Informative Articles About Digital Forensics Litigation Support
How To Use Metadata As An Examination Tool
By Nicholas J. Deleault In today’s computer dependant world, the zealous advocate must be able to navigate his way through every conceivable form of discovery in order to effectively represent his or her client. Failure to seek the appropriate records or the failure to respond to discovery requests with the appropriate electronic discovery knowledge could potentially expose both client and attorney to the risk of sanctions for discovery abuses and/or result in the spoliation of evidence. Knowledge of the electronic evidence is crucial to any attorney hoping to retain clients. Once electronic evidence is in hand though, an attorney faces additional obstacles, specifically, regarding how to properly use such evidence. Gaining a true understanding of metadata can mean the difference between success and failure. Metadata is more than simple electronic evidence. General electronic discovery typically considers easily accessible electronic files, such as those on an active network file server. Metadata is more obscure and difficult to locate, and is found through an examination of often hidden and deleted files, or even left over file fragments that were supposed to be deleted. Specifically, metadata describes how, when and by whom particular set of data is collected and formatted. Metadata can often be thought of as the “DNA” of documents. It is hidden from view and often contains the most damaging information. Discovering the metadata behind a piece of data, such as a document or…
Read MoreElectronic Discovery 2.0
Electronic Discovery, or “e-discovery” refers to the discovery of data from electronic storage and other electronic media for example e-mails, Hard Disk Drives, Databases, CAD/CAM files, websites and any other electronically-stored information which can be used as an evidence in a law suit. Electronic Discovery 2.0, or “e-discovery 2.0” refers to the next generation of processes, technologies, and services that streamline and modernize the traditional e-discovery process as well as allows businesses to manage huge volumes of data, lower costs, and meet tight deadlines. In this Electronic Discovery process civil litigants seek to acquire information from both parties and from third parties. In the early days Electronic Data & Evidence Recovery meant just handling over a few boxes of paper, but in today’s rapidly growing world where it involves terabytes of electronic data & valuable time, it is a different story. To deal with the increasing volume & complexity of e-discovery issues, companies have to adopt new technologies and processes. If technology has created problem, then it can also solve it. In recent years lot of new technologies have emerged which enables organizations to store and search through their data to fulfill electronic discovery obligations. As the cost of disk storage is reducing, people are moving from tapes to disks. This enables them to keep their data online and readily available for e-discovery from basic keyword search to sophisticated analysis tools. That mines…
Read Morepart 4 of the four part series about Electronic data Discovery
To do truly useful monitoring and analysis of data access requires understanding who the users are and what permissions they have, Summers says, so he expects electronic data discovery tools to begin monitoring policy servers and directory services in the next year. That requires a cohesive strategy for compliance and security, one that requires coordinating IT, business, security and legal needs. To accomplish that strategy, the CIO needs to ensure that monitoring and analysis is deployed holistically, not by just the security team or the network administration staff. Effective fraud and compliance monitoring requires having the right policies in place to manage data and access, as well as analyzing ongoing events in the network, in key applications and in key data stores. The new breed of electronic data discovery tools are fairly expensive and difficult to deploy, notes Gartner’s Williams. Costs for a large enterprise start at $300,000 and can rise beyond
Read Morepart 3 Electronic data Discovery
CIOs should be sure they don’t approach ELECTRONIC DATA DISCOVERY solely as an IT issue. “Let your general counsel manage this,” advises Matt Curtin, founder of the forensic computing consultancy Interhack. An attorney can best decide what records would be needed for legal proceedings. And he can set guidelines on cleansing transaction histories: “The longer you keep the data, the more you have to be subpoenaed,” Curtin says, “so you’ll be hit for more [discovery] requests.” That increases the chances that the other party will find your own errors and mistakes, he notes. Focus on Investigation While the “forensics” label may be misleading, ELECTRONIC DATA DISCOVERY tools can help the enterprise investigate possible security and compliance breaches to identify where a true forensics investigation should take place or to understand a previous breach as part of an effort to strengthen enterprise defenses. Curtin advises that enterprises consider ELECTRONIC DATA DISCOVERY tools that provide search and query capabilities that in-house analysts can use to uncover clues about potential problems, not just canned detection rules. Having lots of monitoring systems isn’t that useful if you don’t know where to focus your attentions. ELECTRONIC DATA DISCOVERY tools can help identify the problematic areas, “so you don’t bother with the rest of the data,” he says.
Read Morepart two of the four part series Electronic data Discovery
Here is the second post on the four part series Electronic data Discovery Beware the Forensics Label Many sales people attach the label “forensics” to their security and compliance analysis tools, and that can be very misleading. In law enforcement circles, “forensics” means a well-defined set of discovery and investigative processes that hold up in court for civil or criminal proceedings. An enterprise that relies on these tools’ records or analysis in, for example, a wrongful termination suit, is probably in for an unpleasant surprise. “It may not hold up in court,” says Schwalm, a former Secret Service agent.
