AccessData has announced the release of Forensic Toolkit (FTK) 5 which includes data visualisation and explicit image detection (EID) out of the box.

Data Visualization features automated graphical timeline construction and analysis of social relationships, and investigators can include visualization images in their case reports. Explicit Image Detection (EID) detects not only flesh tones but conducts a thorough analysis of shapes and orientation.

Furthermore, FTK 5 integrates with Microsoft PhotoDNA which creates a unique signature for a digital image, like a fingerprint, that can be compared with the signatures of other images to find copies and variations of images of interest.

“The release of FTK 5 significantly raises the bar for forensic analysis tools,” commented Brian Karney, President and COO of AccessData.

“FTK 5 allows users to access and identify that important data so much faster than other tools, streamlining time consuming tasks and helping minimize case backlog.”

FTK 5 also delivers enhanced Internet analysis with a new dedicated Internet/Chat tab that allows users easier access to these artifacts that are more and more often integral to a case. The enhanced analysis capabilities include new Internet artifact carvers for more than 30 additional web applications/services, social media sites and games. Google Chrome analysis enhancements feature easier navigation through artifacts, web page reconstruction and the creation of individual records from Chrome artifact tables for bookmarks, cookies, credit card data, data profile, downloads, history, keywords, login data, top sites and web auto-fill data.

In addition, AccessData has enhanced the integration of its decryption technology, PRTK. Now, FTK users can send files directly to PRTK for on-the-fly password recovery during evidence review. The Forensic Toolkit platform also delivers its own enhanced file decryption with FTK 5 now able to decrypt almost as many file formats as PRTK. In addition, users can import password lists to automatically decrypt files during the initial processing phase.

FTK can now be used collaboratively with AccessData’s legal review platform, Summation. Forensic examiners and litigation support personnel can access the same case data on the same database to perform legal review and forensic examination simultaneously, which significantly streamlines the investigation to litigation lifecycle.