The most damaging breaches rarely begin with a stranger. They begin with someone who already has a pass, a password and the trust of the people around them. A salesperson quietly exporting the client list in their notice period. A contractor with administrator rights and a grievance. A senior manager who has been talking to a competitor for months.
The signs are usually there
Looking back, most insider cases show warning signs: unusual hours, large downloads, new interest in information outside someone’s role, personal email addresses appearing in sent items, a sudden resignation to join a rival. Individually they may mean nothing. Together, and examined properly, they tell a story.
Act fast, but do not delete
The instinct when someone is caught is to lock them out and wipe their account. Suspending access is often right. Deleting the account, or reissuing the laptop, can destroy the very evidence needed to prove what happened and recover what was taken. We help you contain the risk while preserving devices, mailboxes and cloud records through our digital forensics team.
Building the case
We establish what was accessed, copied or sent, when and where it went, and who else was involved. Where needed, we look at the person’s wider activity and associations. The findings are presented clearly for HR, the board and your lawyers, and are suitable to support injunction applications, restrictive covenant claims and recovery of confidential information.
Reducing the risk next time
Every case teaches something about leavers’ processes, access controls and monitoring. We share those lessons in practical terms, and can brief leadership teams through our threat briefings.
See also computer forensics, cloud and email forensics and corporate investigations. Contact us as soon as you have a concern.
