Doc1916746966 - NHS Counter Fraud Authority Digital Forensics STORNEXT Support Renewal 2024-2025

The Digital Forensics Unit (DFU) has its own segregated network which is air-gapped from the main Counter Fraud Authority network and is not internet facing. The DFU needed its own data storage, management and backup solution which met with forensic requirements and protected all copies of data in the event of a disaster recovery situation. In 2015 the StorNext system was purchased with 2 environments setup in the digital forensics laboratories in Newcastle and London. 2 systems were needed as bandwidth links between the 2 sites were not sufficient to support the required data transfer.

The DFU is moving to a centralised server environment in a data centre, however this project has been delayed by many factors and we are not in a position to decommission the current 2 laboratories and as such need our current data storage, management and backup solution to be within an active support contract. Without this support, in the event of a business continuity incident the DFU's data may not be able to be recovered and as such evidence for court cases are not available at the time of a trial, trials could be lost, or the integrity of evidence be called into question which would cause significant reputational damage to the CFA.