Jul222012
CybersecurityComputer security

As an owner, you want to believe the people who work for you are trustworthy individuals looking out for the company’s best interests. However, you suspect an employee is violating company policy.

What are examples of employees violating your company policy?

  • Committing bribery by getting a kickback from a vendor in exchange for a signed contract
  • Acting as a double agent for competitors by sending confidential information
  • Stealing money through padding expense reports
  • Embezzling money from the company by having accounting pay invoices for their fake company.
  • Forging time and attendance records
  • Watching and storing pornography on company computers
  • Sending threatening messages to other employees.
  • Using a company computer to run their own competing business
  • Leaking or deleting information to get revenge on your company

A computer forensics expert can help your company look for evidence of employee misconduct. An employee computer investigation will find, pull, examine, and secure data from workplace devices. The computer forensic expert will preserve the data for a trial to prevent the loss of data. Your company can use the preserved data as evidence in a court of law, along with any relevant witness interviews, letters, and memos.

What computer activities can computer forensics experts track?

  • Web activity
  • Chat/messaging
  • Emails
  • Network logs
  • Download activities
  • Recently created, opened, retrieved, and deleted files
  • Hidden folders

How can your organization start an employee computer investigation?

  • Create an internet use policy: Let your employees know IT support is monitoring their activities, such as browsing history and keystrokes. Then, set up rules for acceptable use for internet browsing, email, social networks, instant messaging, and file downloading. Finally, warn them that failure to follow the company’s policy can result in job loss and possible criminal prosecution.
  • Do not use any affected computers: Once your company suspects an employee of misconduct, store the device in a secure location until a computer forensics expert can investigate. Do not take matters into your own hands and search through the employee files yourself. Booting the computer and opening documents can cause the file timestamp to change, thereby compromising the evidence.
  • Assure a reliable chain of custody: The computer forensics expert must preserve the exact state of the hard drive to avoid claims of tampering in a trial. The expert will take a snapshot of the hard drive, and then pull relevant documents and activity logs for examination.
  • Use an IP video surveillance system: Your company should consider video surveillance to prevent, prove, and stop employee misconduct. An IP video surveillance system will capture real-time or recorded footage of your business. From there, the camera will transfer this footage to a cloud-based account. Finally, you can log in to this account from your desktop and mobile device. Our blog, Video Surveillance: Why should my business use it? covers this area in more detail.

SwiftTech Solutions can conduct your employee computer investigation. We will help your company collect reliable computer evidence and track employee activity, plus offer 24/7 technical support. For more information, call SwiftTech Solutions at 877-794-3811 or email info@swifttechsolutions.com.

SOURCES
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Today’s Employee, Tomorrow’s Defendant? (2006). Retrieved from: http://www.sgrlaw.com/resources/trust_the_leaders/leaders_issues/ttl17/827/
Fischer, A. Misuse of Confidential Information – Are You Prepared? Retrieved from: http://hicks.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1183&catid=6
Office of Inspector General. Summaries of Investigative Cases. Retrieved from: http://oig.state.gov/aboutoig/offices/inv/c40045.htm
Lype, B. Privacy In The Workplace and Conducting An Internal Investigation. (2008, October). Retrieved from: http://www.lypelaw.com/privacy-in-the-workplace-and-conducting-an-internal-investigation.html
Wunsch, J. Keep Company and Employee Information Safe. Retrieved from: http://humanresources.about.com/od/healthsafetyandwellness/a/protect_data.ht
Pidanick, R. An Investigation of Computer Forensics. Retrieved from: http://www.isaca.org/Journal/Past-Issues/2004/Volume-3/Pages/An-Investigation-of-Computer-Forensics.aspx
Rouse, M. computer forensics (cyber forensics). (2013, May). Retrieved from: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/computer-forensics
Shinn, J. Employer Liability for Employee’s Internet Misconduct – Or When Surfing the Web can Wipe out your Business. (2010, March 15). Retrieved from: https://jshinn.wordpress.com/category/employee-investigation/
Wilcox, T. Computer Investigation Shows Employee Embezzlement is Digital Now, Too. (2013, August 6). Retrieved from: http://www.iiiweb.net/blog/computer-investigation-shows-employee-embezzlement-is-digital-now-too/