IT Forensics

All businesses today are reliant to some extent on IT services, such as the internet, internal networks, computing technologies and access technologies like personal computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. These services are routinely the target of malicious activity that can cause immense damage to an organisation’s operation if systems and processes are not adequately secure. When a breach occurs, it’s imperative you turn to experts that can identify and isolate the attack forensically, so evidence can be protected for future use in court.

Blackhawk Intelligence categorises IT Forensics as a specific service, that investigates threat activities in relation to the broader expanse of an organisation’s networked communications services. This is different to the activities from our services that examine a single point of attack, such as a PC, Laptop, Mobile Phone, etc. Threats of an “IT” nature generally relate to attacks that exploit the vulnerabilities in systems and process ‘network-wide’, such as a poorly secured remote employee access point, or access points to your organisations network that have become vulnerable because of oversight or the unintended consequences of systems updates or lax security protocols, such as WiFi, for instance.

Who will benefit from our IT forensic services

Blackhawk Intelligence’s IT forensics services are available to companies that wish to conduct an investigation into a breach of the company’s IT systems or where a fraud that utilised a company’s digital assets had taken place. Our clients include:

• Corporate security and IT departments of companies
• Company directors and shareholders who suspect foul play
• Law firms whose clients suffer breaches to their IT systems
• Law enforcement agencies

IT systems are no longer the preserve of large companies but the beating heart of most businesses today. For instance, many small to medium-size companies rely on eCommerce systems, websites, data storage, among other IT systems to conduct businesses and thrive. As these systems play a critical role in many companies, they become a target for hackers and fraudsters. A threat to a company’s IT system is a threat to the ongoing viability of the company itself. Accordingly, firms of all sizes now realise that they need to identify weaknesses, defend attacks and uncover fraudulent activates within their IT systems. This is where our IT Forensics team can help.

Vulnerability to attack has little relationship to company size

It may be easy for smaller businesses to convince themselves that they have nothing of value to offer a fraudster or hacker, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Most companies have three things of value to a criminal:

1. Bank accounts
2. Customer and employee information
3. Web resources

Companies transmit this type of information and other sensitive data between devices regularly, and any packet of transmitted data could be hacked and stolen. Hackers could sell the information in the dark web or use the information against you.

An example of customer information fraud hacked from a network

Companies keeping sensitive customer information tend to store such information in a database within an office-based server or in cloud-based storage. While database security and cloud security are often robust, they are not flawless. Consideration must also be given to human weakness.

For example, to perform many day-to-day tasks (like checking orders or helping customers with queries), employees need to access customer information via WiFi regularly. Most WiFi networks have vulnerabilities, coupled that with weak passwords or common mistakes like leaving a device unlocked, meaning that hackers can easily steal any packet of data and run a program to decipher the data.

Weak passwords are surprisingly common despite many warnings given. Most employees still use common passwords like qwerty, password, 1111111, 12345678, abc 123 and other easily guessed passwords to login to the WiFi, database, and other systems within a company.

Blackhawk Intelligence’s expert IT Forensics Investigators can help

Our IT Forensics service is part of our suite of Digital Forensics services, designed to help companies detect, identify and prosecute perpetrators who commit fraud or misuse a company’s digital assets. Our investigators have years of experience in identifying and uncovering patterns of fraud and entry points into vulnerable IT systems and processes.

In addition to crime detection, protecting the integrity of evidence is also paramount because the data must be admissible in a court of law.

Accredited IT forensics experts specialise in:

• IT infrastructure hacking and data leak
• Employee misuse of internet, intranet and devices
• Criminal fraud cases
• Unauthorised transfer or removal of information
• Intellectual property theft
• Suspected industry espionage

We provide accurate IT forensics examinations and reports. We are also expert witnesses whom you can rely on to explain digital evidence, as well as presenting evidence on fraud cases in court.

You may also be interested to know that our digital forensics team oversees these five areas of services:

• Cyber crime and digital forensics
• Forensic data analysis
• Mobile phone forensics
• Computer forensics
• IT forensics

Turn to the experts at Blackhawk Intelligence, experience counts

If perpetrators are to be stopped and caught and their activities recorded as evidence to bring them to trial, speed and forensic integrity are critical. We’ve assisted many organisations identify the sources of attack and uncovered the tracks of perpetrators using forensic techniques and evidence that leads to successful prosecutions and the recovery of lost assets.

If you suspect that your IT infrastructure is being exploited for criminal purposes, call Blackhawk Intelligence urgently on:
+44 (0)20 8108 9317