Well, that depends on whether you want the best chance at winning. From divorces to child custody to personal injury to criminal cases, the pervasive nature of our devices and the data (evidence) they contain cannot be denied. Digital evidence can be obtained without a professional, but litigation will likely involve retrieving and reporting data that is pertinent to your case in a verifiable, forensically sound and airtight manner. Hiring a professional to do this will be a decision you will not regret. You will have the time to do what you do best when you leave the acquiring, analyzing and reporting of the data to a trained, professional digital forensic expert.
Although information can be obtained without a professional, adequately securing digital evidence, forensically acquiring that evidence, analyzing the evidence and testifying about the evidence and the procedures taken to get it require special training and experience.
Having a professional on the case is so important because technology touches just about everything and digital forensics is rapidly becoming a daily part of the investigative process. From a law enforcement perspective, it is difficult to find a case today that is not connected in some way to technology, whether it is a cell phone or laptop, sent through email, posted on social media, or something stored in the cloud.
As a digital forensic analyst and former law enforcement officer, my curiosity drives my ability to sift through huge amounts of data to find exactly what is needed – that golden nugget of information. It takes a true investigator at heart.
Hopefully, we have given you some food for thought and justification as to why you may want to add Key Forensics to your contact list. Are you going to need a professional digital forensic examiner every day? No. But, just as people should have a good attorney, a mechanic or plumber just a click away, you will want to know how to contact a good forensic examiner when the time comes.