The hidden threat within: Why internal investigations require expert eyes

CCL’s digital forensics lab is pleased to confirm that UKAS has formally extended its ISO 17025 scope to include accreditation for Graykey.

CCL Solutions has been confirmed as a delivery partner to Jacobs – the recently announced prime supplier of cutting-edge cyber security solutions to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Trellis Data, CCL Solutions Group and Cairn Advisory announce a high impact Digital Forensics, AI and Accreditation partnership.

CCL Solutions Group has announced details of its new ‘Future of Digital Forensic Science’ scholarship in partnership with Cranfield University.

With the FSR Act 2021 now in force, CCL couldn't be better qualified to help those police forces in need of the end-to-end accreditation required for certain Forensic Science Activities

Easier compliance with data protection obligations, greater sensitivity to personal privacy, and reduced volumes for review are just some of the advantages of taking the targeted - and less intrusive - approach to forensic data collection

With a recent significant addition to its capabilities, CCL's Advanced Extraction service can now unlock even more value for law enforcement.

CCL Solutions has been confirmed as a certified reseller of Compelson’s class-leading MOBILedit software.

CCL is pleased to announce the appointment of former INTERPOL cyber specialist Dean Watkinson as Senior Business Development Manager

Confirmation that CCL Solutions Group’s cyber security team has retained its CHECK status for the fifth year running while also significantly expanding its penetration testing capabilities in the face of growing demand.

As we celebrate Reserves Day, we put the spotlight on CCL Principal Computer Analyst, Major Phill Hatton

Leading digital forensics specialist CCL Solutions has launched a new collections solution that promises to transform the speed, ease, and cost of data retrieval and evidence recovery.

In this opinion piece, CCL Solutions Group CEO Noel McMenamin discusses the digital forensic challenges facing the criminal justice community and advocates for stronger public sector/private collaboration as part of the solution.

A quick round-up of our recent attandance at Security & Policing, with a mix of video snippets featuring our own Director of Software Solutions and Business Development, Darren Powney - including some interesting news on our RASSO-focused targeted mobile extraction service

We're celebrating the news that our cell site expert Matt Tart has been awarded his doctorate - though he's not the first doctor in the house!

CCL are launching Webinar Week, 21st - 23rd March 2023, for digital forensic professionals and law enforcement to learn about our best-in-class tools SPEKTOR, CASCADE and RabbitHole.

How secure and compliant is your Microsoft 365 tenant? Our new, fixed-price Security Configuration Review looks to lock down one of the most popular routes for attack and compromise - fast.

How CCL and Compelson are combining to help law enforcement address the data recovery challenges around RASSO cases

CCL is looking to expand its international representation in the US, Canada and New Zealand through partnering with strategic advisors/introducers.

News of a stunning personal and professional achievement for CCL's Director of Cyber Paula Page as she is recognised in the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards 2022

Everyone's 'go-to' forensic data exploration tool has just had another upgrade, with 40 data types and utilities now supported

Our principal cell site expert Matt Tart finally receives his NCA commendation after winning the award in 2020 - for work that started in 2016!

Details of CCL's latest webinar with SPEKTOR Ultra and MOBILedit taking centre stage on August 16th

News of an impressive achievement for the Digital Forensics lab, with ISO 17025 re-awarded for the 12th year in succession

CCL announces Delta 3 Solutions as its latest US reseller, strengthening CCL's presence in the Americas

News of two forthcoming webinars featuring the latest version of our class-leading data exploration tool, RabbitHole

CCL Solutions has launched a new suite of cyber services that combine optimal protection with pricing certainty, including the introduction of Red Teaming.

CCL is delighted to announce that it has signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant as part of our on-going commitment to help those who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces.

CCL's new digital forensics service, Backlog Management, comes at just the right time for those needing to significantly increase their digital forensic capacity and clear the growing backlogs of exhibits awaiting examination.

