Computer Forensics & Data Collection
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Computer Forensics & Data Collection
Computer Forensics is the scientific process of identifying, preserving, analyzing, and presenting electronic evidence on all types of electronic storage media in a civil proceeding or a court of law. Estimates indicate that over 80% of all crimes committed today leave a trail of digital evidence.
Computer investigation is another emerging development in the world of electronic discovery. Legal strategies rely on discovery and CDS understands that concealed information is critical to the success of your case. Through our collaboration with strategic partners, we provide certified, defensible, and cost-effective solutions for digital forensics.
The extent of our services is comprehensive, ranging from on-location acquisition to recovery to forensic analysis of Electronically Stored Information ("ESI"). We ensure proper chain-of-custody and evidence archival protocols needed to certify the evidence is admissible.
Computer Forensics Services:
- Identification, recovery and analysis of electronic evidence.
- Preservation and authentication of electronic evidence.
- Recovery of deleted, hidden and password-protected files.
- Transfer of electronic evidence into litigation support applications.
While it may not seem necessary to appoint a team of computer forensics experts, modifying current litigation support technologies to manage various data types does not address the large data collections or the investigative procedures necessary to locate and filter them. The computer discovery expert uses specialized software, developed for law enforcement and designed specifically to meet the highest level of evidentiary standards.
Knowing where to look:
Data can be found in places other than in the disk's file directories and folders. Experts can extract data from deleted files that haven't been over-written and file fragments that were not replaced by new data when a file is written to a disk. Simply turning on the computer and searching for data can cause spoliation.
Knowing how to collect:
A copy is a copy is a copy when dealing with paper discovery. The original is not tainted, nor its metadata changed, and it may be copied again and again. In order to remain intact, "ESI" must be carefully gathered and protected every step of the way. You can't review what you don't have or what you can't see.
Many companies that claim E-Discovery services are using the term to mean data conversion to TIFF or PDF. It's like looking through a camera zoom lens instead of a wide angle. The result of treating electronic discovery with the litigation support equivalent of a zoom lens is inflated costs and worse, lost data.
CDS understands the necessity of computer forensics in e-discovery and the complexities it presents in litigation. Give us a call to discuss your next collection.