DailyPost 2588
DIGITAL FORENSIC SERVICES – A DIRE NECESSSITY
Given the nature of digital documentation web we are in our day-to-day work, there is a need to have professional technical services to have the ability to dig deep into it, for whatever purposes we want and whenever we want. This helps getting connects, undercurrent patterns and any attempts at foul play. It would be extremely essential in case of an incident where they would be tasked to do preliminary enquiry, establishing it prima facie before reporting it to the law enforcement agencies. We are talking about Digital Forensic Services which has become the need of the hour for any organization, given the internal and external scenario of the enterprise.
If the organization is regulatory in nature, has anything to do with enforcement, investigation, enquiry, intelligence or any nature of enquiry etc., for sure you are left with no choice, digital forensic services would be your backbone. Truth, facts, clues, evidence, authentication and validation are all dependent on it in today’s world of digital quicksand. All of us should know the intricacies thereof, otherwise, we can be witness to any nature of digital devastation, even without knowing what is happening, leave aside being able to do anything to do about it. In this backdrop SEBI has recently empaneled 12 entities to provide digital forensic services.
This is this first-time a national regulatory agency has hired digital forensic services at this scale, through open procurement with technical expertise clearly elaborated and acquired for specific purposes. The capital markets regulator has known names globally, Ernst & Young LLP and KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services LLP amongst the hired companies. The group of 12 are to provide assistance to SEBI’s search teams for onsite data acquisition during search and seizure operations. We are aware of the horrendous stories of the manner in which this task has been performed by investigative agencies.
The task assigned to this group is of acquisition, extraction and analysis of digital evidence from mobiles, computers, and tablets, among others on an ongoing basis. They have to provide both onsite and offsite assistance to the search team and for onsite data acquisition. Undertaking forensic acquisition or imaging of different types of digital devices, such as laptops, mobile phones, tablets, hard drives, USB drives, CDs/DVDs, servers are a part of this mandate. The mandate also includes onsite acquisition of cloud data from apps or database as decided by the search party. Last year, SEBI cracked down on entities in a front running scam using messaging app Telegram. This is the way to go!
DIGITAL FORENSICS CAN ONLY SHOW THE WAY TO SANITY IN THE MESSED DIGITAL WORLD.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.