Secret Service will acquire hardware to forensically image hard drives

The U.S. Secret Service is planning to procure dozens of UltraKits, which contain a complete family of UltraBlock hardware “write blockers,” along with adapters and connectors, which can be used to acquire a forensically sound image of virtually any hard drive or storage device.

“Simply select the appropriate Write Protected UltraBlock and attach it to the source drive and use your desktop or laptop to acquire a forensically protected disk image to an internal drive or externally connected drive enclosure,” explains a technical manual from Digital Intelligence, of New Berlin, WI.

The Secret Service issued a solicitation on Jan. 23 seeking 48 complete UltraKits, another 48 UltraBlock forensic write blockers, and associated hardware.

All equipment will be sent to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, GA, says the solicitation.

“The UltraBlock Firewire solves the growing challenge of imaging FireWire hard drives and Apple Macintosh computer systems in a forensically sound manner,” says the technical literature provided by Digital Intelligence, which supplies the product. “Built with similar operational features as our popular UltraBlock USB bridge, the UltraBlock Firewire enables reliable and efficient data acquisition in both field and lab environments.”

Further information is available from April Delancy, a contracting officer with the Secret Service, at 202-406-6808 or april.delancy@usss.dhs.gov.