Integreon announced the availability of its Seek & Collect service, which quickly and efficiently captures electronically stored information (ESI) in a forensically sound manner without the need for physical collection by forensic experts.
Plug-and-play Seek & Collect devices, which were developed by the experts at Integreon’s Electronic Evidence Labs, execute automatically when connected to a computer, facilitating data collection for potentially hundreds of client sites, and delivering dramatic time and cost savings, especially for geographically diverse enterprises.
“The market still needs e-discovery solutions that facilitate the capture of relevant data from disparate IT systems and devices,” said Debra Logan, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner Research. “Many enterprise organizations continue to struggle significantly with legal and regulatory requirements for the timely, defensible collection and preservation of geographically dispersed electronic information.”
During a Seek & Collect service engagement, Integreon forensic experts consult with each client’s counsel to determine the critical files needed for preservation and then configure appliances to collect forensically sound, logical copies of those files and their directories, without altering dates or metadata to avoid data spoliation. Seek & Collect also creates unique hash value identifiers for each collected file (using MD5 cryptographic algorithms) and saves the entire dataset into an encrypted archive container for secure transport, and the device is then returned to Integreon via courier. The Seek & Collect methodology for data integrity and chain of custody controls is based on years of real-world case experience and focuses on eliminating data spoliation. Throughout the entire process, Integreon strictly adheres to the standards set forth by the National Institute of Justice for preserving the authenticity and integrity of evidence.
“Our forensics team saw the unmet need in the market for a simple solution that could quickly pull together a defensible set of evidence from multiple locations worldwide without having to send an expert to physically retrieve that data,” said Jeffrey Fehrman, vice president of forensics and consulting at Integreon’s Electronic Evidence Labs. “Seek & Collect accomplishes this while still complying with the complex framework of data privacy laws around the world. Seek & Collect is also field-proven technology. We’ve shipped over 1,000 devices to our clients in 10 different countries.”
Once ESI is harvested and returned to Integreon, forensic consultants store the data in a secure evidence room within the company’s state-of-the-art Electronic Evidence Labs, a temperature-controlled computer forensics facility with a closed IT network, constant video surveillance, and dual keycard and biometric access controls. The data may then be analyzed and processed further as part of Integreon’s other legal service solutions and in accordance with client and case requirements, including maintaining full chain-of-custody at all times.
