Wynyard Group signs deal with police

Wynyard Group, a subsidiary of Jade Software, has signed an agreement with New Zealand Police to commercialise its developed digital forensics technology - EVE (Environment for Virtualised Evidence).

The terms of the agreement are commercially confidential, spokesperson Emma Jackson says.

The technology was developed by the police in 2007 and allows officers to rapidly analyse seized electronic goods such as mobile phones, PCs and other storage devices for evidence and intelligence. It does this by creating a virtual copy of the device and presenting the data to officers to view and search whilst still preserving all of the data in its original form.

Wynyard Group CEO Craig Richardson says EVE improves the effectiveness of those gathering data from the devices which reduces the time it takes to collect evidence against criminals. “The New Zealand Police is leading the world in digital forensics with its EVE technology. It has solved a growing problem - the cost effective, rapid, forensically safe capture, processing and search of digital evidence from seized mobile and storage devices,” says the CEO.

Wynyard has bought EVE's intellectual property from the New Zealand Police and integrated it with Wynyard’s criminal intelligence technology. “Together with the New Zealand Police, we’ve developed a game changing product for the billion dollar global cyber crime, forensic imaging, validation and analysis market,” Richardson adds.

Founded in March in New Zealand, Wynyard now has offices in six countries. Richardson says business is "doing very well" as the company is "the only provider of this type of service in New Zealand". "We found ourselves in the right place at the right time with the right product." The CEO believes the agreement with NZ Police gives Wynyard "deeper insights into the digital forensics market" and "is a really powerful solution that differentiates [Wynyard]".

The product will be sold through a combination of direct sales and partnerships, according to the CEO. Richarson expects business to continue to grow, the silver lining of the statistics that reveal the rise of online crime.

Wynyard Group has received support from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to grow its advanced crime fighting business in the United States later this year.

Wynyard Group expects to make Wynyard EVE available in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia by late 2012.