How do you use technology to protect your company?
The increased availability of IT in the workplace has been one of the most revolutionary developments in financial crime in recent years. It has changed the way in which traditional frauds can be perpetrated and opened the door to a whole new wave of technology and Internet related crimes. The Forensic Technology Solutions team analyses electronic evidence with the latest forensic software and equipment. Whether banking fraud, money laundering, account manipulation, procurement and payroll fraud or the theft of confidential information is suspected, our team can draw on a wide range of backgrounds and extensive experience as well as on our global network with over 300 forensic technology professionals to provide you with an efficient and effective solution.
The challenges you face
- You suspect that some employees have paid or received bribes for years and that the suspects could delete relevant data.
- You want to analyse a large amount of electronic data according to specific criteria.
- You are in for an important trial, however, crucial evidence is still missing.
- You suspect that several employees as a group may be involved in a criminal matter.
- You fear that your newly appointed creative director has already made important documents available to the competition.
How PwC can support you
- Imaging (securing) of electronic evidence
Using specialised equipment and procedures approved for gathering electronic evidence, our team can ensure that any. ensuing legal proceedings are not negatively affected by the quality of the available evidence.
- E-mail processing and analysis
Our specialised tools and techniques for dealing with high volumes of e-mail data make it possible for investigators to undertake a comprehensive analysis of potentially relevant e-mails.
- Data mining and matching
Our data mining procedures allow us to track patterns of suspect transactions and identify organisations and individuals with inappropriate involvement.
- Investigation support systems
Our investigation support systems (ISS) allow investigators, lawyers and other relevant parties to work with and review data without the need for complex data analysis skills and without the risk of damaging the underlying evidence.
- Document analysis and transformation
Our document management tools allow us to turn papers into electronic photocopies and text files that can then be analysed using fuzzy search criteria to check for keywords or recurring patterns.
In order for electronic data to be entered as valid evidence in a court or in disciplinary proceedings, it is vital that an image of the relevant storage device (hard disk, server, PDA) is taken at the earliest possible point in the investigation. Using specialised equipment and procedures approved for gathering electronic evidence, our team can help ensure that any ensuing legal proceedings are not adversely affected by the quality of available evidence.
A forensic image is a complete and unaltered replica of the evidence in question, authenticated with a forensic signature identifying it as an exact copy of the original. As such it is admissible as evidence in place of the original item, allowing machines to be returned to use after imaging and limiting disruption to business. As forensic methods capture the entire media, including temporary and unallocated areas, the evidence available for analysis includes not only files stored by the user, but also any previously deleted files, evidence of Internet usage and other temporary information which may remain on the disk.
The prolific use of e-mail in the corporate environment provides forensic investigators with a wealth of potential evidence in many fraud investigations. Our specialised tools and techniques for dealing with high volumes of e-mail data make it possible for investigators to undertake a far more comprehensive analysis of potentially relevant e-mails than previously possible.
Our customised tools allow us to remove duplicates, including forwarded or copied messages and attachments, from a corporate e-mail system and then to use fuzzy keyword matching techniques to identify mails, which may be relevant to the enquiry. Such a system ensures that only potentially relevant mails are manually reviewed, which not only allows us to make the best use of investigative resources, but also assists us in satisfying human rights and data protection requirements.
In any fraud investigation it is frequently necessary to identify the relevant information from within large volumes of everyday business data. We have a wealth of experience in extracting and analysing large amounts of information taken either from live business systems or from historic back-up media. Our data mining procedures enable us to track patterns of suspect transactions and identify organisations and individuals with inappropriate involvement.
Our matching procedures can be used to match financial transactions. This is particularly key in tracing flows of funds through banks or companies or in understanding the counter booking of transactions. Fuzzy matching techniques are also vital when comparing names and addresses recorded in different systems as such information is often entered with variations, particularly if any of the source documents were hand-written.
Successful investigation of any major incident requires the support of complex analytical tools, not purely for data investigation but also to assist in presenting and explaining the findings both to management and to external parties, such as legal advisers, insurers and prosecuting authorities.
The investigation support systems (ISS) we design allow investigators, lawyers and other relevant parties, to work with and review the data under investigation without the need for complex data analysis skills and without the risk of damaging the underlying evidence. The systems also produce reports, which provide comprehensive overviews of the data under examination. These systems are compatible with visual intelligence analysis tools, which we use to create graphical snap-shots of the transactional patterns and personal relationships behind the fraud.
Many forensic projects require the analysis of large quantities of paper documents. Our document management tools allow us to turn these papers into electronic photocopies and text files. These text files can then be analysed using fuzzy search criteria to check for keywords or recurring patterns, thus saving hours of painstaking manual review.
The tools also allows us to create databases from documents containing financial information, such as telephone bills or bank statements, which can then be queried and reported from or be output to visual analysis software to create charts of communications or financial transactions.
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Of further interest
- Publication: Global and Swiss Economic Crime Surveys 2003–2009
- Publication:
2,000,000 files on 240 computers in 3 countries. By Monday. How? (114 KB) - Publication: Fraud. Control weaknesses. Bribery and corruption. Payments to foreign agents (PDF File 442 KB)
Related services
- Investigations
- Business Restructuring Services
- Fraud Risks and Controls
- Technology, Telecommunications, Infocomm and Media
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