Details of CCL's new surveying service designed to help law enforcement agencies (LEAs) manage the forensic risks associated with the rapid changes happening to the UK’s mobile phone networks.

Digital forensic analysts' 'go-to' tool for data exploration just got better, with an updated version of RabbitHole now containing reparsers for Chrome and SQLite enhancements

CCL Forensics Limited, the UK’s leading digital forensics specialist and part of CCL Solutions Group, has announced that it has maintained its ISO 17025 accreditation for another year – and also its status as the forensics provider offering the broadest certified service scope in the UK.

CCL's Ben Strudwick runs through the Cyber Essentials scheme and makes a case for accreditation being part of your cyber security toolkit.

CCL's global reseller program is attracting some of the best national players in the fields of digital forensics, data investigations and cyber security. Canada's Teel Technologies is the latest to get on board.

More good news flowing out of our channel efforts, with UK-based CYSIAM the latest top flight name to join our global reseller program

CCL expands reach into Caribbean with a new relationship with respected security consultancy IJ Walker and Associates

Australia's CBNRE specialist J3Seven becomes the latest reseller to commit to CCL's enhanced global reseller program

We report on further success for our new global reseller program, strengthening our product sales channels across Europe.

News of our latest recruit to our recently relaunched global reseller program, with Hungary's Digital Forensics now on board

News of CCL's invaluable contribution to a new world record, with this year's Safer Internet Day now officially ratified for its achievement of the 'Most pledges received for an internet safety campaign in 24 hours.'

News of CCL's continued accreditation to one of the most stringent and valued cyber security quality marks - CHECK.

Cell site principal consultant Matt Tart has been awarded a prestigious commendation by the CSFS for his paper on 'Opinion Evidence in Cell Site Analysis'

News of an exciting collaboration between CCL and Cranfield University as Cranfield continues to develop its new state-of-the-art forensic science education and research centre

The definitive guide to UK eDisclosure systems - the eDisclosure Systems Buyers Guide - is now out. And CCL is in!

CCL is enhancing its reseller offering as it looks to expand its partner network across EMEA, APAC and North America.

CCL releases RabbitHole as its successor to Ribbon, giving analysts a significant performance edge in forensic data explorations

CCL has recruited discovery and disclosure specialist James Merritt to help with its push into the corporate and legal sectors

CCL is honoured to be involved with the new UK Police Memorial project, which is scheduled for a spring dedication at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

News of great work by the CCL cell site team in helping the NCA make its case against one of the UK's most prolific paedophiles

Details of two forthcoming events that CCL will be supporting this year - Security & Policing and the IDIA.

A new issue of the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review is now available and our Director of Innovation Andrew Sheldon selects his 'top read'

Over the summer we earned a place on the NHS SBS Cyber Security Services Framework. Time for a little refresher.

CCL data analytics consultant Gavin Dodd will be speaking at this ACEDS and Exterro webinar on the subject of Legal Hold and the importance of effective data preservation.

CCL's Principal Cell Site Expert Matt Tart will be presenting on casework assessment and interpretation of cell site analysis

Director of Cyber Paula Page is taking on an expanded role, heading CCL's push for global CREST accreditation for its SOC - and becoming only one of seven companies worldwide operating at this level.

CCL Forensics Limited, the UK’s leading digital forensics specialist and part of CCL Solutions Group, has announced its successful recertification to ISO 17025 and the Forensic Science Regulator’s Codes of Practice and Conduct – and confirmed that it now has the broadest accredited scope of any provider in the industry.

CCL Group has announced the appointment of Lisa Burton as its new Commercial Director. Lisa will work alongside CEO Noel McMenamin with a brief to expand CCL’s footprint in the private sector - a key pillar of its revenue growth strategy.

A significant announcement today from CCL Solutions Group Chairman, Keith Bristow, confirming the transition to a new CEO, with Noel McMenamin stepping up as Andy Archibald steps back.

