Digital Forensics Services

BD Emerson provides digital forensics and forensic investigation services for breaches, insider incidents, and disputes. We preserve, collect, and analyze evidence from laptops, phones, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and cloud accounts, document chain of custody for every item, and work at the direction of counsel when privilege matters.
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Definition

What are digital forensics services?

Digital forensics services identify, preserve, collect, and analyze electronic evidence so it can answer a specific question and hold up when a court, regulator, or insurer examines it. A digital forensics company images devices, exports cloud and email data, and reviews logs to establish what happened, when, and which accounts and systems were involved, then reports findings with the methods and chain of custody behind them. Companies call one after a breach or ransomware attack, when an employee leaves with data, when HR or counsel needs facts for an internal investigation, and when litigation requires forensic data collection or an expert opinion.

Services

What do our digital forensics services include?

Privileged breach investigations
Preservation and collection
Insider and departing employees
Ransomware and email compromise
Litigation support and experts
Trade secret and misconduct

Breach investigations under Kovel arrangements

Outside counsel retains us under a Kovel engagement, and we investigate the breach at counsel's direction: how the attacker got in, what they reached, and what data left. Findings go to counsel in the form counsel chooses, while a separate team can support remediation. Privilege calls stay with counsel and, ultimately, the court.

Forensic preservation and data collection

We image laptops and servers, collect mobile devices, and export Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and cloud account data with each platform's own tools, hashing every item and logging chain of custody. Collection follows counsel's hold scope, so you keep what the matter needs without copying everything you own.

Insider and departing-employee investigations

When an employee leaves and data may have gone too, we examine USB history, cloud sync, email forwarding, and file access around the resignation date, and compare it with normal activity for the role. You get a timeline counsel can use for a demand letter, an injunction motion, or a decision not to act.

Ransomware and business email compromise cases

We investigate ransomware and business email compromise alongside our incident response team: initial access, mailbox rules and app consents, lateral movement, and evidence of data theft. The findings support notification decisions, insurance claims, and the root cause fixes that keep the attacker from coming back.

Litigation support and expert witness work

By default we act as consulting experts retained through counsel: early case assessment, input on the ESI protocol, review of the other side's production, and rebuttal analysis. Our practitioners have testified as expert witnesses in court, and we take testifying engagements selectively.

Trade secret and workplace misconduct reviews

For HR and counsel, we examine devices and accounts in misconduct, harassment, fraud, and trade secret matters, keeping the work discreet and scoped to the allegation. Reports separate what the evidence shows from what it cannot show, so decisions rest on facts.

Our approach

How we work: preserve, collect, analyze, report and testify

01

Preserve

We find the evidence that disappears first, such as memory, short-retention cloud logs, and devices due for reimaging, and secure it before anything changes, within the hold scope counsel sets.

02

Collect

We acquire forensic copies, use write protection where the media allows it, hash each original and copy, and record chain of custody, following ISO/IEC 27037 guidance on handling digital evidence.

03

Analyze

We examine verified copies with validated tools and build the timeline from file system, log, and cloud artifacts, following the examination and analysis phases of NIST SP 800-86.

04

Report and testify

We report what the evidence shows and what it cannot, with methods another examiner can check. Reports go through counsel when privilege matters, and our practitioners testify selectively.

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Do you need evidence preserved now?

Before anyone reimages a laptop, deletes an account, or lets logs roll off, talk to an investigator about what to preserve first and how to keep chain of custody intact.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for digital forensics

Built for counsel

We do Kovel work and work with law firms today. Engagements run through counsel when privilege matters, findings are reported the way counsel directs, and the business remediation track stays separate. Privilege calls belong to counsel and the court.

Practitioners who know the systems

The people who examine your evidence also run incident response, penetration testing, and compliance programs, so they know how Microsoft 365, cloud platforms, and endpoints log activity and where those logs fall short.

Evidence that holds up

Every item carries hash values and a chain of custody record, methods are documented, and the analysis is reproducible, so another examiner can retrace each finding to the evidence behind it.

How We Work

Evidence sources we collect

Each source answers different questions. Here is what we collect and what each one can show in an investigation or a dispute.
Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

Certificates

Our accreditations

Our practitioners hold security, privacy, cloud, and AI governance certifications, and the people who earned them do the work on your engagement.

Guides

Guides on digital forensics and investigations

How privileged investigations, legal holds, forensic analysis, and expert testimony work, written for counsel, security leaders, and HR.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What do digital forensics services include?

How quickly can you preserve evidence?

Do you work under attorney-client privilege?

Do your examiners testify as expert witnesses?

How much does a forensic investigation cost?

What is the difference between digital forensics and incident response?

Can you collect data remotely from cloud accounts?

What should we do before your team arrives?

Blog

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