By Don Walker Threats to the strategic value of your business almost always involve a computer or network because that is where your company's proprietary information and business processes are located. A simple and virtually undetectable fraud that posts a few cents to a phony account can reap a perpetrator thousands of dollars flowing through accounts payable. A malicious change to an individual's personnel records could cost the person a job and a career. Divulging a company's financial records could damage it on Wall Street, in the marketplace and before shareholders.
Corporate espionage can steal trade secrets.
Employees of a company might be stealing from it or using company resources to work for themselves. Or, they can be using excessive work time to surf pornographic sites and play games. Computer forensics investigators examine computer hardware and software using legal procedures to obtain evidence that proves or disproves allegations. Gathering legal evidence is difficult, and requires trained specialists who know computers, the rules of evidence gathering and how to work with law enforcement authorities. Computer forensics examiners should be called in when a threat to a company's business and reputation is serious.