CCL Forensics Limited, the UK's leading provider of digital forensics analysis services, has been granted an Extension to Scope (ETS) to its ISO17025:2017 and Forensic Science Regulator’s Code of Practice and Conduct schedule of accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

At CCL Group we live by our values and recognise that in the high expectations we set, we must ensure our people are given a platform to thrive. Gaining silver accreditation of Investors in People demonstrates our ongoing commitment to staff welfare, training and ongoing development.

CCL Group played a critical role in the investigation into three illegal immigrants found onboard a vehicle, with SMS data recovery essential to securing a conviction.

CCL Group, the UK’s leading provider of digital forensics, data analytics and cyber security services, today announces the acquisition of Evidence Talks, a digital forensics provider with over 25 years’ experience in supplying technology and consultancy services to law enforcement, defence, government and corporate organisations.

CCL Group and Spyder Forensics are delighted to announce a new strategic partnership that will bring significant benefits to the digital investigation community in 2019. The partnership will combine CCL Group’s unique capabilities in digital forensics with Spyder Forensics’ market leading research trusted by forensic practitioners worldwide.

In the second of this two-part blog Principal Analyst Alex Caithness follows up his earlier look at Local Storage and Session Storage in Chrome with a contrasting examination of how these mechanisms work in Mozilla Firefox.

In the first of a two-part blog Principal Analyst Alex Caithness follows up his earlier look at Local Storage and Session Storage in Chrome with a contrasting examination of how these mechanisms work in Mozilla Firefox.

”How can we do browser forensics better?” This is a question CCL’s R&D team have been pondering lately and in this blog, we start to look at one possible answer.

RabbitHole is increasingly a fixture in the DF analyst’s toolkit - but what do they actually think of it and just how do they use it? We’ve asked Richard Walker, our Mobile Device Laboratory’s Operations Manager and highly experienced DF practitioner, to give us his thoughts.

Much of our digital forensic and cyber investigation work is sensitive or confidential and therefore must remain private and unheralded. So, when we do have an opportunity to ‘go public’ and to help people better understand what we do and how we do it, we are always ready to cooperate!

In the latest in our blog series taking a detailed look at specific types of cyber threat, we turn the spotlight on the pernicious world of Ransomware.

When you think ‘criminal investigation’ and ‘digital forensics’ it is natural to conjure up images of those things that we all too often see in the news – murder, drugs, human trafficking, Rape and Serious Sexual Assault (RASSO). But it can be a great deal more diverse than that and our work just as vital for supporting the investigation of other types of offence.

In the ever-evolving cyber security landscape, staying ahead of cyber threats is paramount for many organisations of all sizes.

Our dedicated, talented pool of pen testers is the beating heart of our cyber services team. But what’s behind these individuals’ ability to deliver for clients, to maximise protection and minimise risk? CCL’s Technical Director Seamus O’Reilly offers a personal view on what it takes to become a successful penetration tester.

chrome-profile-view is a free, open-source DFIR tool from CCL for researching browser, website and web-app data.

CCL is best known as Europe’s largest ISO 17025 accredited digital forensics lab, serving law enforcement and private sector clients. But we are also proud to be one of the leading providers of teaching and work experience for those in higher education.

Oliver Hartshorn (Principal PC Analyst) and Arun Prasannan (Research & Development) investigate how the Session Desktop messaging software for computer operating systems encrypts attachments that are stored locally.

CCL Solutions Group has released a major upgrade of its RabbitHole forensic data exploration software. Representing a step-change in the core functionality of the tool is the inclusion of the new ‘Runs’ automation feature, with its promise of generating ‘more data, better information, faster than ever’.

Six years after the game-changer for cell site evidence that was R v Calland, the use of experts - or not - is finally having major repercussions for both sides of the criminal justice system.

As part of our new blog series taking a look at specific types of cyber threat, we have invited third-party cyber risk management specialists ARX Alliance to shine a light on the world of supply chain attacks.

