708269450 (DInfoCom/0242) Provision of SPCB - SERVICE POLICE CYBERCRIME CENTRE - FORENSIC DATA HANDLING NETWORK - ARES HARDWARE REFRESH

The ARES system is approximately 7 years old, and elements are either failing, are at capacity, have little data resilience or are End of Life (EOL) and out of support. The system requires component hardware refresh, mainly around its primary and secondary processing and storage arrays. As part of this refresh the ARES system will undergo full assurance and accreditation activity concurrently in order that Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) of the network and data is assured, more resilient and ensuring the Service Police have appropriate policies and procedures in place to provide a safe and secure environment for processing digital forensic evidence as part of criminal investigations and judicial processes.

Army Headquarters is responsible for overseeing all non-MODNET ICS procurements for the Army.

Thirty-six (36) month contract for the Hardware Refresh combined with support for 'Defence Police' ARES contract. To commence on 07 December 2023 until 06 February 2026.

The Cybercrime forensic data handling network is a standalone Local Area Network (LAN) known as ARES, used by Service Police digital forensic analysts to process, exploit and store digital forensic evidence recovered by the Service Police. The SP3C typically handle large volumes of data usually digital images or full bit-by-bit file extracts from various devices including smart phones, HDD, PEDs, computers and network equipment.

This includes sensitive information and personal identifiable information (PII). As part of the National Digital Forensic codes of practice, multiple copies are taken to which they are then exploited using various specialist digital forensic tooling such as Encase, Cellebrite, Axiom and FTK. This does mean that ARES typically holds large volumes of data particularly during the investigative (Exploitation) phase of an enquiry. The same system also acts as long-term storage for digital evidence managed under Management of Policing Information (MOPI) and DPA18.