QDiscovery
Exposing the Truth in the Data

Discovery, recently acquired by Xact Data Discovery (XDD), offers a full suite of sophisticated eDiscovery and forensic solutions to law firms, corporate counsel and government entities. Their client services professionals have a wealth of experience providing consulting, processing and hosting services tailored to the needs of diverse clients. Their expert team of forensic examiners brings deep understanding of all data sources in the areas of internal investigations, employment litigation, trade secrets misappropriation and data breach incident response. Throughout, the company is an emphasis on delivering outstanding service and leveraging technology to enhance the people and processes in place.

One of the ways QDiscovery successfully distinguishes itself from other eDiscovery providers is with digital forensics services. Their full forensic analysis division is built around a team of forensic professionals who are true data experts. They are highly skilled at identifying, recovering and most importantly, understanding data and how it fits into an investigation or litigation strategy.

Forensics has traditionally been reactive–brought in after an incident or when an incident is suspected. However, with the growing number of cybersecurity incidents and increased focus on data privacy and security, the digital forensics market, and the role of digital forensic examiners, is expanding. Digital forensics now intersects with information governance, which is at its core a proactive service.

Digital forensic professionals like the team at QDiscovery are ideal resources as you move to be more proactive rather than reactive with your data. Forensics is all about understanding the data–what, when, who, why, how. Information governance is built on this same principle.

“Our team recognizes the importance of being proactive with understanding your data,” says Yaniv Schiff, Director of Digital Forensics, QDiscovery. “After a security incident is the worst possible time to begin to discover what data your company has. A quick response to a security incident is of utmost importance. And the first step is knowing what lies in your data.

Being prepared means you are one step ahead and can deal with the incident more quickly and thoroughly.”

What steps does QDiscovery recommend you take? Forensic investigators can assist you with three specific types of information governance projects.

1. Data Mapping–Data mapping is an ongoing process of documenting a company’s IT systems, including data types, storage means and locations, device management and retention schedules.

2. Data identification–Data identification pinpoints specific devices and other data sources that contain information likely to be relevant to the subject matter of a compliance program, internal investigation or lawsuit.

3. Data Remediation–Data remediation is defensible deletion of unneeded data. It covers a range of activity such as following retention schedules and destruction of obsolete hardware.

“A good data map is key to understanding an organization’s security incident obligations,” says Dana Conneally, Managing Partner, QDiscovery. “When we work with a client to create a data map they invariably identify network locations with unknown repositories of data. Identifying an unknown repository while also attempting to ensure proper incident response is difficult at best, and at worst can lead to loss of critical data and delayed action. In short, an organization cannot manage and protect its information unless it is aware that it has that data.”

As the worlds and responsibilities of digital forensics and information governance collide, QDiscovery will continue to take a leading role. Their digital forensics team is made up of data experts whose vast experience helping clients deal with security incident response makes them a valued resource as you take a proactive approach to information governance and data management. At QDiscovery, forensics is an essential component of eDiscovery, not an island unto itself.