Data Collections
Acquiring digital evidence can be a daunting task. Whether its a single email account, cell phone or all of the computers in a large corporation having the right expertise matters. It’s imperative it be collected in a defensible forensic manner. Why does it matter? If a document, email, database or folder can be read, then what is the worry? The worry you should have is admissibility in court.
When using a document in court, it must be authenticated and the method used must be defensible. Meaning, opposing counsel must be convinced nothing has been deleted or altered, including its metadata. When data is not collected in a forensically sound manner, you inherently change the metadata, whether you mean to or not. Once opposing counsel objects because of spoiled metadata, it is out, and sanctions and/or summary judgment on your case can be right around the corner.
Potential Sources
If it stores data, we can collect it.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media collections have become more and more relevant in both civil and criminal cases. This is forensically collecting from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, to name a few. Please see our Cloud Accounts collection service page for more info.
MOBILE DEVICES
Wheather you have iOS, Andriod or Windows mobile device, we can collect it. This is often times to only source of key evidence such as text messages and call logs, We can also collect from cloud backup services, such as iTunes, iCloud, Google, etc.
CLOUD APPLICATIONS
Cloud applications have changed the way we work. Whether your using Uber to get a ride, AWS EC2 virtual machines to run your business or perhaps GSuite’s to host your emails, it has become the norm to collect data from cloud service providers.
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
Computers contain a wealth of info beyond the obvious user files saved on local hard drives. They also contains user history info to prove the who, what, when and how it was used. This key when investigating wrongdoing or proving key facts.
CLOUD STORAGE
Cloud storage has become common for most data collection projects. For most individuals and corporations, a substantial amount of information is now stored with third party cloud service providers, such as AWS, Azure, Google and iCloud, etc.
NETWORK SHARES
A shared network drive lets users share files from computer-to-computer. The shared resource most often operates on a Local Access Network (LAN). A shared drive is commonly a multi-drive NAS, DAS or SAN in a raid configuration.
EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICES
External storage devices, also referred to as auxiliary storage and secondary storage, is a device that contains all the addressable data storage that is not inside a computer’s main storage or memory. Such as, USB’s, flash drives, external hard drives, DVD/CD’s.
SERVERS
A server is a computer program or device that provides functionality for other programs or devices (“clients”). Servers can provide various functionalities, often called “services”, such as sharing data or resources among multiple clients, or performing computation for a client.