7 Ways to Turn “He said, she said” into “I.T. said”

7 Ways to Use Digital Forensics for Workplace Investigations

1.     Smart Phone

2.     Laptop

3.     Desktop

4.     Server/work station

5.     Cloud Account

6.     Social Media

7.     Surveillance Camera

When it comes to workplace disputes, there are often conflicting accounts of what has taken place. Human beings remember events differently, forget exactly what has happened, or even lie to cover up bad behavior. That’s why the digital artifacts recorded by our devices and stored in silicon chips have become our best witnesses for workplace investigations.

The Silicon Witness never lies. The Silicon Witness never forgets. The Silicon Witness never misremembers or shows bias.

In workplaces across the United States and beyond, employers and employees are turning to the emerging science of Digital Forensics – the investigation of cell phones, computers, tablets and servers – to uncover the truth and resolve disputes.

Digital Forensics can recover deleted text messages or emails to confirm inappropriate activities. But the real magic of the discipline is in recovering and interpreting the metadata on our devices, which can provide all kinds of clues about when, where and how activities took place.

When someone deletes, copies, or alters a file that will leave a recoverable digital trail. Communications such as Facebook posts, texts, tweets will leave behind time, date and location stamps which can prove far more reliable than human testimony.

Even deleted browsing histories can be restored to confirm the state-of-mind or intentions of a specific user on a specific date or time.

To learn more about how to make use of Digital Forensics for a sexual harassment investigation or workplace dispute, you can visit our Sexual Harassment Investigation page.

When a incident takes place, the first step for harnessing the power of digital evidence is to have the relevant devices or cloud accounts preserved by a professional. Evidence has a way of disappearing through intentional deletion or destruction of devices.

Once clones or “images” are made of the devices, the important data can never be destroyed. If and when a legal action is taken, the evidence gathered will be legally admissible and compelling for judges, magistrates and juries.

Digital Forensics professionals use a system called “Hashing” which creates a unique alphanumeric character string for each piece of evidence. Checking these hash values confirms that the evidence is authentic and that it has not been altered.

If you’d like to learn more about specific kinds of evidence that can be found on common digital devices you can read this.

For more information CONTACT VESTIGE.