Why DVR Forensics Software Is a Must for Law Enforcement?
Technical Tips
2023-02-13
Video surveillance can be a powerful tool for law enforcement in their efforts to combat criminal activity and maintain peace and order in our society. When it comes to unlawful activities, it’s crucial to efficiently and effectively deal with those video-based evidence from video surveillance systems and hence a reliable DVR seems ready to come out at its call.
In today’s world, video surveillance has become an invaluable tool in the fight against crime. Its capability to record video footage of crime scenes and suspicious activities, has been a major asset to investigators who are looking to identify and gather evidence that may have been overlooked by traditional means.
Furthermore, it is an effective measure to deter criminals, since they are less likely to commit offenses when they are aware that they are being observed. With the appropriate video surveillance system in place, it is possible to ensure security and safety of an area, and to proactively prevent any criminal activity from occurring.
DVR forensics software is a powerful and specialized tool designed to allow forensic investigators to extract evidence from digital video recorders (DVRs).
The software can be used to access data stored on DVRs that may otherwise be inaccessible or difficult to access, such as video recordings, audio recordings, photos, and other types of data.
The software is designed to help investigators uncover evidence that may not have been discovered using traditional methods, such as manual searches, and can provide a more comprehensive view of a crime scene.
By uncovering evidence that could be missed in a manual search, the software can help investigators to identify key pieces of evidence that can be used in court.
Benefits of Using DVR Forensics Software
The use of professional-grade DVR forensics software can provide a range of benefits to investigators.
By quickly and accurately assessing a crime scene, the software can help investigators save time and resources, allowing them to focus on other tasks.
The software can be used to create detailed reports and diagrams, which can help investigators present evidence in court in an organized and clear manner.
It can help investigators save money by eliminating the need to manually search and analyze large amounts of data.
Additionally, the software can help investigators quickly identify patterns and trends, allowing them to assess a crime scene more efficiently and accurately.
DVR forensics software should be used when there is a need to extract evidence from a digital video recorder, which can be used in a variety of situations, including criminal investigations, civil cases, and workplace investigations.
Additionally, the software can be used in the investigation of cybercrime, as well as to identify potential threats to networks and systems.
SalvationDATA’s Video Forensics Software — VIP 2.0
To assist law enforcement agencies in carrying out the above work effectively, SalvationDATA launched a special solution for surveillance video forensics——Video Inspection Portable (VIP 2.0) a few years ago, relying on its decades of expertise and experience in data recovery and digital forensics.
VIP 2.0, promotes the efficient and effective extraction and recovery of digital media evidence for law enforcement and investigators by utilizing the forensically sound manner approach, audio and video evidence, which can quickly, easily, and securely be recovered directly from CCTV and DVRs.
Also, by getting through the normal or even non-functioning DVR surveillance systems such as burnt, watered, and damaged DVR players, VIP 2.0 not only can perform forensic data recovery from password-protected DVRs directly but also can search and retrieve video clips from live CCTV surveillance systems quickly and easily.
The key features of VIP 2.0 include:
VIDEO EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY
Disk Extraction: bypassing the DVR passwords enables forensically extraction of videos in normal conditions, furthermore recovers the lost, deleted, overwritten, and fragmented files.
Network Extraction: supports video recovery from the surveillance host or router through a remote network download module. Automatically detects the surveillance host IP and configures localhost IP, after the network is connected, VIP can export large volumes of data as quickly as possible.
Disk Imaging: with a complete workflow compatible with forensic needs, it supports quick data images from the source disk into a file, to ensure the integrity of data during the investigation process.
Multi-Tasking: can extract and recover multiple DVR/NVR hard drives simultaneously, maximumly supports 8 pieces of hard drives at the same time.
UITRA TRANSCODER AND PLAYER
Video Transcoder: supports mass video clips to be transcoded into the required format in one time but with no limitation on the number of files, greatly shortening the time that should be spent on the investigation.
Ultra Player: no need for diverse video players but only one player supports numerous formats.
VIDEO RETRIEVAL AND ANALYSIS
Intelligent Video Retrieval: filtrates the video clips by the options of colors, focusing area, movement direction, trap wire, human, and vehicle, VIP 2.0 will quickly sort out the category in which the investigator may concern from abundant videos.
Human and Vehicle Identification: able to search the human or vehicles in the video clips according to the optimized algorithm, and accurately position the video clip that the investigator might be interested in.
Motion Detection: analyze and retrieve the moving object according to the moving direction by arrow diagram, and quickly capture key information for the forensic investigators, devoted to clarifying the crime scene more clearly.
TECHNICAL COOPERATION
One-Click Operation: the technical collaboration with Ampedsoftware provides a seamless workflow between the forensic acquisition and the analysis & enhancement. The video clips which are extracted and recovered by VIP2.0 can be directly opened with Amped FIVE, we are working together to make your job easier and faster.
FORENSIC REPORT
Capture to court: we know evidence integrity is a top priority, which is why the forensic report also logs every step taken during the video reporting process. To complete the chain of evidence management, VIP2.0 generates the evidence audit and disclosure report in PDF and HTML.
VIP 2.0 has received tremendous praise from law enforcement agencies around the world since its emergence. In recent years, police from Canada, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Italy, Latvia, South Africa, and Myanmar have all purchased VIPs from SalvationDATA. In 2017, VIP 2.0 were successfully selected for the directory of digital forensics tools by CFTT (Computer Forensics Tool Testing). In 2019, VIP 2.0 helped the Thai Police successfully to extracted and recover the abnormal video files which proved to be the key evidence for the fire crime investigation.
Professional-grade software packages like VIP 2.0 often contain a range of features, such as the ability to search for keywords and phrases, view multiple video streams at once, and create detailed reports and diagrams. Therefore, the need for law enforcement agencies to deploy a professional DVR forensics software like VIP 2.0 is self-evident.
Police officers especially digital forensic investigators ought to equip asap with no doubt!
Dealing with Huge Amout of Video Evidence by Forensics Video Analysis
In actual practice, in the face of such a huge amount of surveillance video and massive data, how to deal with the surveillance video scientifically and then obtain the most effective information is a big problem for law enforcement agencies everywhere.
Having said that, we have to mention the term video forensics analysis, referring to the scientific examination, comparison, and/or evaluation of video in legal matters.
Video recordings used in legal proceedings must be first verified to ensure the authenticity of the evidence and suitability for court purposes. Video forensics analysts must also determine which facts or evidence may be relevant to the case.
Whereas, only evidence-handling knowledge and technical expertise are not enough.
Generally speaking, Forensics Video Analysis includes the following tasks:
Extraction and fixation of surveillance video data (network extraction, hard disk extraction)
Recovery of lost surveillance video data (initialized, deleted, overwritten)
Analysis of surveillance video data (video trans-coding, retrieval, image analysis)
Moreover, This field also requires a high level of critical thinking. These tasks are tedious and complicated, and even important clues, are easily lost due to misoperation.
Hence, though Law enforcement officers are with professional criminal knowledge and skills, they always can not easily master them effectively and accurately when it comes to digital evidence.
From what we can conclude above, without the support of professional video forensics tools, law enforcement officers and video forensic investigators would always encounter difficulties in their investigations.
Concolusion
DVR forensics software is an essential tool for any forensic investigator and can be used to help uncover evidence that may not have been discovered using traditional methods.
By cooperating with the investigators’ expertise, there are predictable outcomes to be achieved expectably, since technology has been boosted for a higher case cracking rate and no law enforcement personnel should be left behind!
