What are computer forensics?

Nearly 84% of US households have reported owning a computer. The computer has become one of the most common household devices in the American home. Much of our communication is now done via written email or texting. It is a fact that computers and mobile phones have become integral parts of daily lives of most of us. Consequently, we leave behind a lot of information about ourselves and our activities on our computers and other digital devices.

Computer forensics is the science of identifying, recovering, extracting, preserving, and documenting Electronically Stored Information (ESI) so that it can be presented as evidence in a court of law. It is taking digital information and evidence from a computer to aid in an investigation.

In our digitized world, evidence is rarely preserved on paper. But the good news is that electronic data, which can be from any digital asset or data storing entity, often leaves a much deeper trail than paper. A lot of this information can be recovered with the right expertise, even if the information has been deleted or the device damaged. This data can be used in investigations, both criminal and civil in nature.

We know precisely how to find the evidence, interpret it, evaluate its importance, and articulate those facts to a jury. No matter where the critical data is located, whether it is a cell phone, social media, laptop, and server or in the cloud, our digital forensics experts can collect it while using best practices and the strictest forensic protocols.

Our capabilities encompass the full range of data, including desktop computers, servers, databases and other devices such as flash drives, phones, websites, network shares, and cloud based platforms. We can also conduct searches of computing systems across a network by file name, keywords, deleted files, date, path, security permissions, file system type, file signature, and many other metadata fields.

We have expertise in finding and following digital footprints and digital information that has been hidden or deleted, such as emails, phone logs, texts, chats, and more. We can recover deleted text files (documents and photos), and the date codes for these files (when they were created, modified, or last accessed). We can recover e-mails and attachments. We can also trace URL (Internet) activity, the websites visited, timelines, downloads, and manipulation of data.

We always make sure that your evidence is preserved and documented following all relevant federal guidelines so that your digital evidence can be admissible in a court of law. Our digital forensic experts are trained to collect electronic evidence following the strictest digital forensics methodologies and procedures.

If you have any questions about our computer and digital forensic services, do not hesitate to call us at (916) 865-8169.