MarketsandMarkets forecasts the global digital forensics market size to grow from USD 4.15 billion in 2017 to USD 9.68 billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.9% during the forecast period. The demand for digital forensics is expected to be driven by stringent government regulations and the increasing instances of cyber-attacks on enterprises. Moreover, the massive use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is expected to increase the demand for digital forensics software during the forecast period.

Services segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Digital forensic service providers offer professional and managed services. The professional services segment has been further segmented into digital investigation and consulting, incident response, system integration, training and education, and support and maintenance. Digital forensic services augment the implementation of digital forensic hardware and software and streamline the strategy of detecting and analyzing critical data. Moreover, digital forensics services are expensive and primarily being offered by big firms, such as PwC, KPMG, and E&Y. Hence, the major portion of the cost incurred is from skilled labor, and certifications and training.

Computer forensics segment dominate the digital forensics market during the forecast period

Advancements in technologies have intensified the sophistication of attacks on digital devices, such as computers and laptops. The majority of business and personal transactional activities are performed electronically, wherein deals are performed over emails, and the confidential data is saved on personal address books and hard drives. The identification, preservation, collection, analysis, and reporting on evidence found on such devices are termed as computer forensics. Computer forensics has received a fair deal of recognition and attention from various government agencies and regulators. The computer forensic software and hardware are capable of recovering data from encrypted, deleted, and password-protected files.

North America to hold the largest market size during the forecast period

North America is estimated to be the largest contributor to the global digital forensics market in 2017, as the region has always been most receptive to the adoption of digital forensics. Moreover, it is home to several digital forensics key players. Most of the organizations in the region have adopted the cloud technology for streamlining work processes. Additionally, the rapid penetration of mobile devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and USBs to assist business continuity, have further accelerated the frequency of cyber-attacks in this region. The widespread adherence to data compliance regulations by all enterprises and the rapid deployment of the cloud are expected to act as key growth drivers of the North American digital forensics market. Furthermore, due to the high adoption of cloud-based applications in North America, the number of attacks is increasing dramatically and becoming more sophisticated. Hence, various government and law enforcement agencies in the US are taking initiatives toward strengthening the digital forensic sector.

Market Dynamics

Massive use of IoT devices to increase the demand for digital forensics solutions and services

IoT refers to interconnected devices that have ubiquitous communication and connection between them. According to Ericsson�s Mobility Report and the Internet of Things Forecast, there will be 18 billion IoT devices by 2022. Widespread use of IoT devices is observed in several application areas, such as smart city projects, smart transportation, vehicular connectivity and autonomous vehicles, smart grids, and smart homes. According to Moore�s law, the computation power of processors increases with an increase in the number of transistors placed on the chip. The increasing computation power of the processors of IoT devices has created a connected world and simplified tasks that were difficult to conduct via traditional means. IoT devices are heavily targeted by cybercriminals. The Mirai Botnet attack in 2016 was a significant attack that triggered a large-scale layer 3 and layer 7 DDoS attack.

In the event of a cyber-attack, the in-house security team has to analyze every data storage location to recover traces of the lost data. The security team has to ensure the data traces can aid in the reconstruction of the entire data on IoT devices. However, the in-house security team may not always be capable of identification, analysis, preservation and storage, analysis, and presentation of data. Therefore, it is essential for enterprises and organizations to adopt the best-in-class digital forensic solutions and services that would assist in recovering the data lost in an unusual event.

Encryption to be a major roadblock in digital forensics

Encryption is the process of converting plain text into cipher text. Encryption algorithms are divided into 2 types: symmetric and asymmetric algorithms. Symmetric algorithms use only one key for converting data, whereas asymmetric algorithms use 2 keys (public and private keys) for data conversion. In asymmetric algorithms, the plain text is ciphered with the public key. Only those participants who possess the appropriate private key can decipher the data. Some of the significant asymmetric algorithms are Rivest- Shamir-Adleman (RSA), advanced encryption standard, and data encryption standard.

Data security regulations and compliances are encouraging customers to rely on data security measures, such as encryption, tokenization, anonymization, and pseudonymization. Moreover, the right to privacy for individuals makes it difficult for law enforcement teams to regulate the encryption measures among users. Therefore, encryption is expected to pose a major roadblock that may hamper the effectiveness of digital forensic tools, thereby acting as a restraint to the growth of the digital forensics market.

Rise in the use of cryptocurrencies to open new avenues in digital forensics market

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that works in a decentralized manner and makes use of cryptographic algorithms for secure data transfer. Cryptocurrencies are not regularized and issued by the central government. Cryptocurrency exchange is a simple process between 2 parties. Cryptocurrency transactions involve the exchange of public and private keys between 2 parties. The transaction fee is also minimal. Some of the famous bitcoins that are accepted across the globe include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin. In 2017, the price of Bitcoin soared to USD 20,000.

Cryptography ensures the data exchanged between 2 parties is subject to confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, and authentication. However, with the boom in cryptocurrency, cases of frauds are also increasing. Cryptocurrencies are subject to cyber-attacks for financial gains, regional rivalry, interpersonal rivalry, and reputation defacement. When a cryptocurrency fraud occurs, it may be difficult to detect the artifacts. A suitable digital forensic solution would be required to regenerate the critical data that may have been lost during the cryptocurrency storage or exchange. Therefore, cryptocurrency is one of the prime areas that would be tested by cybercriminals, which in turn, is expected to ignite the need for digital forensics.