Just to evidence that CCL’s training footprint is truly global, days after the conclusion of a program to law enforcement in Tanzania came the successful completion of a course to students at Eastside’s Birmingham City University (BCU).

In this third and final instalment of our Incident Investigation blog series, CCL’s Adam Shortall explains how you can learn from a cyber incident and strengthen cyber security measures to prevent it happening again.

Adam Shortall from our Incident Investigations team continues his three-part blog series on cyber investigations and incident response. In this installment, he advises on how to work effectively with your Incident Investigations team to ensure a quick and successful response to a cyber incident.

In this new three-part series, CCL’s Adam Shortall offers an introductory primer on cyber investigations and incident response for IT professionals keen to learn more about this specialist area of cyber security.

Digital forensics and cyber security specialist CCL Solutions Group has announced the appointment of Seamus O’Reilly as its new Technical Director, Cyber Services.

BitLocker is a security feature which is used widely to protect data at rest. In this article, Arun Prasannan from CCL's R&D department describes some of the techniques that we can use during security testing engagements and forensic investigations when confronted by systems protected using BitLocker.

When a case was at risk of No Further Action, CCL deployed its own Advanced BitLocker password recovery solution across three exhibits to find the evidence that would get things moving

CCL Fetch’s cloud collections solution bypassed the custodian’s physical device, ensuring nothing was missed from this property dispute case.

Dstl has issued the latest edition of its Digital Forensics Bulletin, addressing artefacts related to AI image generation services.

CCL Digital Forensic analysts help solve a criminal investigation into child abuse providing evidence for an arrest.

How CCL Fetch quickly secured a compliant collection from four digital sources, ready for immediate review

CCL has added a new course to its training roster – Data Formats in Depth.

A new data format is being used by the world’s most-used database format. Here’s what digital forensics practitioners need to know.

Jenni Milne, a CCL member, published her first children's book, "Jim the Lonely Pangolin", after a personal journey of recovery and creativity.

CCL is proud of its ongoing commitment to giving back to the open-source community by regularly releasing code and contributing to other projects as a way to help further research in the field.

How CCL is rethinking the collections process to transform the speed, ease, and cost of data retrieval and evidence recovery

Learn why advanced solutions like EDR, XDR, SIEMs, and SOCs may not fully protect against evolving malware threats.

Delve into Dstl's latest Digital Forensics Bulletin, showcasing CCL's research on novel device and software data recovery and its applications.

When we talk of 'international capability building' it is real-life examples - like the one cited in this testimonial - that best demonstrate the impact we can have in every corner of the world.

Jonathan Onyeaka highlights the security risks within guest wireless networks, demonstrating via a real-life case study how quickly a threat actor can take advantage of common misconfigurations to walk themselves 'through the door'

With the FSR Act 2021 finally coming into force on October 2nd we thought a refresher on its implications for law enforcement and prosecution teams was very timely.

How two sets of digital forensic expertise came together to rapidly ‘join the evidence dots’ and help secure three convictions for Greater Manchester Police.

CCL enjoys a close relationship with Cranfield University, collaborating on the design and delivery of Cranfield’s Digital Forensics MSc. In the first of our regular ‘wrap-ups’, we're highlighting some excellent blogs from course director and expert practitioner, Dr Graeme Horsman.

The latest in our Case Work series highlights how CCL’s cell site team stands out in terms of ability and attitude - and how those qualities impact a positive result at court.

The latest in our Case Work series demonstrates why CCL’s cell site surveying capabilities are so critical to effective and cost-efficient criminal investigations

The latest in our new Case Work series highlights how CCL handles evidence that is subject to Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) in a way that supports accelerated investigations

When it comes to Cell Site evidence presentation in court, the prosecution needs that 'expert' knowledge to minimise the risk of a defence team making a successful challenge

The latest in our new Case Work series highlights why forensic tools can only take you so far. Android phones store a wealth of information - often overlooked by the tools - but of great use to those analysts who know where to look and how to extract it.

