From small, sole trader companies to large corporations, all businesses of every size will eventually encounter some kind of litigation, investigation or dispute. Many of these will lead to the need for records and data to be examined to answer the pressing questions of what happened, when, where and why it took place. Computer forensics, which is the practice of using specialized analytical techniques to identify, acquire, examine and preserve any electronically stored information can be a helpful tool to use in these situations.
Why Use Computer Forensics?
Businesses that use computer forensics tend to do so during an investigation to ensure the integrity of any original media. Changes to file date-stamps, log-in times, or even changes to the actual data files can be avoided when strong forensic techniques are used. Computer forensics will also establish an audit trail, which can be used as evidence for legal purposes if needed, thanks to the validation and verification of procedures and results.
Computer forensics can also play a key role in determining what kind of data resided where, and what happened to it, which is often important in high-profile cases such as criminal investigations or a civil suit. For example, the technique can recover deleted evidence in fraud cases. However, computer forensics can also be used to help solve common problems that businesses might face on a daily basis.
How Can You Use Computer Forensics for Your Business?
Often, business investigations are not on a large scale. For example, you might want to discover if an employee has been accessing inappropriate websites or storing unauthorized files on their work computer. Computer forensics can be used to find anything from small violations of company policy to fraudulent and criminal actions that could cost your business millions of dollars.
Although business cases and investigations may vary, the techniques used by SecureForensics are much the same. Your business can benefit from computer forensics in a range of ways, for example, identifying unauthorized access to sites and files by employees, identifying employee fraud, recovering deleted files, or simply highlighting general patterns of employee behavior.
Keeping Track of Storage Devices:
If you suspect fraud within your company, computer forensics services will be vital for discovering how this has happened and who is committing the fraud. With the storage of electronic information becoming more prevalent, it has become easier for employees to copy files from a hard drive to a USB or thumb drive. Certain files could be used for personal gain, blackmailing, or even sold to a competitor; whatever the scenario, the company will suffer.
Forensic analysis of company computers can determine whether files have been copied, even if every trace of evidence has been covered up. For instance, if the file has been opened from the linked device on the computer, then a linked file is created, which can become an identifier to the external device. This technique can be used to track abnormal behavior, recover deleted files, and determine usage patterns.
Does your business need computer forensics?
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