Computer forensics investigation is not solely limited to the big companies who fear corporate espionage. No, every business has access to cutting edge investigative techniques.
Business had been growing for a small fastener manufacturing company. Their bids were consistently being accepted and their pipeline was running full. Until, that is, when all of a sudden, their competitor started winning the majority of bids. Something was wrong or at least the owner smelled something fishy.
His attorney contacted to arrange a meeting away from the business. The owner wanted to explore his options because he felt certain someone in his organization was sharing confidential bid information with outsiders – specifically his competitors.
Rather than beginning with the potential of a computer forensics analysis, the owner wanted to know how to go about bugging the offices with video surveillance equipment. When we told him that was not advisable, he was deflated and said he felt defeated because he didn’t know how else he would catch the employees. He was convinced they were sharing critical information and it was affecting his business.
He had never heard of a computer forensic examination or a computer forensics investigator. We explained that through digital forensics, a computer forensic specialist is able to create an exact duplicate or image of the hard drive in a computer at that time. That means that everything on the hard drive of an employee’s work computer can be subject to a complete forensic computer analysis by an expert forensic investigator with no disruption to work and without alerting the employee.
In this case, not only did the computer forensic investigator uncover evidence that the employee in question was indeed sharing bid information with outsiders, but he was working in collusion with other employees. Using professional protocols in computer data forensics recovery, the certified computer examiner also uncovered documentation outlining all the employees involved and the payments they expected to receive once the other company won the bid and contract.
Because is one of the most experienced and professional computer forensics firms, our investigator was able to testify as a computer forensics expert witness in court.
The business lost several long-time employees, but the owner was satisfied because not only had this problem been solved, he now had a tool at his disposal if the situation came up again.
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations