NFI and NCIM Groep supply advanced software solution
The quantity of data and data sources to be searched in criminal cases, in particular in cases involving fraud, murder and child pornography, is increasing at an enormous speed. The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) has developed an advanced software application entitled Xiraf in order to increase the effectiveness and speed of this type of criminal investigation.
This application can analyse large quantities of data from all types of equipment at high speed and render them searchable. On August 3 2011, tThe NFI will has signed a partnership agreement with the NCIM Groep today. Theis Dutch IT company will provide support and arrange for the further national and international rollout of Xiraf. The NCIM Groep cooperates with Compumatica Secure Networks.
Fast and direct searches
Fraud, murder, child pornography and other criminal cases often involve information stored on computers, mobile telephones and other equipment. A case may involve terabytes of data, including photos, film, email and chats. Xiraf bundles the information from digital files from, inter alia, laptops, external hard disks, mobile phones and CD's in a database. Police detectives can open this database on their own computer and search it immediately. Xiraf also makes it possible to order the data according to a timeline and to sort the images found geographically.
Xiraf can be consulted from multiple locations
Xiraf is currently used by various police and investigative services and has proved its value in several criminal cases. ‘You can approach this database remotely and therefore from various locations. This is useful if you perform an investigation together with other parties. We recently gave parties from three other countries access to the data during an international investigation', says Pim Takkenberg, team leader of the KLPD High Tech Crime Team.
Continuous development
The NFI has found a strong partner in the NCIM Groep for the further rollout and support of Xiraf, both nationally and internationally. The Dutch Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Security and Justice are important clients of the NCIM Groep, which is fully in line with Xiraf's target group. Within the partnership, the NFI will continue to hold ownership of Xiraf and it will continue to develop the application and further expand the forensic possibilities. The NCIM Groep will focus in particular on the acquisition of new national and international clients and the development of client services, so that Xiraf can be used optimally.
The NFI also provides products and instruments in addition to services
Concluding the partnership with the NCIM Groep is a good example of the trend in which the NFI, apart from being a provider of forensic services, such as examination, advice and training, also becomes a provider of forensic technology. ‘Technology makes it possible to perform ever more examination actions in a decentralised manner, for example at the place where the criminal investigation is being performed. Where possible, the NFI will focus more on the development and provision of forensic technology and not just on the examination that can be performed using it.' says Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi, Chief Executive Officer of the NFI.