(PRWEB) August 05, 2014
In today’s day and age, technology issues have popped up everywhere in criminal and civil matters. Many law firms are inundated with cases related to corporate data breaches, employee misconduct and intellectual property theft. Most recently, in the case of Moyer v. Michaels (Art & Supply) (Case No. 1:140cv-00561, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois) the company was charged with exposing as many as 2.6 million customer credit and debit card numbers in a data breach. The cyber-attack which occurred from May 8, 2013 – Jan. 27, 2014 left customers vulnerable to identity theft, fraudulent payments and account withdrawals.
In cases like these, it is very important for law firms to hire the proper digital forensics investigator as they are experienced in technology footprints and how data moves throughout the system. Conducting a proper digital investigation can often times determine the ultimate success of the firm.
Michael Yasumoto, Senior Forensic Analyst at Deadbolt Forensics has provided these tips to attorneys on how Digital Forensics agencies can help their next technology related case on the following issues:
Recovery of hidden or destroyed data, including formatted hard drives
Time is of the essence here. Deleted and formatted data can be recovered but the drive needs to be examined immediately in order to increase the chances of successful recovery. If drives continue to be used after important data is lost, new files may overwrite and prevent recovery of the deleted evidence.
Many “hidden” files are easily revealed through a forensic analysis. Whether the file is improperly named (a .jpg renamed to a .doc file) or hidden within another file (a .jpg embedded within a .doc file) they can be easily located and flagged for closer scrutiny.
Mobile forensics evidence including cell phones (both smart and feature phones), PDAs, GPS devices and tablets/iPads
Most mobile devices keep track of their location in order to decrease the time it takes to connect to the cellular network. By reviewing this location information as part of a forensic exam, it is possible to get a date and time stamped record of where these devices have been.
It is more common today for young people to communicate using third party apps like whatsapp, viper, and snapchat than to use more traditional forms like email and text messages. Despite the claims made by these apps regarding security, the contents of these communications can usually be recovered using forensic techniques.
Theft of intellectual property or trade secrets
When an employee departs, it is becoming more and more prudent these days to preemptively create forensic copies of their computer and mobile phone so that all possible evidence is preserved if needed in the future. In case of IP litigation at a future date, it then becomes a matter of reviewing the preserved evidence to show removal of company IP. Without this preemptive action, there is the risk that the forensic artifacts proving the theft will be deleted, if they are not already erased, and eventually overwritten by the next employee during regular business use. Law firms can greatly benefit from learning why a digital investigation is needed, what steps to take within an investigation and who should be involved. These simple facts could save their firm thousands.
For more information on Deadbolt Forensics please visit their website at https://www.deadboltforensics.com.
About Deadbolt Forensics
Deadbolt Forensics is a privately held company focused on digital forensics and the associated services of data preservation, electronic evidence retrieval, analysis, neutral expert witness services, hard drive sanitization, and password/data recovery. The company works directly with attorneys and litigation support teams in both criminal and civil cases supporting plaintiff and defense clients. Deadbolt Forensics accepts clients in the states of Oregon (Registry# 906073-92), Washington (License# 603343020), and Alaska (License# 1000625). For more information on pro bono services offered to our partners in the non-profit sector, please contact us at publicrelations(at)deadboltforensics(dot)com.
Contact:
Deadbolt Forensics, LLC
1915 NW AmberGlen Pkwy Suite 400 Beaverton, OR 97006
Phone: (503) 683-7138
Fax: (503) 296-5504
Email: info(at)deadboltforensics(dot)com
Web: https://www.deadboltforensics.com/