The art of forensic investigations

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“If you go back 20, 30 or 40 years, you’ll find that there were no forensic auditing firms. As companies became more aware of compliance requirements, auditing firms developed forensics departments which offered the perception of ethics and morals. This shift definitely affected the pipeline for regular investigators,” says Howard Griffiths, Security Service Consultants’ (SSC) managing director.

“As we’ve seen quite recently, however, auditing firms such as KPMG are being hauled over the coals for being less than honest. This has driven the reverse-shift, as big businesses turn back to their investigations firms with good reputations for integrity, and far more affordable pricing structures.”

Technology

The second key factor in the development of the industry is technology. “With the digital revolution comes not only tools to use within day-to-day investigations, but access to immense information sources from the Internet, social platforms, and digital channels,” says Kyle Condon, managing director of D&K Management Consultants (D&K).

Modern techniques are certainly being applied in the industry. “In any investigative firm you have your on the ground investigators, but there’s another aspect now with the use of social media and the Internet. There’s a monumental amount of information that’s now (legally) available online, if you know where to look. Whether conducting open source intelligence investigations (OSINT) or social media intelligence investigations, highly skilled specialists dig into the information that’s readily available on the Internet; because people are naïve about online security. Then, of course, there’s the dark net too," says Griffiths.

The pair stresses the importance of traditional methods, which are still being used in the modern world. “Despite global shifts, the basic principles of investigations are the same. While there is a lot more information that’s readily available, investigators must know how to work through that information to find what’s relevant. The principles are the same, but to succeed investigators must understand the modern world, and how to apply those principles accordingly,” concludes Griffiths.