Firms’ ignorance over how to collect and preserve computer and internet-based evidence could cost them dearly in lost insurance claims and legal disputes.
Even though companies are well prepared for unlikely events, such as fire or terrorism, they struggle to find information to cope with more common crimes and situations such as employee disputes or forgery.
Experts at the Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC) called for companies to create procedures to identify and collate evidence found in email, PCs and other work devices.
“Most businesses and individuals don’t need to have on their staff a digital Sherlock Holmes,” said Peter Sommer, a senior research fellow at the London School of Economics and author of the IAAC guide on digital investigations.
“They should have plans to identify and preserve important digital evidence, such as email, web transactions, PCs, PDAs and cellphones - and have a broad understanding of some of the associated legal problems such as admissibility and privacy.”