In a world where an organization’s trade secrets can be compromised with a few clicks, identifying whether or not intellectual property (IP) theft took place can be a complex process for many reasons.

Since many IP theft perpetrators are internal staff, asking internal IT staff to investigate may uncover issues of bias or conflicts of interest. Additionally, IT staff may not have the experience or training necessary to properly preserve the evidence gathered. Relying upon an experienced digital forensics firm will address both of these complexities given their expertise and unbiased third-party standing.

The virtual nature of digital assets simplify the IP theft process and also complicate any investigation into wrongdoing. Plus, these analyses cannot be understood within the standard criminal investigation framework. All gathered materials should be shared with a digital forensic specialist. What the forensic analyst is trying to determine is whether the materials have probative value (i.e., possessing relevance for the case in question). Digital forensics is a unique way to handle the potential IP theft investigations.

Preservation is a key principle in IP theft investigations just as it is with any other crime scene: everything ideally stays as it was at the time of the crime, as indicated by security training firm, the InfoSec Institute. Access to all devices should be stopped and all access should be blocked when IP theft is first suspected or discovered. Experienced analysts then systematically categorize and collect data to better understand whether a crime occurred. Key materials can be damaged or destroyed if someone without a forensics background attempts to access the digital evidence. If someone intrudes without proper credentials, the evidence is essentially contaminated which may lead to halted investigations, lost lawsuits, and the failure to return the IP to the rightful owner.

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