Computer Forensics Services
"By using iPhone, we can immediately and securely document the chain of custody associated with a piece of evidence."
Mark Lanterman,
Chief Technology Officer
Data-crime solvers, armed with iPhone.
At Computer Forensics Services (CFS), the issue is data. Where did it originate, and when? Has a crime been committed, and who did it?
CFS Founder Mark Lanterman and his team of 50 employees serve as crime-scene detectives in data-related cases, such as intellectual property theft. They analyze servers, hard drives, thumb drives, and mobile devices for evidence of wrongdoing—and then testify as to the validity of their findings in front of a jury.
And when it’s time to enter the courtroom, Lanterman is glad to have iPhone in his pocket.
“With the iPhone’s VPN capabilities and an app called Jaadu VNC, I can get back into our systems immediately,” he says. “So if I’m in a trial, or meeting with an attorney, and there’s a question that I don’t know the answer to, I can use iPhone to get it on the spot.”
In fact, Lanterman can access anything at all on CFS’s servers—forensic images, copies of hard drives, time/date stamps—because Jaadu VNC can open files in any platform: Mac, Windows, and Linux. “With one application,” he says, “we can get anything we need.”
Tracking evidence on the road
The team at CFS spends a lot of time in the field, gathering evidence. Crucial to their process is documenting that evidence: where it comes from, where it goes while in their possession, and what it yields. To track this chain of custody, CFS developed a custom application for iPhone.
“We photograph the labels on the hard drives, cell phones, or thumb drives, and we enter the model, make, and serial number into text fields,” explains Lanterman. “Because the iPhone allows us to VPN back into our secure network, all of that information is instantly updated into our in-house evidence database.”
“The iPhone is very, very smart. It’s two steps ahead of other smartphones.”
Before iPhone, Lanterman’s team made offsite records manually, with cameras, pens, and paper, and entered the information into the database back at headquarters. That process was inefficient, dividing data gathering and entry into multiple steps at multiple locations. Now, with their easy-to-build custom app for iPhone, CFS has collapsed the process into a single, centralized step.
Apps on the go
iPhone is streamlining other processes at CFS, too. “We’re in the service industry, so most of our work is billed hourly,” Lanterman says. Pre-iPhone, employees were tracking hours with pen and paper.
Now they use Time Logger, an iPhone app that allows them to record their hours for multiple clients and projects simultaneously. “We all use it every day, and then we export our hours to our accounting application, which turns it into a report,” explains Matthew Willis.
Other apps ease the difficulties of travel. “I love Maps,” Lanterman says. “When I’m in a foreign city and I’m looking for a restaurant or a taxi stand or hotel, I search Maps, and it points me in the right direction.”
Lanterman also uses Pandora, a music app, to listen to music on the road, and he downloads and reads books with the Kindle app. “When I’m traveling, it’s inconvenient to stop at a kiosk and buy a magazine, or buy a book that I have to lug through security. So I use iPhone to read magazines and books.”
Up-to-speed, every hour
Computer security is a fast-moving business, and iPhone helps CFS stay ahead of the troublemakers. “You have updates that come out hourly,” Willis says. “New vulnerabilities and releases, new ways of hiding data or discovering data, all types of things you need to know to keep up. By using social networking apps like LinkedIn on the iPhone, I’ve been able to synchronize with other security professionals and stay on top of those updates.”
Of course, it helps that the iPhone itself is a secure device. “We see the iPhone OS as a miniature version of Mac OS X,” Willis says. “And as such, you can trust it for security. Even though the iPhone is extremely popular, there haven’t been the types of vulnerabilities one might expect.”
Better profits through efficiency
One sure way to improve the bottom line: improve efficiency. And for Lanterman, there’s no question that iPhone has made him work smarter.
“My calendars are constantly being updated by our project managers,” he says. “And those entries are immediately synchronized to my iPhone. My emails and contacts are synchronized, too. So I’m constantly being updated about what’s happening.”
That translates into faster movement in the field—and a steady pace in the office, where schedules stay on track. “The iPhone has definitely impacted our bottom line,” Lanterman says. “We’re more efficient. Our records are detailed. And our data is secure.”
Company Snapshot
- 50 employees
- Minnetonka, Minnesota
- www.compforensics.com
- CFS puts in about 1,200 hours of pro bono work every year assisting law enforcement.
Click images to enlarge
iPhone all around
At CFS, nobody mandated iPhone as a required piece of technology. Instead, many of the employees bought them by choice. “The company didn’t issue iPhones,” Lanterman explains. “We’re small enough that we don’t make those types of decisions for employees. But literally on the days that iPhone 3G and 3GS were released, all of our employees came into work with new iPhones.”
The smoking gun
Using the VPN capabilities of iPhone, CFS Founder Mark Lanterman has remote access to his company’s databases. That’s a real plus when dealing with clients, who like to see the evidence firsthand. “Sometimes a client wants to see something that I might not have with me,” Lanterman says. “With iPhone, I’m actually able to connect to our secure servers and show them the smoking-gun document.”
Syncing the family
For Mark Lanterman, iPhone has been a scheduling savior at work—and at home. “I have a very hectic schedule,” he says. “It changes sometimes hourly. And I have a large family. My wife really appreciates the fact that, from her iPhone, she can check my schedule and understand when I’m in town or when I have to travel. So not only does iPhone allow me to collaborate with employees but I can also collaborate with my wife and children.”
