Remote Media Collections

EFS e-Forensic Services has been offering a little-known option with great success, to reduce the cost of data collection and preservation. A flexible remote collection process that can be completed by a computer novice in a secure and defensible manner, lowering the cost of preserving data.

The most critical aspect of digital investigations is the collection and preservation of the original digital media. This task has traditionally meant hands on access to the media by trained computer forensic specialists. Having a specialist attend a site to complete the collection in some cases is prohibitively expensive. Alternatives are limited as having an untrained party complete the collection can lead to the process being questioned and the resulting evidence being excluded.

EFS, with experienced skilled personnel and industry leading tools, has designed remote collection protocols that are; flexible, easily completed by unskilled personnel, defensible and secure. Collected data is protected by 256bit encryption, allowing shipping through existing couriers. Industry standard authentication methods are in place to ensure the collected data is defensible.

In a recent case EFS sent a collection kit to a location in the Canadian Arctic. The kit was designed to collect a forensic image of a running computer. An office manager with very basic computer skills was able to complete the collection. During the process the legal team identified a second powered down computer requiring collection. EFS staff successfully oversaw the collection routine via cellphone. The encrypted data collection was then returned to EFS offices for analysis. Limited flights, weather and high costs at the remote location would have made this collection cost prohibitive using traditional methods.

The flexibility of EFS’s remote collection processes has allowed us to perform collections across North America providing premium service to our clients while managing client costs.  Call EFS to discuss if a remote collection is suitable for your needs.