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IPED is open-source software for processing digital evidence into searchable cases and then examining the indexed results. A typical workflow is to select a processing profile, provide evidence and a case-output location, run processing, and open the resulting case in IPED’s analysis interface. Supported formats and enabled features vary by release, input type, and profile.
What IPED does
IPED stands for Indexador e Processador de Evidências Digitais, or Digital Evidence Processor and Indexer. The project describes it as software for processing and analyzing digital evidence, including evidence handled in law-enforcement and corporate investigations. It was implemented in Java and, according to the project, originated with Brazilian Federal Police digital-forensics experts in 2012; the project says its code was officially published in 2019.
IPED is more than a file viewer. It can process evidence in batches to create a case, index and classify items, and provide an integrated interface for searching and reviewing results. Project-documented functions include hashing and hash-set lookup, file-signature analysis, categorization, recursive expansion of containers, content and metadata indexing, file carving, OCR, encryption detection, filtering, and timeline analysis. The available functions depend on the release and processing profile; listing a capability does not mean it is enabled in every run.
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What forensic image formats does IPED support?
The project repository names RAW/DD, E01, ISO9660, AFF, VHD, VMDK, EX01, VHDX, UDF, AD1, and UFDR among the formats it supports. The Beginner’s Start Guide lists DD/RAW, E01, EX01, AFF, ISO, VHD, VHDX, VMDK, and AD1, and separately mentions UFDR reports. The repository says IPED uses The Sleuth Kit library to decode disk images and filesystems.
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These are project-documented formats, not a guarantee that every release handles every variant or input in the same way. Check the documentation for the specific release and evidence type you plan to process. The project also lists MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512, and eDonkey hash support; it says PhotoDNA is available to law enforcement.
How the processing workflow works
Prepare the evidence and destination
The Beginner’s Start Guide describes processing an image by supplying the evidence image and an output folder for the case. It says the destination folder should be absent or empty. Keep the original evidence and case output organized according to your investigative procedures, and verify the command syntax against the current release before use.
Choose a profile and process the case
Profiles determine which processing work IPED performs. The User Manual distinguishes default, forensic, fastmode, triage, and other profiles. The forensic profile enables additional carving and unallocated-space processing; fastmode is intended for preview. The manual describes triage as experimental and cautions that it may be unstable on computers with limited resources. These descriptions do not establish a universal speed ranking: processing time depends on the workload, configuration, and system.
After processing, the guide explains that the analysis application can be launched from the case output. It also documents adding multiple images and appending an image to an existing case. Consult the applicable guide for the exact commands and options for your release.
Search and review results
Use the analysis interface to search and filter indexed items, inspect categorized results and metadata, and examine timelines. Hash lookup, signature analysis, OCR, carving, and container expansion can help surface evidence, but their availability and results depend on the profile and input. IPED is a processing and analysis tool; using it alone does not establish that evidence handling, integrity verification, or legal admissibility requirements have been met.
Account for timestamps when processing FAT evidence
The Beginner’s Start Guide documents a timezone option for processing an image with a FAT filesystem. If the relevant timezone differs from the host computer’s local timezone, specify the appropriate timezone; otherwise the guide says the local system timezone is applied. This is a configuration consideration, not automatic knowledge of the evidence’s original timezone. Record the setting used and interpret resulting timestamps in the context of the source and investigative procedure.
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Cases, portability, and storage
The User Manual describes a portable-case option that stores relative evidence paths so a case can be opened from another computer or mount point. In the workflow described by the manual, the evidence and case have a same-drive constraint. Treat portability as dependent on that documented setup rather than assuming any case can be moved freely between systems.
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IPED uses an output folder for case data, so storage capacity, interface, security, and handling procedures matter to a particular workflow. The documentation does not prescribe a drive type, model, or capacity. External storage is an optional operational choice, not a required IPED component or a substitute for evidence-handling policy.
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Performance claims and system requirements
The IPED repository reports processing speeds of up to 400 GB per hour on modern hardware. This is the project’s upper-bound claim, not an independently verified benchmark or a promise for a particular computer, evidence set, or profile. The repository also reports that a multi-case contained 135 million items as of December 12, 2019; that is a dated project capacity statement, not a current performance benchmark.
The project describes testing on Windows and Linux. Its repository notes Java 11 plus JavaFX for building from source and warns that the master branch is for development, recommending release tags when a stable build is desired. Runtime needs and installation details can change between releases, so check the selected release’s own instructions before installing or building.
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