The situation
Here’s a scenario Western fans will be familiar with: dusty town on the high plains. The sheriff’s been doing just fine upholding the law … until outside elements come on the scene. Then he needs some help.
This was the situation a life sciences company’s in-house investigations team found itself in when the company’s footprint expanded to include international offices. The small team—responsible for collecting information about possible legal and regulatory breaches by company employees—was based in one location and just couldn’t cover the additional ground.
Of particular concern: the ability to forensically preserve data from computers and mobile devices. This part of an investigation doesn’t just require a physical presence at a given office; it can take the team into legal and regulatory jurisdictions outside the United States. Adding to the challenge: the COVID-19 pandemic, which had shuttered offices and introduced widespread travel restrictions.
The company didn’t just need extra feet on the street overseas; they needed people familiar with the cultural, business, law enforcement, and legal practices specific to each country.
So when employees in their European office were suspected of malfeasance and the company needed their devices for a digital forensic investigation, they engaged Deloitte’s On-Call Digital Forensics.
Small team, limited capacity. Time for a force multiplier.
The solve
Digital Forensics is a rapid deployment group designed to enhance and augment digital forensic and investigations capabilities for clients around the world. It’s a force multiplier for in-house investigators. And all it takes to activate it is a phone call.
When Deloitte’s team in Europe got the call, it was in motion within the hour. The team collected the devices from the company’s office, documented chain of custody in accordance with local regulations, copied the device data onto hard drives, returned the devices, and forwarded the drives on to the company’s local investigation team.
Simple, straightforward, compliant—and fast. Close coordination with clients’ in-house teams is a crucial element to Digital Forensics’ process; sometimes, for instance, devices need to be collected from several locations simultaneously to avoid tipping off co-conspirators.
You can conduct digital forensics across borders. With the right help.
The impact
By collaborating with Deloitte, the internal investigations team gained more than global forensic data collection capabilities—it also enhanced its capability for domestic collections on an as-needed basis.
The relationship has since expanded to include—among other things—assessing business and technology aspects of software licensing, understanding restrictions and export control requirements in Asia, and assisting the team in identifying automated tools to collect data.
The client has also engaged Deloitte for related Deloitte competencies such as cybersecurity and global incident response. With these expanded capabilities, the internal client team is able to be even more responsive to investigative needs while working to reduce its exposure to legal risk and liability.
Forensic data collection: No longer limited by geography.
