Mobile Digital Forensics and Data Extraction Technology

Cellebrite has developed the world's most widely used mobile digital forensics platform, capable of unlocking, extracting, and analyzing data from locked smartphones, including the latest models with advanced encryption. The company's UFED (Universal Forensic Extraction Device) is used by over 6,700 law enforcement and intelligence agencies in 140+ countries. The technology can bypass device security measures to access messages, photos, app data, deleted content, and location history.

The technology fills a critical gap in modern law enforcement: as criminals and terrorists increasingly use encrypted smartphones to plan and coordinate activities, the ability to access device data with proper legal authorization is essential for investigations ranging from child exploitation to terrorism. Cellebrite's tools have contributed to solving major criminal cases worldwide.

However, the technology is deeply controversial — it has been used by authoritarian regimes to target journalists, activists, and political opponents. Alongside NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, Cellebrite's tools represent the tension inherent in Israel's surveillance technology exports: the same capabilities that protect democratic societies can be weaponized against them. Israel's government oversight of these exports has been criticized as insufficient, creating reputational and diplomatic risks for the broader tech industry.