We were retained to investigate accusations that a special education teacher had been browsing the internet for adult content, including suspected child pornography. The school’s web traffic monitoring software had flagged a site the teacher had visited. Given the severity of the accusations, the school executives wanted to verify with certainty that the allegations were accurate.
Case Study
Cell Phone Stalking
The Situation
Our client was going through a divorce and had moved with her son to a friend’s house, where she was certain that her husband did not know her location. However, during this time she was served divorce papers at the address by her husband’s attorney. Our client was shocked and shaken that her husband knew her whereabouts, and as a result, requested a restraining order from the courts. She asked ArcherHall to search for digital evidence pertaining to the alleged stalking.
The Challenge
Our client suspected that her husband was stalking her via her cell phone. She wanted peace of mind that her phone was not being tracked and was also seeking digital evidence to use in her attempt to gain a restraining order against him. ArcherHall was tasked with finding out how our client’s estranged husband had found her location by conducting cell phone forensic investigations.
The Solution
Our experts quickly determined that our client’s cell phone had not been hacked, and that no malicious malware had been installed. Her husband had discovered our client’s location using software that is equipped on all iPhones and devices, called ‘Find My iPhone’. The software uses GPS to locate all registered devices and pinpoints their exact locations on a map. Our client’s phone, her son’s phone, and her iPad were all registered to a common Apple ID. Her husband had been able to use the software to find out exactly where she was. Our team also uncovered evidence that a command was issued to erase all data from the iPad on the day that the divorce documents were handed to our client at her temporary address, proving that the ‘Find My iPhone’ function had been in use at that time.
The Outcome
ArcherHall compiled a detailed report of the findings, which lead to the opposing council dropping their resistance to our client’s request for a restraining order. Our client won the case, and the judge ordered payments of $60,000 in sanctions. In addition, our client was given assurance that no malicious malware had been installed on her phone and that her husband could no longer see her data or identify her location.
Key Success
Determined the method by which our client’s husband had discovered her location and assisted her case to gain a restraining order against him.
We are a leading provider of computer forensics and e-discovery services for businesses and law firms nationwide. We don’t take chances with your data when litigation is a possibility, and proper handling is critical.
Related Case Studies
Digital Theft of IP
Our client was a corporation investigating suspected theft of intellectual property by a former employee. The employee had left for a competitor, allegedly taking proprietary customer and technical data with him. The client suspected the defendant had attempted to cover his tracks by wiping his computer. The case ultimately involved multiple computers, external media, and mobile devices.the crime.