Read MoreThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Implications for Nonprofit Organizations
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Implications for Nonprofit Organizations A collaboration between BoardSource and independent sector has produced the following report on the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on nonprofits. BoardSource and INDEPENDENT SECTOR wish to thank Dan Moore, Vice President for Public Affairs, GuideStar; Tom Hyatt, Principal, Ober Kaler; and Paul Nelson, President, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability for sharing their professional insights and expertise on this document. The American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability Act of 2002, commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was signed into law on July 30, 2002. Passed in response to the corporate and accounting scandals of Enron, Arthur Andersen, and others of 2001 and 2002, the law’s purpose is to rebuild public trust in America’s corporate sector. The law requires that publicly traded companies adhere to significant new governance standards that increase board members’ roles in overseeing financial transactions and auditing procedures. While nearly all of the provisions of the bill apply only to publicly traded corporations, the passage of this bill should serve as a wake-up call to the entire nonprofit community. If nonprofit leaders do not ensure effective governance of their organizations, the government will step forward and also regulate nonprofit governance. Indeed, some state attorneys general are already proposing that elements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act be applied to nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit leaders should look carefully at the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley and determine whether their organizations…
Read Morefour part series on electronic data discovery Tools & Your Enterprises
Here is a four part series i found on the internet about Electronic data Discovery (EDD) TOOLS. Michael Osborne has been getting a lot of vendor calls lately pitching a new breed of products, typically called electronic data discovery (EDD) tools. These tools promise to investigate historical data to uncover security breaches, compliance failures and plain old errors in transactions across various enterprise systems, from network administration to accounting. Driven by compliance requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, these tools focus on user activities, such as who accessed a database or updated a customer account. The goal is to look at both real-time and historic patterns across multiple databases, networks and applications to find suspicious activities that might indicate insider financial fraud, customer identity theft, compliance policy breaches or theft of proprietary data such as customer contacts or product designs. As the senior security manager at Kimberly-Clark, which makes health and hygiene products, Osborne is interested in ways to prevent supplier or insider fraud, such as detecting sham providers used to steal or launder money. In other organizations, electronic data discovery tools might be used to detect identity theft or violations of information-access policies. Osborne is not alone in getting these pitches, say analysts and consultants, who warn that CIOs should be cautious. “There’s a lot of vaporware out there,” says Avivah Litan, a security research director…
Read MoreEffective Electronic Discovery: Who, What, Where, When
There are a number of reasons that electronic discovery continues to make news, attorneys and paralegals are demanding standards to govern electronic discovery, and courts around the country are considering (some are already implementing) local rules to change how attorneys manage the electronic portion of discovery in cases. The ABA Task Force on Electronic Discovery, and the Discovery Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure, are inviting public comment and considering options for best practices and possible rules changes. The news media continues to report blunders by companies who haven’t mastered appropriate electronic housekeeping. All this adds up to the conclusion that attorneys and paralegals face a steep learning curve to understand electronic discovery, and then stay current with the continual developments in the area. No matter what your level of electronic discovery expertise, gathering the answers to four simple questions will position you to handle electronic discovery effectively in any case. Who? Whether crafting electronic discovery requests to be served on an opponent, or Examining a document request aimed at your own client, the first step in electronic Discovery is to answer three “who?” questions: Who are the document custodians of interest? Who are the holders of electronic evidence relevant to the issues at hand? and, Who is knowledgeable about how and where electronic documents are created and stored? The answers to these questions will help formulate an…
Read MoreElectronic Discovery Best Practices
I. INTRODUCTION [1] The concept of electronic discovery is still somewhat intimidating to many attorneys, but those who have learned to implement electronic discovery best practices are enjoying the advantages it offers, which include greater control over document review and production processes as well as significant cost reductions. Whether you come to the discovery process as in-house or outside counsel, you can anticipate some of the issues involved in responding to electronic data requests. Pre-review cooperation among in-house counsel, their litigators, and Information Technology (IT) personnel is ideal for planning a successful electronic discovery response. [2] The abundance of electronic information makes pre-litigation planning more important than ever before. Finding and producing information in response to electronic document requests can initially appear to be an enormous undertaking, and a disorganized or untimely response can have disastrous consequences. With preparation and the proper technology, however, the document review and production process can be easier and more efficient than procedures used in the “paper world.” Counsel can streamline discovery response, minimize its impact upon ongoing business operations, reduce costs of review and production, and gain a strategic advantage in the process. Proper planning among corporate counsel, IT departments, and outside counsel integrates preparation for discovery with daily operations. Rather than experience a crisis when litigation arises, corporate management and its counsel are instead ready to respond, leveraging the advantages of electronic discovery. II. DISCOVERABILITY OF…
Read MoreDon’t let electronic evidence bury your firm
By Sharon D. Nelson, Esq. and John W. Simek Electronic Evidence How vastly the world has changed in the past decade. Today, more than 90 percent of our documents are electronic and most never will be converted to paper. We send e-mails at a frenzied pace — North America alone transmits more than 4 trillion e-mails a day. The daily average of non-spam e-mails received by the average worker is 20 to 80. No longer does the word “documents” in discovery mean paper documents. The definition of document has been universally expanded to include electronic files. With increasing frequency, the pivotal evidence in cases is electronic and can show up in two places you might not think of. First are in those e-mails we dash off with such abandon and so little thought. You should hit that “Send” button only if: 1) it’s OK to see your e-mail on the front page of The New York Times; 2) you don’t mind if your entire neighborhood sees it on a bulletin board on your nearest highway; 3) it would be perfectly agreeable for your mom to read it; and 4) if you have considered whether the transmission of the message could ever come back and bite you in the tush in a courtroom. Another source of pivotal evidence many lawyers and paralegals are blithely unaware of is metadata (hidden data showing things such…
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