London force floats contract for support with digital forensics

Credit: Fungai Tichawangana/Pixabay

London’s Metropolitan Police Service is seeking a commercial partner to fulfil a six-figure contract to support the force in gathering digital forensic evidence from devices.

The force has published a contract notice revealing that, over the course of a five-month contract worth about £200,000, it “requires… expertise to provide digital forensic outcomes for analysis of mobile phones and computers in accordance”.

Services to be provided will include the extraction of a wide range of data from smartphones. The notice said that “as a minimum”, officers will need access to “contacts; calls; messages – SMS/MMS; email; media (video, photo, audio, documents); web data – history/searches; chat messaging applications; [and] device information”.

The chosen supplier may be required to repair broken devices or extract information direct from SIM or memory cards.

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For computers and laptops, the winning bidder will be asked to deliver a forensic image – which is, essentially, a full replica of the device’s files, data and programs.

The procurement information said that the supplier will “work directly with the MPS Digital Forensic Services department and relevant officers in charge of cases”. No particular cases, units or areas of crime are specified by the Met.

“This is an important service to aid the detection of crime and justice for victims,” the contract notice said.

Bids for the contract are open until midnight on 19 September. Once a deal has been awarded, work is expected to take place primarily at the “secure premises” of the chosen firm, which will be required to ensure that all applicable staff have been security vetted.

“The supplier shall provide a vetted and secure courier to collect exhibits from the MPS premises in Lambeth, London,” the notice added.