Cellebrite, developer and provider of mobile data forensic solutions, released an update to its software that extends its physical and file system extraction support to a range of popular HTC and Motorola devices on which such deep access was previously impossible, along with physical extraction support for the global best-seller Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note II.
The new support relies on Cellebrite’s user lock bypass methods. These methods provide the deep access to mobile devices that forensic examiners need to complete their extractions of existing, hidden, and deleted data.
By adding the 109 new models, Cellebrite more than doubles the number of devices it supports via bypass methods. User lock bypass is now supported on a total of 212 Android smartphone models, a full third of the number of devices Cellebrite supports for logical (existing data only) extractions.
“Our ability to build successful cases depends on our forensic tools’ ability to extract the maximum amount of data, both existing and hidden or deleted, from the cell phones that people are buying and using,” said Troy Lawrence, a detective with the Fort Worth (Texas) Police Department. “Even devices that were popular a year or two ago still regularly show up in our labs, along with new best-sellers.”
User lock bypass is now available for the first time on 66 HTC and 35 Motorola devices, including HTC’s Evo, Incredible, Wildfire, and Desire models along with Motorola’s Milestone, Droid Razr, and Razr Maxx. Cellebrite also continues its advanced physical support for the Samsung Galaxy series by extending its user lock bypass capability from the Galaxy S and S2 to the Galaxy S3 GT-i9300 (international version) and the Galaxy Note II. The bypass methods work even when USB debugging is disabled.
“The support we have added for these popular devices demonstrates Cellebrite’s continued commitment to anticipating and responding to forensic examiners’ and investigators’ immediate needs,” said Ron Serber, co-CEO and Chief Technology Officer at Cellebrite. “Until now, these devices were an inaccessible ‘black box’ to examiners. Our research and development team worked for many months to develop the ability to bypass any user lock and extract needed evidence, an ability which shortens our customers’ investigative cycle times and helps them build better cases.”
The new physical extraction capabilities are available immediately.
