Information technology pervades almost every aspect of business these days. If someone commits fraud or theft in your business, it likely involves computers in one way or another, and that “electronic evidence” is critical in the impending investigation and litigation.

Analyzing computer contents is part of many financial fraud investigations. Once an incident takes place, a business must find and preserve computer evidence in a form that is acceptable to law enforcement agencies and courts. The business must also retrieve hidden or deleted data, if it exists.

A computer forensics specialist can extract information and is likely to look at a number of factors, including:

• Did the suspect have access to more than one computer?
• What kind of rights did he or she have on the network?