computer forensic services Archives - All in Investigations

Don’t be a Victim to New Scam Techniques

As much as we knew it was a possibility, we were still a little surprised here at to hear that scammers were pretending to be private investigators in a payday loan debt scheme. The incident cited at credit.com says that a caller saying he was a private investigator pressured the victim into going to the local courthouse to settle her debt. There are so many things wrong about this: Private investigators are NOT debt collectors. Our business is to uncover facts, evidence and the truth, not to contact people and collect on debts. No one from will ever call to push you to settle a debt. It won’t happen. Unless there is a court case and hearing, no one can just “go to the courthouse” [...]

If You Are In Business, You Are a Potential Target for Corporate Espionage

What do you do in your leisure time? Watch football or motor racing? That’s all fun, right? Don’t kid yourself. Major sports are major businesses and that means big money is at stake. And when big money is on the line, there are also people who will do anything to “win.” For example, consider the recent “Deflate-gate” centered on footballs and Tom Brady. Now there is the Mercedes F-1 team suing a departing engineer for alleged data theft as he goes to join the competing Ferrari team. Corporate espionage and employee theft is limitless. It is not limited by content, size of business or geography. It is limited only by the aspirations of the person or persons engaging in it. Stealing confidential client lists – [...]

It May Start as a Joke, but Spyware on the Computer is Never Funny

Proving innocence and proving guilt are opposite sides of the same investigative coin. Here at , we are concerned with facts, evidence and truth. That’s the investigative business. That being said, good investigators are also experienced professionals - and, I dare say, experts – in human behavior. It is that understanding of how people react and what they are likely to do that gives us leads that others might not recognize. detectives are also steadfast in their objectivity, which is another sign of a professional. Objectivity promotes clarity and the ability to see past the heat of the moment. Derek came to us in a highly emotional state. The young man was trying to build a career in accounting and there had been “an incident” [...]

Play Poker Online? Losing? There Might be a Reason!

Do you wile away your time playing poker online? How are you doing? Losing a lot? There might be a reason beyond your poor poker-playing skills. It’s been uncovered that several hundred online poker player’s accounts have been infected with malware called Odlanor. The bad guys are able to take screen shots of player’s hands and then join the game. Unbeknownst to the victim, the bad guy uses the illicit information to cheat their way to win(s) during the game. Victims unwittingly install malware embedded in poker-related programs and even as installers. The innocent poker player never even knows what has happened – except they are losing. Sadly, that in itself may not be unusual. Until they quit playing, they will continue to be cheated [...]

Legality of Digital Forensics Critical for Admissible Evidence

Right now there is a big controversy stewing regarding whether or not authorities have the right to seize computers at the borders of the United States. There is a “border search exception” regarding the seizure of physical objects from travelers and some say it should extend to computers. The final decision on the legality and practice of computer forensic analysis in that situation is still pending. What is not pending is that in order to conduct a computer forensic examination or a cell phone investigation, digital forensics firms or labs must have either the permission of the owner, a court order or subpoena for the device. That means that you cannot casually pick up someone’s phone, computer or tablet and bring it to a forensic [...]

Are You Being Proactive about Cyber Attacks in Your Small Business?

Small business owners have another growing trend to be concerned with in today’s online marketplace. Symantec reported that 30% of cyber attacks targeted small businesses. Not every cyber attack has to do with malicious threats or activities against a specific business or business owner. The fact is that some hackers simply want to cause a disruption for someone, somewhere. As forensics consultants, has seen a growing number of small business owners invest in computer forensic services as a regular expense of operations. This might fly in the face of what we talk about mostly – the use of spyware and malware to stalk or monitor the activities of others, but malware can also infect systems and networks and create complete upheaval – just for fun. [...]

Forensic Data Recovery Reveals the Culprit

When Marcus reflected back on how he felt a few months ago, before his attorney hired a private investigator, his knees felt weak. For a long time, Marcus feared that he might never be able to prove the truth. He feared that he might be unjustly sentenced to a prison term. He worried that he would lose his family and all that he worked for so many years to financially achieve. First, Marcus spent long hours searching for clues. He tried in vain to speak to detectives at the police department. But it seemed that everyone assumed he was guilty long before a trial date was even set. As the weeks rolled by, Marcus became more upset. He was frustrated and felt like he was [...]

Computer Forensic Investigations Overwhelm Authorities

In a recent article in The Police Chief, First Sergeant Charles Cohen, of the Indiana State Police identifies the challenges facing authorities in the field of computer forensics. He says that computer forensic investigators, detectives, and prosecutors all have similar lamentations: There is an unacceptable backlog of computers and devices waiting for examination. By the time computers are examined, it is often too late to follow many of the leads that are produced. Most detectives do not understand computer forensics and what it can accomplish to further their investigations. Many computer forensic examiners do not understand the investigation, causing them to overlook relevant information and expend resources needlessly. These are some of the reasons why attorneys and their clients across the nation turn to when [...]

Computer Forensic Investigations Are on the Rise

The use of computer forensics analysis is exploding. A recent video at Investigation.discovery.com provides a brief overview of what is possible, but it also shows that computer forensic investigation is not a do-it-yourself project – it takes a computer forensics specialist to root out the hidden bits of data that computer forensics experts know will be evidence. Police and other authorities are applying digital forensics to their investigations but so are others in the private sector. is one computer forensics firm that works with many attorneys and other organizations to gather data and evidence. We often find two scenarios: Scenario #1 – Is there a case? There is a suspicion of covert or illegal activity and an attorney is brought in to consult on whether [...]