Specialized Computer Network and Forensic Services for Attorneys

 

Computer Network Support

Top Speed Computer Services has been servicing attorneys, judges, and law firms in the Reno, Sparks, Carson City and Lake Tahoe area, from the single attorney firm to the large multi-location firms since 2001. In fact many of our first clients were attorneys and law firms! This gives us an unparalleled insight in the needs and particular requirements of attorneys.

We have spent years working with attorneys, practicing in all branches of the legal industry, and are well versed in the time sensitive nature of the work you do everyday. Juris, TimeSlips, Tabs3, and Amicus are just a few of programs we've worked extensively with, but our services extend far beyond these programs. We understand the weekend you spend preparing for a trial that starts Monday is not the moment you want to hear your computer is crashing and you can't reach your IT network support.

Preventative maintenance is also a crucial component of a well run network. Finding your programs are not up-to-date, Windows updates running at exactly the wrong time, or a scanner malfunctioning when documents need to be submitted to the court is never the position you want to find yourself in. Having a company that is monitoring updates and verifying their successful completion as well as monitoring for any potential hardware issues that could interfere with the work you need to accomplish and provide to the court is a must have for attorneys.

Computer Forensic Services

Top Speed Computer Services' work with attorneys extends beyond providing computer network services. We have also worked closely with attorneys, receivers, and business owners on E-Discovery issues.

One of our most notable cases was involvement with the Pricewert / 3FN case in Northern California. This was a case where "According to the FTC, the defendant actively recruits and colludes with criminals seeking to distribute illegal, malicious, and harmful electronic content including child pornography, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, phishing, botnet command and control servers and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest." Top Speed was brought in by the receiver to assist with preserving evidence.

Federal Rules of Evidence Change

December 2017 brought an important change to the Federal Rules of Evidence, specifically adding two subsections for allowing qualified persons to provide Certifications of Authentication for ESI (electronically stored information) to litigants in lieu of required ESI to be authenticated in court. If you are in need of having your electronic evidence certified we can take care of that for you.

Attorneys and business owners have brought us in on cases of economic or industrial espionage where they need need knowledgeable computer forensic services.

For example, we were brought in after an executive asked one of his employees to help him configure his new smart phone. He had given the employee his username and password to get his email setup to be received on the phone and didn't think twice about...until a few months later when he realized she'd used his information to give herself access to receive all of his emails as well. We were called in for three purposes. First to help the company determine, to the extent possible, how great the breach and possible loss of proprietary information was. Second to gather the information and documentation needed for the company to move forward with terminating her and the possibility of a criminal or civil prosecution. Third to lock down and immediately stop any further security breaches that may have been occurring and provide information on any areas where the current practices might result in future compromised data.

A second example was when a long term, well liked and valued employee gave notice to leave the company. Management is sad to see such a valued employee go and wished her the best of luck, thinking only of the daunting task of replacing her. A few weeks later management is made aware that she is now attempting to poach away their best assets, their clients, using proprietary information gathered while working for them. We were called in to determine what could be documented about her access to this documentation and to assist with tracking email communications she was believed to have had with her new employer prior to leaving. In a case like this, where the company has everything to lose, they need to be secure in knowing they'd put appropriate security measures in place. That even if the employee had in some way destroyed the hard drive, or deleted all their email, that there is a secure backup from which to reconstruct her activities. In this case there had been a certain number of concealment measures taken by the employee prior to leaving, but because we had previously installed a complete and secure backup system much of what was destroyed was recovered and the company was able to move forward with civil and criminal options as they deemed appropriate.

A third example where we were consulted happened at a retail store. The company had had the same bookkeeper for years. One day the bookkeeper disappears, company files are missing and the computer has been wiped. The problem was by the time the case come to us the computer had been turned on and used in an attempt to get the business books back up and running. At this point there was little that could be done. Had the company brought us in as soon as the wipe was discovered, data recovery could have been run on the computer in an effort to recover as much company data as possible. When a regular wipe and reload is done it does not fully destroy the data on the drive and typically a great deal of that is recoverable. As soon as new data starts being written over the drive that's when the data is irrevocably lost. In this case the best practice would have been to turn off the computer and put it in the hands of a computer forensics company, like Top Speed, to recover as much data as possible.

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to technology and security of your company's data. It spans from the precautionary measures of having a firewall and quality up-to-date anti-virus protections running to the tracking of malicious intrusions and destroyed data. Here attorneys and business owners alike need to have a skilled computer and Internet forensics company on their side.

Top Speed also provides data recovery services. Data recovery starts with the preventative measures taken to make sure if data is lost, a hard drive fails, theft, or natural disaster occurs, your data is securely backed up and there to be restored. In the case of a hard drive failure where the data has not been backed up we have partnered with the best recovery experts out there.

 

Would you know what to do if any of these technology security or intrusion issues occurred at your business?

• Employee discovered viewing CEO's email on their personal device?
• Terminated employee attempting to destroy a hard drive?
• Spike in Internet usage during non-business hours?
• Unusual Internet activity during business hours?
• Former employee believed to be in possession of proprietary company data?
• E-Discovery requested by the courts?
• Employee used a personal laptop to access company files?
• Employer looking to put in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy?
• Employer looking to understand the best ways to protect management and proprietary data?
• Company not sure if their intellectual property such as their domain name is properly protected?
• Making sure the business Office365 accounts are secure and properly managed?
• Server, workstation or network attached storage hard drive failure?

Top Speed has seen all of these and many more. You can trust in our knowledge and years of experience to help you manage any technology security or intrusion issues.