Case Studies

Intellectual Proprietary Theft:

A former employee exported the employer's customer files and market strategy training documents prior to terminating their employment and founding a competing company.

Destruction of Electronic Data:

A corporation had determined through electronic discovery that an IT employee who had been recently terminated had allegedly created a catastrophic loss of an insurance database. A previous examination of the evidence revealed compelling evidence that the suspected IT Administrator had remotely accessed the network, deleting all use names and passwords, as well as medical records and other medical-related data. Forensic Recovery, LLC was hired to conduct a review for a third party directly affected by the destruction. The review corroborated the original findings and added further collaborative evidence in identifying the offender.

Child Exploitation Investigation (Peer-to Peer Networks):

The government continues to adapt to the changing environment related to Internet crimes against children. Chat rooms interactions, traveler investigations, and possession and distribution have long been the focus of such investigations. A more current investigative technique involves automated searches of peer-to-peer networks, where the government searches for child pornography through the use of MD5 or SHA1 hash values (an electronic fingerprint of image content). A database of such images and their related MD5\SHA1 values are readily available - and lead the investigator to a specific computer which makes the content available. One popular peer-to peer program is LimeWire. Forensic Recovery has been very successful addressing LimeWire cases, often leading to dropped or reduced charges. Each case is unique, so feel free to contact Forensic Recovery, LLC to determine what investigative approaches can be developed to facilitate an effective defense.

Child Exploitation Investigation (Knowledge and Control):

A key element of possession of child pornography involves knowledge and control by the alleged offender. There are numerous areas of electronic evidence that provides explicit evidence as to knowledge and control. In 2009-2010, Forensic Recovery, LLC was hired by a Florida-based law firm whose client faced federal charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. An examination of the evidence identified evidence sufficient to have the charges reduced to a non-sex offense and a withheld adjudication.

Common Case Scenarios

  • Intellectual Property Theft
    An employee or executive leaves an employer to start a new company or work for a competitor. The previous employer ends up in a legal dispute because the employee took with him client contacts, confidential trade secrets and intellectual property, or they left a backdoor for remote access to the network at a later time. We can help determine how the employee acted prior to leaving the company or at the onset of litigation.
  • Child Pornography Charges (Peer-to-Peer))
    Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces around the country identify and arrest potential traders of child pornography on a regular basis. We can review the Government's findings and conduct an independent examination of the digital evidence in order to determine the circumstances surrounding the charged files. Cases are often initiated through CyberTips, Peer-to-Peer/BitTorrent activity, or undercover chats on social media platforms like Kik, Telegram, and Snapchat.
  • Divorce
    Forensic Recovery can assist counsel in helping to identify, preserve, and analyze digital evidence in family litigation. Often, our work is related to location data, communications, and hidden asset leads. Working through counsel on these matters is the preferred mechanism.