Memory stick duplicates cell phone contents for examination

Paraben has announced the first version of the CSI Stick. The device allows data to be collected from a mobile phone for analysis. A limited number of phones are currently supported.

Paraben Corporation is a US company that specializes in digital forensics. The company sells both hardware and software with which digital detective work can be carried out. The newest addition in the product range is the Cell Seizure Investigator Stick, which can be used to collect data from a mobile phone. Through a hardware connection to a suspicious phone, the USB stick-like gadget retrieve all files from mobile phone. Not only images, audio and video are transferred to the stick, but also text messages, logs of incoming and outgoing calls and the address book can be read. In the 1.0 incarnation supports the CSI Stick phones from Motorola and Samsung. Support for other models and brands is being worked on.

The CSI Stick lets the researcher choose which data should be copied to the drive: data such as text files and multimedia content can be duplicated with the option ‘active data’, while a text filter can also be used to search for text messages and log files. Optional is to make a complete dump of the data on the phone or just the multimedia files. When the copy action is completed, the data can be read out on a PC. However, this requires a software package of at least $ 99, which brings the minimum price of the CSI Stick to just under $ 300. Although the company is aimed at the professional forensic investigator, there seem to be no restrictions on who can purchase their products.