Mr. Hipgrave leaves the business as of December 2011 and all at FTS would like to thank him for his dedication and wish him well in the future.

Non Executive Director Ray Clethro has been appointed by the board to temporarily oversee the period between now and the appointment of a new MD.

The change marks a new opportunity for FTS to strengthen its core business whilst identifying new revenue streams and expansion of existing expertise into new products and markets.

FTS was founded in 2000 by Jonathan Clark MBE FRSA in response to a growing need within the law enforcement community to recover and access digital evidence from telecommunications devices and to analyse network records for criminal investigations. FTS pioneered Cell Site Analysis in the UK and the first commercially available flash memory chip-level Mobile Phone Forensic services.

At the heart of this service is a longstanding commitment to research and development. Over time, sustained investment in R&D underpins a cutting edge forensic service for both UK and international police forces. As such FTS welcomes today’s High Court judgement that has found West Yorkshire police liable.

Today’s judgement brings to a close a five year dispute with West Yorkshire Police. It was with great reluctance that FTS resorted to legal action to protect its confidential information and intellectual property. During this period FTS sought repeatedly to bring the matter to an amicable resolution.

FTS believe all this was caused by the actions of the West Yorkshire Police Hi-Tech Unit back in 2006/7 and the subsequent investigation then carried out by the Force Professional Standards Unit.

FTS wishes to draw a line under the case and move forward in its core business areas, focusing on providing UK police forces with a world-class digital forensic service. Prior to this dispute FTS had an excellent working relationship with West Yorkshire Police, supporting investigations in high profile cases such as the murder of Sharon Beshenivsky and the wounding of PC Teresa Milburn. FTS firmly believe West Yorkshire Police has a justified reputation as one of the leading UK forces for criminal investigations.

Finally, FTS would like to thank its legal team. They include solicitor Nick Alun-Jones from Peachey & Co LLP, which as a firm, steadfastly supported FTS through some demanding times and our Counsel, Anna Edwards-Stuart, for her accomplished advocacy.

Contact:
Shaun Hipgrave, Managing Director
shaunhipgrave@forensicts.co.uk

iXAM 2.2 is out now

 New decryption methods, including device passcode brute-forcing have been incorporated in to the latest iXAM 2.2 release, available to new and existing users now.

Access to the physical disk brings visibility of the full device memory – and the many possible lines of intelligence stored within it, such as GPS location information, cell tower information, social networks, Wi-Fi connections, multi-media and telephony data.


Enhancements to iXAM® included in the new release include:

• Support for CDMA iPhone 4.
• Device passcode brute-forcing.
• Decrypt of email database and physical disk (iOS 4.x)
• Keychain decryption, meaning access to passwords for websites etc.
• Logical downloads straight to a zip file rather than in to a folder.
• Support for filenames using Unicode characters.

For further information on iXAM® please visit iXAM-Forensics or contact us directly.

Chip-Off – BlackBerry® devices

Chip-Off complete

FTS has developed an advanced data extraction method which is able to bypass encryption and retrieve the physical memory from BlackBerry® smartphone devices. Currently this is the only known means to deal with devices locked with a handset passcode.


The initial stage of the data extraction involves the ‘Chip-Off’ process which retrieves the physical memory (binary image file). Once the binary image file has been recovered, FTS possess a number of techniques which enable specific types of data to be decoded from the image and made available to the client.

These include:

• Telephony data – SMS, call registers, phonebook etc.
• User content – Calendar entries, media files etc.
• Screening for 3rd party applications and recovery of user data relating to them (i.e. Facebook log-in passwords etc.)
• Ascertaining the SMS, BBM and Email deletion frequency
• Recovery of non active BlackBerry Messenger data and cached data (neither are available via logical examinations)
• The decompression of text strings in excess of 35 characters (Emails, BBM & SMS)
• Recovery of MSN chat logs

The decoding of this data is achieved using bespoke FTS processes and not third party software solutions.

FTS have concentrated on the BlackBerry® platforms and consequently are able to extract physical memory from all of the following models…

Supported Devices:
BlackBerry 8700, 8800, 8820
Pearl – 7100, 7130, 8100, 8110, 8120
Curve – 8310, 8320, 8520, 8900, 9300
Bold – 9000, 9700, 9780
Storm – 9500
Pearl – 9105

Chip supported, but test phone required:
BlackBerry 8707, 8830
Pearl – 8130 (CDMA)
Pearl Flip – 8220, 8230
Curve – 8300, 8330 (CDMA), 8530 (CDMA), 9330 (CDMA)
Bold – 9650
Storm – 9530
Pearl – 9100
Torch – 9800

It is possible to provide a per-device analysis service for law enforcement and corporate customers, and we also welcome enquiries regarding the set up of in-house facilities, utilising our Chip-Off techniques and bespoke data recovery software. Please contact us for details.

There will be demonstrations of the SIMiFOR and iXAM forensic acquisition products on site, along with some important announcements regarding the latest developments in iPhone and chip level forensics. Plus the opportunity to talk to R&D engineers about future projects.

