April 29, 2015
5 Reasons Why You Need a Digital Forensic Examiner:
Lists are all over these blogs, aren’t they? But I bet you haven’t seen the top 5 reasons
you need to hire a digital forensic examiner!
Not to be outdone, we’ll try to keep it to only five:
1) Data is everywhere
Think about all the digital devices you own
and use. Chances are, as this graphic
shows, you probably use your handheld portable device(s) in the morning, transition to
laptop/desktop computer(s) during work hours, then go back to mobile with heavy
use of tablets during the evening hours (because you and your partner don’t
want to watch the same TV shows).
This graphic doesn’t even take
into account the internet of things (IOT) and cars with constant connectivity
and GPS. So the bottom line is,
virtually everything you do during the day will involve a digital device on
some level and leave a digital footprint. That data is stored on those
devices and if you’re involved in some sort of dispute, accident, encounter,
etc. that may lead to legal action down the road, you’re going to want a
trained digital forensic expert to acquire, analyze and report that data for
you.
2) Data breaches affect everyone
In the past year or so, we’ve seen
dozens of high-profile data breaches occur in the private commercial and
government sectors. Sony, Target, eBay
& Anthem, just to name a few. And no
one has been immune from the spoliation of this data, even the rich &
famous (i.e., Ben Affleck & Amy Pascal).
But for everyday consumers like us, it means that our personal
information could be shared with unsavory types, so whether you’re hiring a digital
forensic examiner yourself or your bank is hiring one to help find out what happened
and by whom, it does affect you
3) Chances are, you’ll be involved in
litigation at some point
It’s a fact that the U.S. houses
roughly 50% of the world’s attorneys and attorneys make money by handling legal
matters. Not all legal matters are
contested, but when they are, you want the data to show the truth. And if you believe #1 (data is everywhere),
the likelihood that you will not only be involved in some sort of contested
litigation, but that that litigation will likely involve retrieving &
reporting data that is pertinent to your case in a verifiable, forensically
sound & virtually airtight manner is very real. From divorces to child custody to distracted
driving personal injury to criminal cases, the ubiquitous nature of the devices
we carry and the data (i.e., evidence) they store cannot be denied.
4) Your IT guy probably doesn’t know
squat about Digital Forensics
Information Technology (IT) is a
huge field. It encompasses everyone from
help desk agents to information security officers and everyone in between. Generally, when we think about IT, we think
of the computer geek; the guy we call when we can’t access our email, when the
computer “broke”, when our company-owned phone is acting funny or some other every
day run-of-the-mill problem. They’re
good at that stuff and the information security guys are good at setting up
networks and systems to prevent data breaches, but generally none of them are
trained adequately to secure digital evidence, forensically acquire that
evidence, analyze the evidence or testify about the evidence and the procedures
they took. These skills require special
training and experience. Do IT folks
have access to it? Yes. Do most of them take this training? No. Call a professional.
5) The Police can’t do it all
Cybercrime & electronically-facilitated
crime is no doubt on the rise. When we
get calls from potential clients stating they’ve been hacked, we refer them to
the police because computer trespass and theft of personal information is a
crime, but most of the time, they call back a couple weeks later for our
help. The police, especially local
police, don’t have the resources to investigate, analyze data and report as to
what may have happened. And hacking is
just one example. In a day & age
when everyone carries a micro-computer with GPS, a microphone, camera and
telephone in their pocket, which tracks their moves, the value of the evidence that
those devices store cannot be understated.
Unfortunately, along with being involved in litigation, you’ll probably
also be the victim of a crime at some point.
If the police don’t have the resources to adequately investigate the
incident, it may be worth it to call someone who does!
So there’s our list.
If nothing else, we hope this serves to educate just some of the reasons
why you may need a digital forensic examiner on speed-dial. Is a digital forensic examiner someone you
need every day? No. But much like your car mechanic, your
exterminator and your lawyer, you sure want to know how to contact a good one
when the time comes!
Did we mention our contact information is below?
Author:
Patrick J.
Siewert, SCERS, BCERT, LCE
Principal
Consultant
Professional
Digital Forensic Consulting, LLC
Based in
Richmond, Virginia
Available
Globally
About the Author:
Patrick Siewert is the Principal
Consultant of Pro Digital Forensic Consulting, based in Richmond,
Virginia. In 15 years of law
enforcement, he investigated hundreds of high-tech crimes, incorporating
digital forensics into the investigations, and was responsible for
investigating some of the highest jury and plea bargain child exploitation
cases in Virginia court history. A
graduate of both SCERS and BCERT (among others), Siewert continues to hone his
digital forensic expertise in the private sector while growing his consulting
business marketed toward litigators, professional investigators and
corporations.
Twitter: ProDigital4n6
