Computer forensics is the science of retrieving and chronicling evidence located on a computer’s hard drives and other sources of Electronically Stored Information such as floppies, CDs and DVDs, external drives, thumb drives and voice mail servers, so that it can be presented as evidence in a court of law. The practice of computer forensics includes the use of formal, accepted techniques for collecting, analyzing, and presenting suspect data in court, concentrating on rules of evidence, the legal processes, the integrity and perpetuity of evidence, reporting of facts, and the preparation and presentation of expert testimony.
The applications of computer forensics require specialized training and techniques and state of the art forensics tools and software to evaluate the potential usefulness of computer data, to retrieve and interpret “hidden” data from computer media, and to provide chain of custody and data accuracy with court-accepted techniques.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies have used computer forensics experts to investigate crimes such as fraud, murder, terrorism, and child pornography cases for many years. But the advent of PCs (personal computers) used by businesses and individuals in recent years has dramatically increased the volume of criminal acts committed with the use of computers.
In response, the use of computer forensics has expanded to meet the challenges of the private and public sectors, including, but not limited to, cases involving the following criminal acts:
- copyright infringement
- industrial espionage
- corruption
- decryption
- destruction of information
- use of unlicensed software
- illegal duplication of software
- unauthorized use of a computer
- unauthorized access to confidential information
- fraud
- piracy
- blackmail
- money laundering
- decryption
- corruption
- fraud
- blackmail
EER can assist you with any of the types of cases listed above, and many others. Contact us for more information or if you have questions about how EER can serve you and your clients.