Informative Articles About Digital Forensics Litigation Support
importance of E-Discovery
An interesting story this morning on a importance of E-Discovery by clearwellsystems, Here is the blurb: In my experience, e-discovery does not make the radar screen of most corporate General Counsels (GCs). Typically, it is one many issues left to others (e.g., Chief of Litigation, Director of Litigation Support) within the GC’s group. That may change after the recent verdict in the case of Broadcom vs. Qualcomm. See below for the story, as told by Corporate Counsel in their October issue, with additional commentary from me [added in brackets]: Collateral Damage After a string of punishing legal defeats, Qualcomm Incorporated has switched general counsel. On August 13 the company announced that Carol Lam would replace Louis Lupin as its legal chief [Sounds like he got fired]. The move came a week after a federal judge issued a scorching order accusing Qualcomm and its outside lawyers of “gross litigation misconduct.” [Sounds like a pretty good reason why he got fired] Emily Kilpatrick, Qualcomm’s director of corporate communications, says Lupin is leaving for personal reasons [Isn’t that what they always say?]. “He has been an outstanding leader and contributor to Qualcomm’s success over the past 12 years,” according to Kilpatrick. “However, he has decided to step down as general counsel and take a personal leave.” [a decision most likely made at the request of his boss] Lam, who was hired in February to supervise Qualcomm’s…
Read MoreThe ethics of computer-based electronic evidence recovery
Technology is present in every aspect of modern life. Information Technology is constantly growing & every new development gets a larger role in our lives. Criminals are exploiting the same technological advances which are driving forward the evolution of society. Computers can be used in the commission of crime, they can contain evidence of crime and can even be targets of crime. Understanding the role and nature of electronic evidence that might be found, how to process a crime scene containing potential electronic evidence and how an agency might respond to such situations is crucial. It cannot be over emphasized that the rules of evidence apply equally to computer-based electronic evidence as much as they do to material obtained from other sources. It is always the responsibility of the case officer to ensure compliance with legislation and, in particular, to be sure that the procedures adopted in the seizure of any property are performed in accordance with statute and current case law. Electronic evidence is valuable evidence and it should be treated in the same manner as traditional forensic evidence with respect and care. The recovery of evidence from electronic devices like computers, tapes, CD/DVD, flash drives, is now firmly part of investigative activity in both public and private sector domains. The methods of recovering electronic evidence, whilst maintaining evidential continuity and integrity may seem complex and costly, but experience has shown that,…
Read MoreCollecting Personal Data for E-Discovery
A huge component of e-discovery relates to electronic files that are created and stored every day by employees – e-mails, word documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more. Oftentimes, it is inadvertent spoliation or omission of such files in discovery that results in undesired sanctions and even default judgments. Thus, developing sound methodologies for identifying, preserving, and collecting files from personal data repositories is a key component of being litigation ready.Know what data exists and where The first consideration in improving an organization’s litigation readiness is to identify where and how personal data is being created and stored. What applications are used to create messages and/or documents throughout the organization? Are application programs centrally managed to limit the types or versions being used? Once electronic information is created, where are files being stored? Are they on desktop and laptop computer hard drives, mapped network share drives, portable flash drives or other removable media? Are document management systems, such as SharePoint sites or other collaboration repositories utilized? Are portable computing devices being used, such as PDAs, Blackberries or smart phones? Do employees use computers at home for business? For these systems, it’s important to ask the following questions: Are personal files backed up for disaster recovery? Where are backup files stored? Are entire hard drives backed up or only those files stored in “My Documents”? Are the back-up processes automated and scheduled or do they rely…
Read MoreAntiforensics Practices Can Complicate E-Discovery Investigations
