Paraben Corp.'s Device Seizure v3.3 is the latest iteration of its critically acclaimed mobile device forensic software, allowing for the acquisition and analysis of more than 2,000 supported mobile phones, PDAs, and GPS devices. Not only does it feature standard data acquisition, but also allows for the acquisition of deleted data -a necessity in the forensic world.
The installation of the software is inherently user friendly, with a straightforward process in which it was hard to do wrong. In minutes we were up and running. It seemed that the program was designed with new users in mind as the navigation and setup for data acquisition was a breeze.
From a performance perspective, Paraben delivers an outstanding forensics software suite that continues their reign as a leader in mobile device forensics software. We tested a couple of different brands of cell phones during our trial, including the newest version of the iPhone. We took a full backup of an 8GB iPhone in just a few hours and were able to search through dozens of deleted files, including images, calls, GPS data (recently visited destinations, places of interest, etc.), and text messages. Generating forensic reports was a breeze and took just a few minutes. To top it all off, we were very impressed with the tool's built-in search function, which made locating pieces of valuable information from our cell phone backups as easy as cutting cake.
All help files are electronic and can be found within the program. The files themselves were very thorough in explaining the features and data acquisition functions of the program. They also provided step-by-step data acquisition instructions for a number of the supported mobile devices. If a question could not be answered within the text, links were provided to online sources that nine times out of 10 answered our questions.
Basic support is offered at no cost by phone, email and a website-based ticketing system. Additional support can be purchased for a fee of $220 a year. In our experience, support from the vendor was handled in a timely manner and was very specific and helpful.