When we talk about Amped Authenticate, you may automatically think of its use in detecting forged and manipulated images such as those created using editing software to portray a different scenario or message from that of the original purpose of the image, and you’re certainly right about that (particularly in the age of the ever-prevalent ‘fake news’). The great thing about Amped Authenticate is that it’s also so much more on top of forgery detection – identify image processing history from capture to publish, extract images from documents, provide camera ballistics, but, in my view most importantly, add more weight to your child sexual exploitation, or CSE, investigations with all these tools  and ultimately safeguard vulnerable children.

I always think of Authenticate as the tool I wish I’d had during my time examining mobile devices and computers, now realizing its potential to further solidify my cases and digital evidence, least of all because of the seamless integration with Griffeye Analyze. As digital forensics investigators, the majority of our work involves CSE material and recovering evidence from a multitude of devices to prove or disprove the offense in question, and the more evidence we can provide the more likely we are to achieve a successful prosecution or clear an innocent party – we keep an open and unbiased mind as forensics professionals, as always. 

The PRNU, or photo response non-uniformity (also known as camera ballistics), capabilities of Authenticate are often under-utilized by law enforcement digital forensics professionals – I admit, I didn’t realize it had such a tool and how useful it could be in my work at the start of my career! Let’s take a safeguarding investigation as an example, often unpleasant cases in which a child has been exploited. We know law enforcement and governments around the world have similar methods of tracking illegal images and videos, usually through databases, in order to identify such material quickly and to avoid unnecessary exposure of traumatic material to investigators, but these safeguarding cases often involve newly generated images, not stored in any database.