CCL analyst Jason Dickson shares his thoughts on one of CCL’s most exciting initiatives in recent years – a partnership with Cranfield University to deliver a new MSc course in digital forensics.

The first in a regular series that will feature the everyday work of the CCL forensics team, showcasing the expertise, experience and care that goes into each job, while highlighting the range of requests and remits coming into the UK's largest ISO 17025 accredited lab.

Alex Caithness unwraps our latest open-source code gift to support the accessing of Chrome/Chromium artefacts using Python

CCL's Global Partnership Director Alan McSharry shares his thoughts on the year as we head towards 2023.

The third and final part of our Q&A series with CCL's cell site experts and this time we ask them to put modesty aside and explain why they are in such high demand.

The second in our Q&A series with CCL's cell site experts and this time it's their thoughts on the sector's biggest challenges right now

CCL Solutions Group has retained its CHECK status for the fourth year running – testament to both its consistency and quality in the cyber security space.

The first in a series of Q&As with our cell site team, with our experts coming together to help develop awareness and understanding of this emergent forensic discipline

James Merritt is back with a postscript to his Relativity Processing vs. Nuix Workstation blog following unprecedented feedback on his head-to-head evaluation.

In his latest foray into the Relativity ecosystem, James Merritt pits Relativity Processing against market favourite Nuix Workstation. How will it fare?

On Android 12, a new challenger approaches in the form of a new file format that is replacing XML data in a number of key artefacts. In this blog, Principal Analyst Alex Caithness explains the new ‘ABX’ format, provides open-source code for reading the data and emphasises the importance of collaboration in the digital forensics community.

Senior analyst Nick Nunekpeku puts the Redact functionality within RelativityOne through its paces and shares his thoughts in this latest blog from the Discovery & Disclosure team

CCL’s Ben Webber explores the rise of Cloud computing – transformational technology but not yet the only game in town

Matt Tart, one of CCL’s cell site specialists and a leading UK authority in this developing forensic area, discusses his latest research paper published in Science Direct.

A run of high-profile cyber incidents in the legal sector has once again highlighted the growing vulnerability of the modern connected enterprise to concerted criminal action. How can we best prepare for the particularly insidious attack that is ransomware?

In his latest technical review blog, James Merritt runs the rule over Relativity Collect and the benefits it offers those looking for quality data collection options

CCL consultant Aidan Parsons examines the perennial challenges faced by in-house legal teams to do more with less and looks at litigation management as one area where they could realise cost and time efficiencies - with a number of options available to them.

CCL's Ben Strudwick draws on a recent real-life project to illustrate why getting creative can make for effective cyber security training.

Previously, Principal Analyst Alex Caithness shed some light on IndexedDB on Chrome- one of the methods that websites and web apps can use to store data on a user’s device. In this new post - with accompanying free open-source scripts - he tackles the data structures behind a further two mechanisms that websites can use to persist information: Session Storage and Local Storage.

James Merritt, managing consultant with CCL's Discovery & Disclosure team, offers a personal view on why he considers Relativity is still leading the way when it comes to document review platforms - and that it's not always to do with the tech.

Ben Webber, an analyst with our Data Discovery and Analytics team, explores the advantages of Solid State Drives, not just in performance terms but also helping to maximise analysts' valuable time.

Jaya Hayre, an analyst with our Data Discovery and Analytics team, argues that dealing with big data doesn't always mean having to spend big money

There's no part of life or business that the pandemic hasn't touched. CCL pen tester Ben Strudwick explores how things have been impacted in his own domain of cyber security and wonders what's in store for the industry as we move on from Covid.

Data protection doesn't stop just because we are no longer all working in the confines of a corporate office. In this latest blog from CCL's data analytics and discovery team Nick Nunekpeku shares some of the ICO's guidance and advice on best practices when handling personal data.