With the rise of e-discovery, attorneys have necessarily become acquainted with the inner workings of computer systems. File system metadata is often crucial to proving critical points at trial, and computer forensics has shown itself to be an essential tool for discovering lost files and revealing hidden metadata. But as the lawyers and investigators grow more sophisticated in their search for information, so do the people wishing to hide their misdeeds and confuse those on their trail. “Antiforensics” – an approach to computer hacking meant to make detection difficult and proof of detection next to impossible – stands to make life miserable for attorneys and computer forensics experts in the coming years. In practice, antiforensics can involve sophisticated software and methods, but can also include the use of simple hacks and workarounds that can hide files and even change file system metadata. Much of the antiforensics software out there is readily available and intuitive to operate, making it more and more likely that e-discovery investigations will overlook crucial evidence as a result of antiforensic techniques. The simplification of antiforensic software tools makes up a large part of the reason for the recent upswing in the use of antiforensic practices. For instance, there are user-friendly tools that can change the timestamp of a file to make it look like the file was created in the future, accessed twenty years ago and never modified. This…
Read MoreThe Rules for Computer Forensics
The recovery of evidence from electronic devices is fast becoming another component of many the IT Manager’s remit. Electronic evidence gathered is often valuable evidence and as such should be treated in the same manner as traditional forensic evidence – with respect and care. Essentially, this area is known as computer forensics and can be described as the scientific examination and analysis of data held on, or retrieved from, computer storage media in such a way that the information can be used as evidence in a court of law. Subject matter can include: the secure collection of computer data the examination of suspect data to determine details such as origin and content the presentation of computer based information to courts of law (if necessary) the application of a country’s laws to computer practice. In short, the objectives of a forensics analysis are to, determine what happened, the extent of the problem, determine who was responsible and present this information as evidence in court if required. It is used by internal investigators of public and private organisations for a variety of reasons, in particular where a computer user is suspected of a breach of organisational policy. Indeed, in the past couple of years awareness amongst the legal community in Ireland of the need for professional computer forensic services and equipment has increased substantially. The methods of recovering electronic evidence whilst maintaining evidential continuity and…
Read MoreAuthenticating E-Discovery As Evidence
Since the e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect in December 2006, much has been said about the need for organizations to produce electronic evidence (including email, instant messaging (IM) logs and other electronically stored information) during litigation, but since that time a new issue has emerged: can that e-discovery be authenticated to establish that it is what you say it is and ensure it gets admitted into evidence?
Read MoreHow to overcome E-Discovery Challenges with New Technologies
Business communications are now dominated by electronic storage and devices like emails, hard drives, flash drives etc… and the volume of data used and stored is increasing at astonishing rate. Here comes the Electronic discovery. After the recent amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) which recognizes increasing importance of electronically stored information for litigation and regulatory investigations.
Read MoreLetting EDD Evidence Speak for Itself
By now, you undoubtedly have mastered the new electronic data discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. You keep up with the rapidly evolving case law. You probably even know the difference between a computer forensic expert and an EDD vendor, and the differences in the types of services each provide. It’s likely, however, that you haven’t faced the challenge of presenting electronic evidence to a jury, through the testimony of a computer forensic expert. If you have (at least based on discussions with a number of well-known computer forensic experts from around the country who’ve actually testified in court), it’s likely you simply relied on the talking head to present opinions to the jury.
Read MoreIntrusion detection guide
With the growing use of internet the threats attached to it are also growing. As more and more people are getting dependent on internet, the hackers are inventing new ways to intrude into their systems and cause havoc for them. By intruding or by gaining unauthorized access to their computers the hackers can access confidential information or can simply destroy their system and derive sadistic pleasure out of it. Thus, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) have become the need of the hour.
Read MoreDangers in E-Discovery
The big paperless case in the sky is coming your way and, believe it or not, you’re going to embrace it. Instead of tripping over boxes of documents, you will be enjoying all the benefits of using highly compressed electronic documents. Those who still scoff at high technology are costing their firms and their clients a fortune in wasted time, unnecessary expenses and avoidable errors. The price of devotion to paper may even include losing the case, since more than 35 percent of corporate communications never reach paper. If you already scan documents and surf your case management system, you will be happy to know that more leverage is just ahead. Costly manual and semiautomatic document reviews are becoming ever more automated, with nanosecond turnaround times; breathtaking, fractional error rates; and innovative, mega-gigabyte cull-and-search tools.
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