The background
Our customer* is one of the largest tax authorities in Europe and employs more than 50,000 staff. The authority’s main responsibilities include the assessment, determination, collection and imposition of tax across its jurisdiction.
With instances of tax evasion and tax fraud on the rise, the authority set out to enhance its investigative capabilities by providing its teams with digital forensics tools to assist in both office-based and field-based investigations.
The SOLUTION
The tax authority required a solution that could extract and analyse data from numerous digital devices including computers, laptops, mobile phones, loose media, servers and devices connected to networks. As the focus was on using these tools in both field-based and office-based investigations, there was a need for tools that could rapidly detect instances of fraud and tax evasion without requiring extensive data extraction and analytical processes.
Another key consideration was the ease of use and the ability to automate tasks as the initial elements of investigations were performed by team members who didn’t have a deep technological know-how.
After reviewing the digital forensics solutions available in the market, the customer chose Detego’s Unified Digital Forensics Platform due to its advanced capabilities, ease of deployment and intuitive interface.
The RESULT
Historically, the team was only able to extract data from computers, laptops and a handful of mobile devices. The support of specialist labs had to be sought if they encountered any other device type that needed to be investigated. Detego’s all-in-one functionality instantly extended the team’s capabilities, and enabled them to rapidly gather and analyse data from a range of devices including removable media, smart devices and tens of thousands of phone models including burner phones and over 2,000 apps.
Thanks to Detego, the team was able to rapidly bypass passwords and encryption to access data from devices in a matter of seconds – helping play a key role in reducing case backlogs. And within three months of implementing Detego, the team was able to reduce backlogs by more than 45 percent.
The team used Detego’s frontline solutions to bolster their on-scene investigation capabilities. As the solutions required minimal user input and expertise in digital forensics, the team was able to easily enable frontline agents to carry out sting operations to identify devices with data that’s related to investigations.
It’s been nearly five years since the customer implemented Detego’s Unified Digital Forensics Platform. And most recently, the authority has been exploring the possibility of implementing Case Manager, a central platform that enables the management of every aspect of investigations – from investigations, incidents and risks to evidence and compliance.
*This case study was anonymised due to the sensitive nature of the investigations carried out by the customer.