When going to an airport, it isn’t uncommon to see sniffer dogs walking about. This is to help sniff out anyone who might be trying to smuggle things like explosives or drugs onto planes (in addition to security screening systems). However it seems that over in the UK, there will be sniffer dogs that have been trained specifically to sniff out hidden data devices.
What makes these dogs different from drug or explosive sniffer dogs is that they can detect hidden data devices such as USB sticks, SD cards, and hard drives. This means that there is a potential that more criminals can be caught using sniffer dogs. According to Ch Supt Jim Nye, commander for the alliance operations department, “These dogs will give the police a new way to fight the threat of terrorism, paedophiles and fraudsters.”
So far it seems that the new sniffer dogs are working out quite well. For example Tweed, a 19 month old springer spaniel was sniffing around what looked like a Coke can, but upon closer inspection it was discovered that the can was a money box with several SD cards hidden inside of it. The other dog, Rob, a 20 month old black Labrador, managed to sniff out a device that was hidden inside a drawer that might have otherwise been missed if searched the regular way.
These device sniffing dogs aren’t exactly a new thing and have been used in the US before, but it was only thanks to a collaboration between the Devon & Cornwall and Dorset Police and the US authorities that this training program found its way to the UK.