Lack of digital forensics preplanning among enterprises

Most enterprises are of the opinion that digital forensic solutions and services would be needed only after a breach takes place. Enterprises need to select a digital forensic solution that would be the best fit for their business requirements. Enterprises should not follow the reactive approach and should adopt the proactive approach of preplanning for threat protection and digital forensics. Preplanning activities should include developing the roadmap and documentation, strong coordination between the enterprise�s legal department and digital forensic vendor, and creation of a record book and response measures.

The lack of digital forensic preplanning and investments can result in serious setbacks for enterprises. Therefore, enterprises should invest in contracts with the best digital forensic vendors, which would aid in detecting, preserving, and analyzing, and reconstructing data. The threat hunting provision offered by digital forensic vendors is also a boon for enterprises, as the provision would help enterprises prepare security programs that can detect advanced threats.

Scope of the Report

Report Metric Details Market size available for years 2015�2022 Base year considered 2016 Forecast period 2017�2022 Forecast units Million (USD) Segments covered Component, Type, Tool, Vertical, and Region Geographies covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America Companies covered AccessData (US), Cellebrite (Israel), MSAB (Sweden), OpenText (Canada), Oxygen Forensics (US), ADF Solutions (US), Coalfire (US), Digital Detective (US), LogRhythm (US), Magnet Forensics (Canada), Paraben (US), and Nuix (Australia)

The research report categorizes the digital forensics to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-segments:

Digital Forensics Market, By Component

Hardware Forensic Systems Forensic Devices Forensic Write Blockers Others (includes cables, adapters, hard drive enclosures, batteries, and storage devices)

Software

Services Professional Services Digital Investigation and Consulting Incident Response System Integration Training and Education Support and Maintenance Managed Services



Digital Forensics Market, By Type

Computer Forensics

Network Forensics

Mobile Device Forensics

Cloud Forensics

Digital Forensics Market, By Tool

Forensic Data Analysis

Data Acquisition and Preservation

Data Recovery

Review and Reporting

Forensic Decryption

Others (include file viewers, registry analysis tools, and email analysis tools)

Digital Forensics Market, By Vertical

Government and Defense

BFSI

Telecom and IT

Retail

Healthcare

Others (include media and entertainment; manufacturing; and energy and utilities)

Digital Forensics Market, By Region

North America US Canada

Europe UK Germany France Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC) China Japan India Rest of APAC

Middle East and Africa (MEA) Middle East Africa

Latin America Mexico Brazil Rest of Latin America



Key Market Players

Major vendors in the global digital forensics market include AccessData (US), Cellebrite (Israel), MSAB (Sweden), OpenText (Canada), Oxygen Forensics (US), ADF Solutions (US), Coalfire (US), Digital Detective (US), LogRhythm (US), Magnet Forensics (Canada), Paraben (US), and Nuix (Australia). These vendors have adopted various organic and inorganic growth strategies, such as new product launches, partnerships and collaborations, and mergers and acquisitions, to further expand their presence in the global digital forensics market.

AccessData (US) is among the leading vendors offering digital forensics products and services across the globe. The company specializes in computer and mobile forensics, eDiscovery, and information compliance and information assurance. It offers robust products in the digital forensics market, which include Forensic Toolkit (FTK), AD Lab, AD Enterprise, AD Risk Toolkit (RTK), Quin-C, and MPE+ and nFIELD. Moreover, it significantly provides digital forensic services, such as data acquisition and preservation, and forensic imaging forensic analysis. The company caters its products and services to both public and private sectors, which are focused on industry verticals, such as government and defense, BFSI, and public utilities.

Recent Developments

In January 2020, Cellebrite acquired BlackBag Technologies in order to expand Cellebrite�s portfolio of digital intelligence products.

In December 2019, Oxygen Forensics announced upgradation to its flagship software, Oxygen Forensic Detective 12.1, Powered by JetEngine. The product brings image categorization and grouping, allowing investigators to use AI to sort and categorize images into 12 categories, including drugs, weapons, alcohol, and nudity, to more quickly find pertinent images to an investigation.

In June 2019, Oxygen Forensics and Rank One Computing partnered in order to expand the digital forensic capabilities. This partnership will help Oxygen Forensics to capture and analyze image and video data.

In May 2019, Oxygen Forensics launched Oxygen Forensic Detective 11.4, with improvements to its Cloud Extractor, KeyScout, and JetEngine utilities, including the ability to extract web browser data from Windows PCs.

In February 2019, Magnet Forensics and Grayshift partnered to strengthen their capabilities and acquire, analyze and report on lawfully acquired digital evidence from iOS devices.

Critical questions the report answers:

What are the current trends that are driving the digital forensics market?

In which application, most of the verticals are deploying digital forensics solutions?

Where will all these developments take the industry in the mid to long term?

Who are the top vendors in the digital forensics market and what is their competitive analysis?

What are the drivers and challenges of the digital forensics market?

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