CDS Defence and Security (CDS DS), part of Yorkshire’s Bailie Group, has launched its new digital forensics lab (DFU) at its Government-approved facility in Cheltenham.
The state-of-the-art DFU has been two years in the making and is the firm’s newest cyber security capability.
Martin Nash, head of cyber security and information assurance (CS&IA) services at CDS DS, explained: “Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science that focuses on identifying, acquiring, processing, analysing, and reporting on data stored electronically.
“In the event of a cyber incident, organisations need their devices to paint the picture of what really took place. And this is what our new facility does.”
From criminal investigations in support of law enforcement to security incident response support across the commercial sector, CDS DS offers a specialised service that helps organisations to determine what happened, when it happened, and how it happened.
With 36 staff making up the CDS DS team, the business aims to create a further nine jobs within its DFU over the next 12 months.
Nash added: “Law enforcement have publicly declared significant backlogs in the digital forensic evidential examination of electronic devices, and we’re here to support them in tackling this effectively.”
Last year, it was reported there were delays of up to 18 months in examining 25,000 phones and computers, slowing down the evidence process and seeing high-risk individuals released without bail restrictions into the community.
The DFU is fully operational and working both in line with and towards ISO 17025 accreditation, as required by the police sectors with certification expected imminently.
CDS DS’s cyber security and information assurance services business unit was established in January 2020, and since then, the company has tripled the number of staff, and the business unit’s revenue to £3.25m in 2022. This is expected to reach £4.2m by the end of 2023.
