JA-for-Commercial-Acquisitions_Redacted.pdf

Attachment 3 U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Commercial Products and Services Acquisitions Using RFO 12.201-1 Simplified Procedures Exceeding the SAT but Not Greater Than $9M – RFO

12.102

March 2026

Date: __7/8/2026____ PR Number: 20159362_

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER

THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Simplified Procedures for Commercial Products and Services 41 U.S.C. 1901

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S.

Customs and Border Protection, Office of Acquisition proposes to enter into a contract on a basis other than full and open competition using simplified procedures in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.201-1, FAR Class Deviation 25-21 R1 for FAR Part 12, and 41 U.S.C. 1901.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

(a) Nature of action.

CBP intends to procure on a sole source basis Digital Forensic Software Licenses, associated hardware and training by to be utilized at USBP field locations nationwide at an total contract value of $1,327,390.

(b) Name and Address of Contractor.

(c) Contract Type. Firm Fixed price

(d) Period of Performance. 8/1/2026 to 7/31/2027.

Period Total Base 12 mo. $1,327,390

(e) Type of funding. Operations and Support Funds .

(f) Year of funding: Fiscal Year 2026.

(g) Solicitation number: Not applicable

(h) Background information about the requirement.

The Digital Forensic Software by is already used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), Air and Marine Operations (AMO), Office of Field Operations (OFO), and Laboratories and Scientific Services (LSS).

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Commercial Products and Services Acquisitions Using RFO 12.201-1 Simplified Procedures Exceeding the SAT but Not Greater Than $9M – RFO

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

Procurement of digital forensic capabilities, including Offline Standalone upgrades and subscriptions ( ), (three-language promotion), , and subscriptions in the specified quantities. The hardware, peripheral kits, and associated licenses are proprietary to . These tools require an annual license renewal to provide warranty coverage and software updates. The warranty and updates provide additional mobile device support and new cables for mobile device connection to the dongles and software solutions installed on deployed workstations (desktops and laptops). The software requires annual license renewals to sustain continued functionality.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 1901, implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.103-1 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11) entitled “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

. This acquisition is using simplified procedures as authorized and implemented by RFO 12.102(b).

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute.

N/A

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires restricting competition.

USBP requires a variety of digital forensics tools to mitigate identified gaps and satisfy operational needs in support of Border Patrol operations and counter TCO efforts. These forensic tools allow for the extraction of electronic content to be preserved and analyzed for evidentiary purposes.

For over a decade, USBP has utilized tools nationwide. offers commercially available tools to include the ( )used to acquire evidence on certain popular electronic devices utilizing advanced security features. These tools require an annual license renewal to provide warranty coverage and software updates. The warranty and updates provide additional mobile device support and new cables for mobile device connection to the dongles and software solutions installed on deployed workstations (desktops and laptops). The software requires annual license renewals to sustain continued functionality. Upon expiration of the license/warranty, USBP will no longer receive software updates nor the hardware (cables) to support new digital and mobile devices. This will result in USBP not being able to fully examine, extract, image or analyze devices with outdated software versions that do not support the current devices on the market. Additionally, USBP will not be able to fully examine mobile devices

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Commercial Products and Services Acquisitions Using RFO 12.201-1 Simplified Procedures Exceeding the SAT but Not Greater Than $9M – RFO from persons of national interest such as Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) matches, which would directly impact on national security.

Additionally, CBP, to include USBP, Air and Marine Operations, Office of Field Operations, and Laboratories and Scientific Services has developed a robust digital support structure around the hardware and software. This support structure includes trained agents/officers/analysts, a detailed Training Program, and a custom interface in CBP system for CBP users to read, interpret, and analyze the proprietary XML output files from the devices and software and correlate the data against other CBP holdings.

Any delay due to recreating this specific CBP system interface software to match the output file from a different vendor would cause an unacceptable mission impact.

are recognized as leading providers in the digital forensic industry and are commonly utilized by government agencies, law enforcement, and military organizations. CBP currently employs solutions from these vendors as part of its comprehensive digital forensics toolkit. While no single tool is capable of extracting all digital artifacts or perfectly parsing every data structure, the combined use of these products enables a robust and defensible digital forensics and incident response workflow.

CBP has previously evaluated alternative solutions, including

. However, these products did not meet the performance standards of the tools currently in use by CBP and USBP. Additionally, supported devices are limited to older technologies and are not compatible with newer electronic devices.

has proprietary techniques and streamlined processes that surpass capabilities for mobile device extractions. specializes in Cryptocurrency only.

7. Description of efforts made to ensure that quotations are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

Market research was conducted and documented in accordance with FAR Part 10.

USBP/LEOD has identified and researched technology-enabled solutions for comparison that could be used to support USBP requirements. Research included internet searches, vendor public facing internet sites, research of the tools used within CBP amongst other investigative components (e.g., AMO, OPR), and personal knowledge of the Program Office officials through years of learning about various investigative tools as part of trade shows, training, and communication with industry.

The market research revealed that the existing equipment and licenses deployed and utilized nationwide are proprietary to . USBP has separate acquisitions with some of the other competitor vendors to meet requirements for specific forensic capabilities and as an alternative system in the event one vendor product is unable to meet extraction/analysis requirements while pending hardware/firmware updates and/or additional development.

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Commercial Products and Services Acquisitions Using RFO 12.201-1 Simplified Procedures Exceeding the SAT but Not Greater Than $9M – RFO

An Agency Planning Forecast System notice was published. An intent to sole source was also published to SAM.gov on 7/7/2026, with multiple responses, a system no longer used by CBP as it is useful only on older mobile phones, , used only to recover Cryptocurrency, as well as , both products which the CBP currently use for digital forensic investigation.

8. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer has determined that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on prior contracts for Software Licenses, which were independently determined to be fair and reasonable as part of those prior procurements.

9. Description of market research.

Market Research was performed from November 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Open-source market research was conducted to identify a list of contractors that could provide the software and tools that offered the forensic extraction and analytics capabilities suited to meet the USBP DF/DOMEX program’s operational requirements.

are recognized as leading providers in the digital forensic industry and are commonly utilized by government agencies, law enforcement, and military organizations. CBP currently employs solutions from these vendors as part of its comprehensive digital forensics toolkit. While no single tool is capable of extracting all digital artifacts or perfectly parsing every data structure, the combined use of these products enables a robust and defensible digital forensics and incident response workflow.

CBP has previously evaluated alternative solutions, including

. However, these products did not meet the performance standards of the tools currently in use by CBP and USBP. Additionally, supported devices are limited to older technologies and are not compatible with newer electronic devices.

The market research revealed that only could provide these proprietary systems.

is one of the most well-known and valuable proprietary digital forensic tools vendors in the world. There was one licensed distributor identified, Carahsoft Technology Corp, however, it was noted by other CBP components and external law enforcement partners to be a barrier when encountering warranty issues, technical troubleshooting, and various other concerns that ultimately required routing to the original manufacturer, .