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Below is our recent interview with Sean Millwaters, Sales VP EMEA at Cellebrite:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to the company?
A: Cellebrite was founded in 1999 with the intention of making the world a safer place and today our company is the global leader in Digital Intelligence technology. We partner with public and private entities to promote data privacy, accelerate justice, and transform how they manage digital evidence in criminal investigations.
As a trusted advisor to customers in over 150 countries, Cellebrite is transforming how investigations are handled in the fast-evolving digital world, and we are the leading provider for military, law enforcement, intelligence, and corporations worldwide. Our award-winning solutions have helped solve cases from corporate financial crimes and sexual harassment, to car theft, murder, human trafficking, and beyond.
Q: Can you give us more insights into your offering?
A: Given that crime rates are on the rise, law enforcement specialists are battling to keep up with the furious pace at which offenders are concealing, storing, and encrypting evidence. To stay one step ahead, investigations must be solved quickly, but lawful practice must remain front of mind. This is where the benefits of Digital Intelligence and investigative analytics come into play.
Research shows that 90% of cases involve smartphones as their main source of evidence. But what does this actually look like? Imagine you could walk into a crime scene, pick up a handset, put it to your ear, and playback everything that happened in a person’s life before a crime occurred. That’s what Cellebrite can do with investigative analytics and the data found in phones and computers.
Our technology provides law enforcement agencies and private enterprises with the tools needed to lawfully collect and preserve data faster. Data can then be quickly analysed and processed to locate and validate key digital evidence, bringing insights to the surface to expedite case resolution.
Along with speed, Cellebrite tools safeguard digital evidence collaboratively by breaking down silos while ensuring privacy is protected and the correct protocols are followed every step of the way.
Q: What is the best thing about your company that people might not know about?
A: Our solutions have helped to solve a diverse set of crimes. Strong processes, combined with Cellebrite technology, have allowed for the analysis, management, and access of digital evidence.
For example, in a recent case, Leicestershire Police utilised actionable Digital Intelligence surfaced by our solutions to prove a suspected murderer was guilty. Here, our Cellebrite solutions enabled law enforcement professionals to collect and analyse the victim and suspects’ data. The result was that investigators needed just days to locate the body, find the murderer, and amass enough evidence to convince the suspects to confess to their crimes.
In another case supported by Cellebrite tech, Icelandic Police convicted the thieves behind the largest robbery in Iceland’s history. Cellebrite’s Advanced Services (CAS) were called upon to collect every type of digital evidence imaginable from the suspects’ iPhones — locations, images, telegram messages — basically, everything needed to prove the case and secure the convictions.
Q: What can we expect from Cellebrite in the next 6 months?
A: Unlike many organisations, our growth during the pandemic has been remarkable as the flood of digital data has increased the need for law enforcement to rethink public safety workflow. Now more than ever, law enforcement professionals must be supported by the latest technology, such as AI and data analysis tools, to ease their workload. To date, our technology has been purchased by 6,700 public-safety agencies and enterprises in over 140 countries. And our solutions have been used in more than 5 million cases across the globe.
The future of Cellebrite looks bright as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation, maintain our title as global industry leaders, and hire globally. We plan to continue adding value for our customers through strategic acquisitions, and the development of new technology and solutions that will help extend our reach into adjacent markets with the aim of protecting and saving as many lives as we can.
Moving forward, customer centricity will remain as the beating heart of our organisation. We will add value through technical support, knowledge sharing, and the education needed to streamline workflows, with confidentiality as the focus of the investigative journey.
