State of the Forensics Industry in the UK

On the other hand, the chances of this industry hitting the headlines are obviously much more than that of data recovery or any storage company. This was evident in 2004 when Operation Ore raised a media storm as six hundred offenders were caught for selling and propagating child pornography on the internet. After this, activities by the UK police increased manifold, new departments set up, old ones enhanced and attempts made at sensitising and educating judges, juries and police. There have been demands for reviewing existing laws and updating them as well in this field. While it is true that the digital forensics industry is not as large as the other digital industries, it is expanding in other ways, mainly by deepening its knowledge base. Genetics is an area that is being brought into the field of forensics indirectly as the example below will show.

A Recent Acquisition

Since 1993, Identigene was the first laboratory to enter the controversial trade of commercial paternity testing. It also offered relatedness DNA services (finding out whether people are related in any way to each other or not) and forensic DNA testing. A few days ago, another USA firm Sorenson Genomics acquired Identigene. They would be combining their forces to provide DNA testing services for commercial purposes, as well as criminal investigations. The latter service is going to be buffered by Sorenson’s digital forensics facilities. Their labs are now to combine forces to cater to police, law enforcers, detectives, individual clients and defence lawyers all over the US. This is a good example of reshaping one’s business to answer the needs of the day, as well as doing something that would be beneficial and profitable at the same time.

Some Large Companies

Looking at some of the largest forensics groups of the UK, we notice the same business strategies of diversifying within the specialisation.

1. 192. com Business Services: They are into identity checking solutions that tackle organised crime by applying digital forensic methods. They are providing support to both regional and central government bodies to capture benefit fraud, tax evasion and illegal immigration. Private security and legal groups are helped to prosecute individuals with their identity check system. Retailers are availing their services, too, to avoid the now infamous card frauds. Financial institutions are using the same method to stop frauds and money launderers from making false claims, and tampering with customer accounts.

2. CY40R: Based in Manchester, they are an experienced group with branches in Aylesbury and London as well. They too provide their services to both private and public bodies. In fact, their performance has been reliable enough to get them a security clearance from New Scotland Yard. They ensure that the evidence gathered by them is in adherence to the regulations necessary to make a court presentation.

3. Disklabs: This firm also does data recovery. Having correctly judged the pulse of the market, they are attaching a lot of importance now to their pre-existing mobile phone forensics specialisation. Their clients include BBC, Bank of America, ABN Amro Bank, Deloitte, London School of Economics, European Space Agency, and several other clients. They are good at analysing the forensics gathered after a particular incident such as theft, fraud, or any other crime.

4. The Distillery: This is an Australian firm that specialises in the sensitive and dangerous area of international terrorism. Founded in 1997, they deal with national security, law enforcement, anti-terrorist measures, as well as cases of fraud and compliance reported by both government and private corporate agencies. Apart from having several offices in Australia, they have branches in London, India, South East Asia, and South Africa.

Requirements for Setting up a New Firm

In order to run a data forensics business successfully, the prime requirement is some sort of a pre-existing digital setup. Merely technical expertise will not do; software skills would have to be backed up by a sound working knowledge of the current legalities and vice versa.

Computer Articles: http://www.internetionalmedia.com/Category/Computer/

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see www.fieldsassociates.co.uk

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