Using Magnet AUTOMATE to Audit and Validate Tools

Manually recording the application name, application version number and processing details is time-consuming and cumbersome. However, it’s essential that examiners record this information for auditing and traceability purposes, especially for lab’s that are ISO-accredited or working towards accreditation.  

One of the main benefits of automation in digital forensics is to remove as much of the manual, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks as possible so that examiners can focus their skills where it matters most – on complex analysis and reporting.    

Now in AUTOMATE 2.4, for each case run executed in AUTOMATE, the nodes, application name, and application version used for that processing run are automatically recorded without any examiner intervention or manual activity. This helps lab’s meet specific standards guidelines effortlessly and removes the chance for human-error that can naturally occur when examiners are required to manually record processing details. 

Examiners need to easily understand and look up these details for auditing and traceability purposes. However, if down the line they need to re-run the case and they get different results, they can validate which version of software was initially used that may have caused this difference. 

Moving forward, system administrators can record the version number of each application installed on a processing node, from the Nodes and Applications set-up interface:  

After processing, an examiner can now view the Run Details by clicking “Show Details” next to a run, which now include the applications and nodes used the process the data in addition to previous data points such as the case number, status, case start and end time, duration, workflow used, and who created the case run.

If you have questions, or would like to learn more about Magnet AUTOMATE, please visit the AUTOMATE webpage or email sales@magnetforensics.com.