Computer crime may be defined as any crime involving a computer and/or the usage of modern telecommunication networks and devices such as the world wide web or mobile phones.
Given the huge advances in IT and the widespread use of computers and mobile devices, digital evidence derived from forensic computer analysis is now at the forefront of many criminal investigations.
The methodical examination of digital devices such as personal computers in order to establish evidence of illegal, unauthorised or unusual activities is a specialist area.
Frequently computer analysis involves three main areas:
- Imaging – the creation of a forensic image of digital media and the preservation of the integrity of data for proceedings at a later date.
- Preview computer forensic analysis – this commonly involves searching the device for readily retrievable ‘live’ data. This form of analysis will often lead to a full forensic analysis
- Full computer forensic analysis – this service involves the search, recovery and analysis of all data stored in the device including any that may exist on ‘unallocated’ clusters where, for instance, a user has attempted to delete a file, thus removing the pointer to the file, but not the file’s contents.
- Hogan Brown has been involved in a whole range of investigations including intellectual property theft, computer misuse, possession of indecent images and other type of cases that rely heavily in digital evidence such as cell site analysis.
Our lawyers have the experience required to identify the key issues in cases that feature digital evidence presented by the Prosecution authorities. We also have a clear understanding of the tools that digital forensic experts can provide to assist our client’s case such as data recovery, enhanced video and audio files, etc.
We work closely with some of the most experienced providers of digital forensics services in the country who gather, analyse and preserve information from any digital media in a form acceptable as evidence in a Court.
Cases where Hogan Brown has been involved include:
- Computer misuse – we advise in cases where trusted employees are alleged to have been using office computers to access pornography. Working closely with our chosen experts we can ensure that the computer is secured following established CACPO guidelines for computer based evidence.
- Indecent images – in a prosecution for the possession of indecent images we can investigate the forensic analysis produced by the Police, ensuring that their forensic images files have been properly created and attributed.
- Intellectual property theft – we have acted in cases where an ex employee of a company has stolen the customer database of a former employer and is now working for a rival company. The report which we commissioned was able to show the theft of such data. Court orders were secured which enabled us to recover the USB drives from the individual concerned and the forensic analysis identified deleted customer data basis present on those devices.