If you are attending, please visit our stand in the UK Pavillion and we will be happy to assist with your enquiry.

“Rewards which could only come from the suffering and misery of others, and the impoverishing effect on their communities, by the spreading curse of addiction to illegal drugs”.

The following day Dr Pearson’s black Volvo 4×4 was found by police in a car park near Whinlatter Forest Visitor Centre.

A keen rambler with knowledge of the local area, it was considered that Dr Pearson, who had expressed some recent depression, may have walked off into the surrounding countryside.  Obvious concerns were given to the particularly cold and potentially freezing weather at this time.

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday extensive Police, RAF and Mountain rescue searches of the area proved negative.

Cumbria Police were aware that Dr Pearson was in possession of her BlackBerry mobile phone which did remain ‘Live’ subsequent to her disappearance, however all efforts to contact her failed.

Not to be deterred in their search, Cumbria Police under the leadership of DCI Tony Bolton made contact with FTS requesting advice on potential avenues of investigation around the BlackBerry phone and call data records.  

With somewhat limited cell tower locations available prior to the handset ‘shutting down’, it was noted that the pertinent cells were on high ground potentially extending the area of telecommunications coverage.   FTS Cell Site Engineer Mr John Tarpey was able to provide the investigation team with a proposed additional area of search.

Although of general advisory assistance to the investigation team and not formally commissioned in this matter,  DCI Tony Bolton was later to express his thanks to FTS for their efforts  and assistance  the nature of which were very incidental in spurring on his team and specifically one particular West Cumbrian police officer, who utilising his local knowledge,  on the morning of Thursday the 20th January when walking in Whinlatter Woods discovered the body of a female subsequently identified as that of Dr Pearson.

Following a complex and protracted investigation by South Wales Police and Gwent Police, two men from the Merseyside area have been sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment and a third man from South Wales for 8 years for conspiracy to commit robbery in the Cardiff and Newport areas in 2009 where over £60,000 was stolen.

In Cardiff Crown Court, Lee Donakey, aged 34 from Toxteth were sentenced to ten years imprisonment for conspiracy to commit robbery.

On 23rd July 2010, his associate Ryan Lamb, aged 30 from Toxteth, Liverpool, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for his part in a conspiracy to commit robberies in Cardiff and Newport in 2009.

Donakey and Lamb were investigated as part of Operation Synergy, which was a joint investigation by South Wales Police and Gwent Police that spanned over 9 months.

A third man Christopher Bell, also from Liverpool, was also convicted of Conspiracy to Rob at Cardiff Crown Court on 21st February 2011, where he received a sentence of 8yrs.

Senior Investigating Officer A/DI Joe Sweeney of South Wales Police said,

“This was a long and complex investigation into an organised crime gang from Liverpool who committed cash-in-transit robberies in Cardiff and Newport. The victims, G4S security guards, showed courage and bravery when faced with these threatening criminals who had masked their faces with balaclavas or scarves and then forced them to the floor. Donakey and Lamb intimidated and threatened innocent security guards who were just trying to do a day’s work.

“This is the second major police investigation into organised crime gangs from the Liverpool area who have deliberately targeted the Cardiff and Newport areas.

“During each investigation, the police have successfully put these criminals behind bars and we hope this will send the right message to criminals who are thinking of travelling to the South Wales communities to commit crime.”

Assisting both Gwent and South Wales Police, FTS were able to provide their free 24/7 Specialist Telecoms Advice Service and after consultation with the local representative, FTS Expert Cell Site Engineer Richard Baxter, was able to provide comprehensive Cell Site surveys and analysis of the numerous phones used by the suspects during the offences and were able to provide very strong evidence to show planning, preparation and being at the scenes of the crimes. This proved essential in corroborating other evidence gained by the police in their case.  Of FTS’ services A/D/I Sweeney said “FTS assisted greatly in the presentation of the telephone evidence which was essential to prove the offences.”

FTS are the creators of iXAM®, a forensically sound tool that can extract data from the latest versions of Apple iPhone, iPod and iPad devices.  

The iPhone is demonstrating the highest growth rate of any smart phone with its market share increasing by 115% in the first quarter of 2011.  With this kind of global footprint its user base will include both law abiding and non-law abiding citizens and iXam provides investigators with the perfect tool see everything on the iPhone.  In January 2010 FTS released its first version of iXAM and although sales were tentatively positive the solution was always a few months behind the latest Apple releases.  Since the start of 2011 FTS have been able to support the latest versions of all the portable Apple products and sales have doubled.

FTS Managing Director Shaun Hipgrave said:
“What is most rewarding is that this area of the digital forensics market has been historically dominated by US companies.  A UK SME has been able to specialise on this key product range, and with the innovation and skills of the FTS research and development department sell into their own back yard.”
To date FTS have sold 300 licenses of iXAM with 21 to the UK market and the rest exported, of which 135 have been bought in the USA.