James Palmer highlights the 'end of the innocent' with browser favicons at risk of being subverted for tracking purposes

More cell site analysis insight, courtesy of a webinar hosted by the Forensic Capability Network (FCN) featuring our own Matt Tart

In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at CCL’s Managed Review service through what we term the ‘Five Cs’ lens - calibre, cost, control, choice and capabilities.

The CCL cell site analysis team is one of the most highly regarded in Europe - and it's passionate about driving understanding, setting standards and establishing best practice in this still nascent forensics area. Here Principal Cell Site Expert Matt Tart shares some useful further reading on the subject.

Join CCL's Joshua Tedd and Sergey Ermolovich as they take us through their investigation into the pathology of fake browser update attacks and advise on how organisations can better manage the risks arising from this type of cyber threat.

CCL’s commercial director Lisa Burton highlights how we can offer immediate practical assistance to a higher education sector having to cope with more than one viral bad actor.

"Life always offers you a second chance. It’s called tomorrow" (or FCM Queued Messages if you're talking to our Principal Analyst Alex Caithness). In his latest blog, Alex explains how FCM Queued Messages can lead us to Android artefacts that present a golden second opportunity to recover data that might otherwise be unrecoverable.

With Chrome today's most popular browser and exponential growth in “Chrome-esque” applications, a deep understanding of how they store data is essential. CCL's Principal Analyst Alex Caithness is back with a follow-up deep dive look at IndexedDB - and an open-source gift to his fellow practitioners and researchers.

CCL's Principal Analyst Alex Caithness asks the question: After SQLite, what comes next? A must-read primer on LevelDB - tomorrow's ubiquitous format?

Businesses naturally place huge trust and confidence in their people, and in the vast majority of cases, that is rewarded with loyalty and integrity. But the impact of a rogue employee can be highly disruptive to business operations and can be disastrous to business value.

As cyber adversaries continue to use more sophisticated forms of attack, protecting an organisation’s digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. Organisations are looking for more effective security solutions, such as managed security operations centres (SOC), to protect their operations.

With the risk of a cyber breach and subsequent GDPR infringement higher than ever before, organisations are increasingly looking toward penetration testing to understand and rectify their IT infrastructure vulnerabilities before an attack can take place.

The recent fines British Airways (BA) and the US hotel group Marriott International are facing from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for data breaches is a warning shot to all businesses. In response to these high-profile fines, in our blog this week, our experts are offering practical advice to reduce the risk of security breaches and what to do in the event of an attack.

Highlighting the critical need to have a fully formed, robustly tested Incident Response plan in place as part of your core cyber security toolkit.

Our latest blog looks at how leading-edge forensic techniques allow CCL to reconstruct, in vivid detail, exactly what a user was doing right up to the point when an RTC occurred - going beyond just communication records.

A new episode of 'Digital Forensics Essentials' has just landed and taking centre stage this time is ‘hex’.

In the latest episode of 'Digital Forensics Essentials', Principal Analyst, Alex Caithness, explains the lasting importance of the temporary world of SQLite Journals and Write-Ahead-Logs.

In the first of our new 'Digital Forensics Essentials' series, Principal Analyst, Alex Caithness, kicks things off with a dive into the epoch timestamp.

Our cutting-edge digital forensics tool RabbitHole has been featured on Digital Forensics Now podcast

In this latest CCL Vlog, we sit down with one of the country’s foremost cell site experts, our very own Brian Edwards, to gain insight into this challenging area of digital forensics – and learn why this coming autumn will be a significant one for the whole forensic arena.

In the latest CCL vlog, Patrick Looney and James Merritt talk us through the new Smart Suite of discovery and disclosure services, fixed-price solutions to some of today's most taxing data challenges

In this new CCL vlog, Alan McSharry discusses the recently relaunched global reseller program and the company's ambitions to take the class-leading SPEKTOR and RabbitHole solutions to new markets and customers worldwide.

We talk to Head of HR Sam Marklew about recruitment, exploding many of the myths about what's needed to make a career in digital forensics, and revealing the one quality that Sam prizes above all in the candidates she talks to.