Six Ways Attorneys Can Ruin a Computer Forensic Case
In this article, Martin Prinsloo and Gabriel Campos of PKF member firm Berkowitz Pollack Brant examine six common ways that business professionals and their legal counselors unintentionally alter or destroy digital evidence, complicating forensic investigations and exposing themselves to legal risks.
Many disputes have been decided based on digital data collected and recovered from computers and cellular phones. In this age of big data and expanding digital footprints, legal professionals are faced with a multitude of challenges around preserving and protecting digital evidence to ensure it is forensically sound and credible for use in legal proceedings.
As well as discussing the common mistakes, which include turning recovered computers off or on, failing to disconnect devices from the internet, and assuming data can be recovered from damaged devices, the authors also look at how to mitigate against such issues and offer advice around protecting digital evidence.