnet Automate provides an investigative edge—empowering your team to process more cases, access evidence faster, and ultimately keep communities safer. Magnet Automate isn’t just a tool, it’s a strategy shift—a more innovative, faster, and more scalable way to manage digital evidence in today’s data-heavy investigative world. If your lab is still operating under manual processes, experiencing bottlenecks, and struggling with backlogs, it’s time to automate. Ready to take your lab to the next level? The future of digital forensics is here.