MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Homeland Security Investigations Miami Supervisory Special Agent Carlos Rodriguez of the agency’s Miami Cyber Division granted Local 10 News a tour of one of the most cutting-edge crime-fighting tools in the country.
“It supports any type of crime,” Rodriguez said. “We are talking financial, human trafficking crypto currency and money laundering as well.”
You may remember seeing it outside the Miami Beach mansion of Sean “Diddy” Combs when Homeland Security special agents moved in.
“You can actually also use it as a command center, tactical communication surveillance in the van,” Rodriguez said. “Every type of investigation we conduct has a nexus to cybercrime. Emails, chats, photos, crypto currency, you name it.
The digital forensics and incident response vehicle allows investigators to find, extract and process evidence from a range of digital devices on location, developing probable cause on the spot.
“If you don’t have access to device, but have identified the device itself, you can use this technology to send packets of data to prosecutors and other agents in a live stream format,” said Rodriguez. “That includes mobile devices, laptops, desktops, external drives, phones, anything that can hold storage. Anything that could hold memory or storage, smartphones, external drives, desktops, GPS inside vehicles also because they have the ability to store data.
“We are saving days of investigation into hours. You have the ability to turn evidence into hours instead of days, which is the typical method to get evidence when doing search warrants.”
“Why is speeding up that process so critical?” asked Local 10′s Christina Vazquez.
“It’s so important, someone who can be a potential offender, if you are able to do the forensic extraction, you can develop probable cause and arrest at the moment,” replied Rodriguez. “It actually leads to faster arrests, especially for those individuals who are flight risks or have potential access to minor children for sex abuse cases.”
More from HSI Miami:
“TOP FIVE TIPS2PROTECT”
1. Monitor access to App Store and gaming downloads
2. Set all apps, games, and devices to private.
3. Turn off location data services on social media and nonessential apps.
4. Talk about the permanency of data. Online data can last a lifetime.
5. Monitor friend lists and followers. Remove strangers.
For more information on Project iGuardian, click here.