Toronto police use NFI software in fight against child exploitation
The Dutch software tool known as XIRAF has contributed to dismantling a large international child pornography network by the Canadian police. XIRAF makes it possible to search digital data fast and efficiently. The application has been developed by the Netherlands Forensic Institute in close collaboration with the former Rotterdam-Rijnmond Police Region.
XIRAF was made available to the Toronto Police Service XIRAF on a trial basis earlier this year to see whether the software could provide the required assistance in the processing of large quantities of data. Since then, the Toronto police have used XIRAF in several cases.
“Extremely valuable contribution”
“The NFI has been actively working on new methods of performing digital forensic analysis on large datasets for several years. Through their extensive research and development efforts they have produced a digital forensic indexing tool known as XIRAF. The NFI recently shared this tool with the Toronto Police Service to assist with future investigations, both large and small.
The efficiencies and near real-time information that XIRAF can provide to investigators is extremely valuable in the fight against child exploitation. The Toronto Police Service would like to thank the NFI for their sharing of technology on this important initiative,” says Superintendent Thomas Fitzgerald of the Toronto Police Service Intelligence Division.
In the Netherlands, the software was used, among other things, in the indecency case against Robert M.
Truck loads full of data
The quantity of data and data sources to be processed in criminal proceedings – in particular in fraud, murder, and child pornography cases – has increased at an incredible rate. In an average child pornography case, for example, the quantity of data to be processed is comparable to a 10-mile queue of trucks, fully loaded with paper printed on both sides.
Fast analysis and search
In order to increase the effectiveness and pace of this investigation, the NFI has provided the XIRAF software application to government partners. With this software tool, it is possible to analyse data and make it searchable at a high pace. A user, a criminal investigator at the police for example, may access the tool via a secure connection and enter a search enquiry.
Timeline and geographic classification
Thanks to XIRAF, its users are able to search for specific files, such as text files on laptops, PDF files on external hard disks, photos on mobile telephones and/or GPS locations on mobile telephones, and/or GPS locations in smartphones. XIRAF also makes it possible to arrange the data according to a timeline and to classify the images found geographically.
Exponential growth requires innovative solutions
The exponential growth in digital data has set increasingly higher demands on digital investigation techniques. The NFI invests continually in new technological developments in order to be able to analyse and process data faster and faster.