Disclosure notice: This is a true account of a frontline investigation – written in collaboration with Semantics 21. This may contain accounts that some readers find upsetting.
This case study is based on a real experience shared by a law enforcement/investigation agency professional and written in collaboration with Semantics 21. It is presented in a first-person format to reflect the original voice and lived reality of the investigator, with all identifying information removed or adapted in accordance with UK GDPR and safeguarding standards.
Introduction
Following the arrest of a radicalised individual on a separate charge, digital forensics teams received three encrypted USB drives. Once decrypted, they appeared to contain a mix of images, memes, political rants and hobbyist videos.
Nothing immediately incriminating stood out. The file structures were messy and thousands of images were stored without metadata. However, an agent from the intelligence service flagged one meme that closely resembled a previously seen propaganda format.
Concerned that potential attack planning materials might be hidden in plain sight, our team was asked to perform a rapid deep-dive review using S21 LASERi-X — under strict time pressure.
S21 LASERi-X didn’t treat it like a collection of memes, it treated it like a blueprint and that made all the difference.
We loaded over 520,000 images and clips into S21 LASERi-X. The visual inspector began clustering visuals by category — maps, weapons, faces and diagrams — giving us immediate structure.
Using offline OCR, we extracted terms like “deliver at 4am” and “vulnerable access” from handwritten notes hidden in memes and screenshots. QR decoding uncovered crypto wallets tied to known international contacts.
Flickerbook review helped us process short, low-quality propaganda clips in sequence, with connections drawn between scenes and past threat cases. Gradually, a full operational plan came into focus.
It was all hidden in a folder named ‘Ticking’. Subfolders were labelled ‘friends’, ‘plans’ and ‘legacy’.
A plan comes together
We used offline OCR to extract location details from buried handwritten notes. Visual inspector flagged disguised planning materials. QR decoding led us to wallet addresses. Flickerbook revealed a narrative hidden in seconds of low-res footage.
No single image showed intent. But together, they drew a map.
That map reshaped the case. The suspect’s claims of disconnection collapsed, intelligence flagged it as a credible threat-to-life situation and warrants were executed within 48 hours.
“It wasn’t just what we found — it was how well S21 LASERi-X saw through the clutter. These weren’t obvious images but the tools surfaced the evidence that changed everything.”
What if we hadn’t acted?
What if we’d dismissed it as chaos? Just another radical archive without a plan?
It didn’t look like a threat, it looked like clutter. But it only took one flag to shift our perspective.
S21 LASERi-X gave us more than matches. It gave us meaning.
With that, we could move — before anyone got hurt.
S21 solutions mentioned
S21 LASERi-X
The complete solution for rapid victim identification, CSAM categorisation and media review
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