How to Collect Data with Cellebrite Digital Collector

The field of computer and digital forensics is growing rapidly with legal entities and law enforcement agencies understanding the importance of hardware technology in corporate and criminal legal proceedings. With the growing popularity of apple’s Mac computers, today’s forensic examiners are seeking more powerful and proven solutions that help them with the live acquisition of data, targeted collection of data, and sound forensic imaging on the whole. The Digital Collector Software from Cellebrite is one of the first solutions that can produce physical decrypted images using the T2 chip. The T2 method’s unique reservation has helped to obtain more crucial data. So are intrigued about how the process happens?

Digital Collector at a glance

The Digital Collector from Cellebrite is a powerful four-in-one triage solution that has multiple purposes like live data collection, and forensic imaging from Mac devices. You can preview the data before the data is retrieved and the device is imaged.

This Cellebrite forensic software for Mac and windows runs on Mac OS X operating system as well as Windows and it can be used to obtain data from a variety of Mac and Windows devices.

• Perform On-screen content triage: Using keywords and metadata the investigator can search through the data before imaging the device.
• Targeted collection of data: By the targeted acquisition of files from different files, folders, and user information you can boost the speed of investigation.
• The best part is you can collect data live and targeted computer data.
• The forensic images can be created without any hassle with their advanced functionalities.

While Digital Collector is specially made for forensic imaging of Mac systems, Cellebrite also has tools for other operating systems.

The data collection methods

Once you have downloaded Digital Collector and launched the software, you can use it in one of the following ways

• Provide the Digital Collector Live license information to the person who requires collecting data. They can then run the data collected live on the Mac files that have to be extracted.
• The examiner can drive the data acquisition by connecting the Mac remotely to run the robust Digital Collector software.
• The Mac comes with various in-built functions that allow remote access, for example, the tools come with live features such as Mac Remote Access or Mac Screen Share, or commercial remote access tools.

Once you have collected the data from the macOS system, the collected data can be shared via a cloud storage solution like Dropbox or email. It is recommended to store the collected data in the logical evidence file format to protect the key file metadata.

If you are having the data collected, you should provide specific instructions. You clearly define the scope of the collection in the instructions sent to the user. Digital Collector triage mode allows you to browse file content or search through files based on location, filename, extension, file size, dates, and keywords. Digital Collector also has built-in acquisition options provided in the collection tab.

Bottom line

Digital Collector is a robust tool that allows the investigator to conduct streamlined imaging of complex devices. Enhance your solution arsenal with the best Cellebrite forensic software for Mac and Windows offered by Pelorus partners after a demo.