What is Digital Inquest?
Digitalinquest.com originally started as my research blog when I was working on my Master’s degree in Computer Science. When I left my last employer, I formed an LLC to continue handling my open cases and expert work related to Digital Forensics, eDiscovery, and Information Technology. The website continues to house my research blog, but also serves as a web presence for my business, and a repository for information from talks and presentations I give.
Who am I?
First, and foremost I am a Computer Scientist specializing in Information Assurance and Digital Forensics. I hold a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of New Orleans. In my undergraduate work, my elective interests were primarily centered in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. In my graduate work, I performed research both in Bioinformatics and in Digital Forensics related areas.
Concurrently during my graduate work, I worked professionally for 5 years as the IT director of a litigation support company. My department had multiple areas of responsibility, and was tasked, under my leadership and direction, with oversight and administration of a network of sister companies. In the course of our work we centrally handled a diverse network topology spanning 3 states and 11 offices. This has given me an extremely in-depth view of internal corporate Information Technology including the server architectures, network topologies both internal LAN, and site-to-site WAN, end-user security concerns, document retention policies, backup plans, and disaster recovery.
Beyond the more mundane IT role my department oversaw, I personally directed the development of its Electronic Discovery offerings in response to the changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 2006 regarding eDiscovery. I have been accepted as an expert in the forensic investigation of IT systems by the Louisiana courts both with live testimony and affidavits. I have been involved in novel discovery disputes in which motions to compel resulted in physical access to internal corporate systems to oversee and advise on data acquisition protocols, and search query sufficiency. I also conduct classic forensic acquisition, drive imaging, and investigations.
What am I doing now?
I am currently a PhD student in Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of New Orleans. I am presently working on my dissertation which includes case studies from direct experience with large scale corporate eDiscovery, field research on site at several large corporations observing their document retention protocols and the problems they present for eDiscovery, and the inherent problems associated with eDiscovery protocols and searches being crafted and executed by individuals who are not sufficiently knowledgeable to do so.
As of Fall 2010, I am also a law student at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. Though my PhD will be completed before then, I will be completing my J.D. in 2013. The law and digital forensics are innately intertwined, and I hope to explore how the two disciplines will complement each other
How can I be contacted?
You can contact me by email at brian [at] digitalinquest [dot] com.