Forensic Technology
Electronic Discovery Services
E-discovery is the process of identification, collection, processing, classification and verification of electronic data for the purposes of legal review. The Australian legal system, as well as those in most other countries, has recognised that electronic data often has significant evidentiary worth. As with all forms of evidence, the manner in which data is identified, handled and presented will often be thoroughly tested by opposing counsel.
More…
There are several situations where the application of E-discovery knowledge may assist an organisation:
- pro-actively review to identify and understand sources of evidence within an organisation. This will provide organisations with an E-discovery implementation plan which can be used to quickly and efficiently initiate identification and collection activities in the event of a critical incident.
- at the outset of an incident when an organisation determines that electronically stored information may contain evidence which could be relevant to a legal matter. E-discovery processes can ensure this information is secured and available in a legally admissible format.
- in providing expert assistance as part of Anton Pillar or other court assisted/required actions to ensure that all relevant and available sources of electronic evidence are collected and reviewed in a suitable fashion.
Our forensic technology experts have extensive experience in the application of our E-discovery framework which utilises court approved methodologies for the E-discovery process.
Our standard procedures include forensic imaging and/or best-case evidence preservation, verifiable de-duplication of emails and documents, full reporting of collection, processing and final product characteristics, capacity to process evidence into a variety of review platforms including Ringtail, Concordance and Summation, as well as a hosted web based review environment.
Technology Investigations & Technology Expert Services
Electronic storage of business information has increased dramatically over the last two decades. In particular, the significant rise in the use of email in business communications has resulted in a situation where the majority of business information is not printed to hard copy and is only stored electronically.
More…Our forensic technology experts have significant experience in performing technology investigations for law enforcement, regulatory agencies, top tier law firms, private and public organisations as well as on behalf of individuals. The nature of technical investigations can be extremely varied, and examples of some of the matters in which we have been able to assist clients in the past include:
- Forensic preservation of electronic evidence - including court level preservation of data found on server systems, laptops, workstations, mobile phones, PDAs, and other devices
- Cyber crime investigations - reviewing available electronic sources for evidence of malicious internal or external activity aimed at disrupting business activity or other malicious actions (eg web site defacement, network intrusion, etc)
- Computer misuse/Intellectual property theft allegations - these investigations are generally undertaken when organisation suspects illegal or unethical actions have been undertaken by an employee or ex-employee.
Our forensic experts are experienced in providing both written and verbal testimony to courts, tribunals and other hearings.
Data Analytics / Computer Assisted Audit Techniques
Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) are analytic processes which leverage technology to expand the coverage of internal and external audit reviews as well as assist in identifying particular areas for greater focus by the audit team.
More…
CAATs can be applied to any transaction processing system including, but not limited to:
- Accounts Payable/Receivable systems
- General Ledger systems (Manual Journal analysis)
- Payroll/Expenses systems
- Inventory/Asset Management systems
- Sales and rebate analysis.
CAATs complement an organisation’s existing audit and control processes, providing in-depth intelligence and making best use of valuable resources.
PwC’s Suspicious Transaction Analysis (STA) methodology is a specialised version of CAATs which focuses on an automated fraud detection which can search through millions of financial transactions and master file data to identify transactions that require further investigation.
STA is usually conducted on disbursement systems such as accounts payable and payroll. The analytics applied to the data from these systems identify transactions and trends with elevated fraud risk.
Some examples of our STA analytic testing include:
- duplicate payments (made either fraudulently or in error)
- collusion between suppliers and employees
- suppliers and customers fitting known fraud profiles
- questionable transactions and payments.
