Infosecurity Magazine reported in late 2019 that 72% of departing employees admit to taking company data – and 70% of intellectual property theft occurs within the 90 days before an employee’s resignation announcement.
When exiting from a company, employees often take company data for a variety of reasons. The employee may begin work for a competitor’s company, or start their own firm using their previous employer’s intellectual property as an advantage.
Previous employees can steal electronically stored information through external storage devices, email, cloud storage websites, and more.
Sensei Enterprises can assist in determining what a former employee did on a company device leading up to their departure, including whether any company data was stolen or misappropriated. When an employee departs a company, it may be advisable to make a forensic image of their work-provided devices because they may contain evidence of employee misconduct or theft of corporate data.
Forensically preserving the contents of the employee’s device(s) will ensure the digital data has been collected in a manner that is admissible in court. If the device is not preserved and is reallocated to another employee, important information may be overwritten.
Sensei Enterprises uses industry standard software to investigate employee data theft and searches computer systems and mobile devices for evidence which potentially contains:
- USB device activity, including possible file transfer
- Sent and received emails, including email forwarded to personal accounts
- Dropbox and file sharing websites
- Activity prior to departure
- Recoverable deleted files
- Internet history and searches
For more information please contact CEO/Director of Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics Michael Maschke at mmaschke@senseient.com or at 703.359.0700.
