{"id":14372,"date":"2020-12-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T14:17:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:17:28","slug":"using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/","title":{"rendered":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Regular Expressions &#8211; (also known as &#8220;regex&#8221;) are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation and they can be particularly useful in mobile and <a href=\"\/\" rel=\"noopener\">computer forensics<\/a> investigations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One of the ways we allow investigators to find and focus on relevant evidence is by allowing investigators to customize and bring in a unique set of keywords using a substring or with regular expressions. ADF forensic tools also implement regular expression keywords in our trace captures and keyword lists. So why are Regular Expressions different from using regular keywords?<\/p>\n<!--more--><video width=\"100%\" controls>\n  <source src=\"https:\/\/4330725.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hubfs\/4330725\/Using%20Regular%20Expressions%20to%20Speed%20Digital%20Forensic%20Investigations.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\">\n<\/video>\n<p><strong>Use Regular Expressions to Pinpoint Relevant Digital Evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Regular Expressions are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation. The rules for matching text are represented with metacharacters, quantifiers, or plain text. They are strings in which \u201cwhat to match\u201d is defined or written.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/using-regular-expressions.jpg\" alt=\"Using Regular Expressions to Speed Digital Forensic Investigations\" width=\"215\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 215px; float: right; margin: 5px 10px;\"><strong>Using Regular Expressions to Search Numerical Patterns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are many uses and possibilities for regular expressions. One use is for random numerical strings, such as<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Credit Card numbers<\/li>\n<li>Social Security numbers<\/li>\n<li>Telephone numbers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">When a pattern is known, regular expressions can be used to look for that pattern. Knowing the pattern and how credit card numbers are displayed, a regular expression can be used to locate the many possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Using Regular Expressions to Search Word Patterns<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">The same is also true for<\/span> Word Patterns, take for example looking for any files or documents with the LS moniker. There are many names under the LS Studio moniker including LS Model, LS Mag, LS-Magazine, LS girl, LS island, and more. Using a regular expression one string can replace numerous regular keywords.<\/p>\n<p>Get help using Regular Expressions via the <a href=\"\/knowledge\/which-regular-expression-syntax-do-i-use-in-keyword-searches\" rel=\"noopener\">ADF Knowledge Base<\/a> or from the ADF User Guides which also include a RegEx Cheatsheet and there are many third-party YouTube tutorials to help you get started with Regular Expressions generally.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mobile Device Investigator, Digital Evidence Investigator, Triage-Investigator, Triage-G2, and the ADF PRO products are built on the same intelligent forensic search engine and are designed with rapid scan capabilities. ADF tools focus on automation and ease of use for deployment to both field investigators and lab examiners.<\/p>\n<p>Our focus is collecting forensic artifacts fast, which is why we&#8217;ve been both a pioneer and leader in forensic triage and automated investigations for 15+ years. This technology enables non-technical investigators to deploy triage tools that maintain chain of custody and stay within the search parameters defined by forensic examiners. In short, we enable our users to find and focus on the relevant evidence quickly.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"optech-default-btn btn-style cta_button\" href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/4330725\/6f7e50e9-5d6e-44cf-95df-8eeaf3a1f73d\" target=\"_blank\" data-text=\"Watch: How to Add Keywords On-Scene\"><span class=\"btn-wraper\">Watch: How to Add Keywords On-Scene<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Using regular expressions helps investigators speed fraud, ICAC and human trafficking investigations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regular Expressions &#8211; (also known as &#8220;regex&#8221;) are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation and they can be particularly useful in mobile and computer forensics investigations.&nbsp; One of the ways we allow investigators to find and focus on relevant evidence is by allowing investigators to customize and bring in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63,283],"tags":[96,73,136,99,81,35,31,101,142,138,143,102],"class_list":["post-14372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-video","tag-computer-forensics-video","tag-dei-pro","tag-dei-pro-field-tablet","tag-how-to-video","tag-mdi-field-tablet","tag-mobile-device-investigator","tag-mobile-forensics-video","tag-triage","tag-triage-g2","tag-triage-g2-pro","tag-triage-investigator","tag-triage-investigator-pro","optech-blog blog-single"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Regular Expressions &#8211; (also known as &#8220;regex&#8221;) are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation and they can be particularly useful in mobile and computer forensics investigations.&nbsp; One of the ways we allow investigators to find and focus on relevant evidence is by allowing investigators to customize and bring in...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADF Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adfsolutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard T. Frawley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adfsolutions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adfsolutions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard T. Frawley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Richard T. Frawley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f7fc6bb598702f2c7fd213ae40c2ac39\"},\"headline\":\"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\"},\"wordCount\":447,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Computer Forensics Video\",\"DEI PRO\",\"DEI PRO Field Tablet\",\"How To Video\",\"MDI Field Tablet\",\"Mobile Device Investigator\",\"Mobile Forensics Video\",\"Triage\",\"Triage-G2\",\"Triage-G2 PRO\",\"Triage-Investigator\",\"Triage-Investigator PRO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Video\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\",\"name\":\"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/\",\"name\":\"ADF Solutions\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ADF Solutions\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/favicon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"ADF Solutions\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adfsolutions\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adfsolutions\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/adf-solutions\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f7fc6bb598702f2c7fd213ae40c2ac39\",\"name\":\"Richard T. Frawley\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/author\/richardtfrawley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions","og_description":"Regular Expressions &#8211; (also known as &#8220;regex&#8221;) are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation and they can be particularly useful in mobile and computer forensics investigations.&nbsp; One of the ways we allow investigators to find and focus on relevant evidence is by allowing investigators to customize and bring in...","og_url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/","og_site_name":"ADF Solutions","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adfsolutions","article_published_time":"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Richard T. Frawley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adfsolutions","twitter_site":"@adfsolutions","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard T. Frawley","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/"},"author":{"name":"Richard T. Frawley","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f7fc6bb598702f2c7fd213ae40c2ac39"},"headline":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations","datePublished":"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/"},"wordCount":447,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png","keywords":["Computer Forensics Video","DEI PRO","DEI PRO Field Tablet","How To Video","MDI Field Tablet","Mobile Device Investigator","Mobile Forensics Video","Triage","Triage-G2","Triage-G2 PRO","Triage-Investigator","Triage-Investigator PRO"],"articleSection":["News","Video"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/","name":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations - ADF Solutions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png","datePublished":"2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T14:17:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Regular-Expressions-that-Speed-Digital-Investigations-1.png","width":1600,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/using-regular-expressions-to-speed-digital-forensic-investigations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Regular Expressions that Speed Digital Investigations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/","name":"ADF Solutions","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#organization","name":"ADF Solutions","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/favicon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"ADF Solutions"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adfsolutions","https:\/\/x.com\/adfsolutions","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/adf-solutions\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f7fc6bb598702f2c7fd213ae40c2ac39","name":"Richard T. Frawley","url":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/author\/richardtfrawley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14372"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16443,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14372\/revisions\/16443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adfsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}