18 October 2011 –  You don’t need petabytes of information to play in the big data league. The low end of the threshold is more like 10 TB, and, in fact, “big” doesn’t really tell the whole story. The many types of data and the speed at which data changes are, along with sheer volume, daunting challenges for businesses struggling to make sense of it all. Volume, variety, velocity–they’re the hallmarks of the big data era we’re now in.

Variety comes in the form of Web logs, wirelessly connected RFID sensors, unstructured textual information from social networks, and myriad other data types. Velocity breeds velocity. Fast-changing data drives demand for deep analytic insights delivered in hours, minutes, or, in extreme cases, seconds, instead of the weekly or monthly reports that once sufficed.

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Background:

3 Big Data Challenges: Expert Advice
Source: original article
Author: posselist
Categories: Electronic discovery, e-discovery, ediscovery

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By  href="http://www.d4discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pete_salmon.png"> title="Peter Coons Bio" href="http://www.d4discovery.com/management-team/peter-coons" target="_blank">Peter Coons, Senior Vice President, Digital Forensics and Collections Expert, D4, LLC href="http://www.d4discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pete_salmon.png">

href="http://www.d4discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pete_salmon.png">

href="http://www.d4discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pete_salmon.png"> class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3483" style="border: 0px initial initial;" title="Trust, but Verify!" src="http://www.d4discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/pete_salmon.png" alt="As Ronald Reagan famously stated, “doveryai no proveryai”…Trust, but Verify!" width="298" height="252" /> You can tell a lot from a picture. This is my Facebook (FB) profile picture.

What you can tell from this picture: /> 1. I am a Buffalo Bills fan…sad, but true /> 2. I have a silver salmon in my hand (if you know your fish) /> 3. I am on a boat /> 4. There are mountains behind me

What you can’t tell from this picture: /> 1. Where this picture was taken (It was Alaska) /> 2. Who caught the fish (I did) /> 3. The year this picture was taken (2006)

My point is that you shouldn’t jump to conclusions.  Let’s say I was suing someone for an injury suffered in an accident in 2010 and I was claiming that I couldn’t fish anymore. Well, someone may jump on my FB account and see this picture and use it as evidence that I am lying. See where I am going with this? As Ronald Reagan famously stated, “doveryai no proveryai”…Trust, but Verify!

In the past year I assisted a client with a matter that involved someone creating a fake Facebook page using my client’s name, photos of her, etc. The fake profile had her hometown identified correctly, her place of work, and her birthdate. There was no reason to think it was not her account. The perpetrator made false and inflammatory statements on the fake page in attempt to deface my client. In the end, I referred my client to the local authorities. So yes, this does happen!

In Closing /> No matter what method you choose for preserving ESI from SNS, digital forensic experts urge you to remember these 7 key tips:

1. Document your process (dates, times, who captured the info, etc.) This is true of any preservation and collection endeavor.
2. The person that preserves, may be the person that testifies about the process.
3. Know the tool or method being used style="text-decoration: underline;">and its shortcomings.
4. title="FB "Download a copy" information" href="http://www.d4discovery.com/2011/08/part-ii-preserving-electronically-stored-information-esi-on-social-networking-sites-sns/" target="_blank">Know what you get and don’t get by using the Facebook “Download a copy” method.
5. Don’t gain access to an account illegally or through nefarious means.
6. Don’t assume an account belongs to someone just because it says it does – verify it, if necessary and possible!
7. Don’t assume anything about pictures, since you don’t know when they were taken! Verify it, if necessary and possible!

Background:

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words…Expert Advice on Preserving ESI from Social Networking Sites(SNS) Sites
Source: original article
Author: d4admin
Categories: Electronic discovery, e-discovery, ediscovery

This e-discovery news is syndicated from e-discovery websites and blogs that make their feed available via RSS. Contact us to have your RSS feed added or removed.

What is Electronic Discovery Software?

Attorneys, paralegals, and IT staff use e-discovery software to assist in the electronic discovery process. Many e-discovery service providers use their own proprietary software to do e-discovery. If you choose to do it yourself, you have a number of software options to consider.

Software for Various E-Discovery Stages

One of the initial questions is, what stage in the e-discovery process do you need software for? You have a number of options:

• Information/records management prior to litigation
• Identification of electronically stored information (ESI)
• Preservation and collection of ESI
• Processing/filtering and review of ESI
• Production of ESI

No e-discovery software application can handle all e-discovery tasks because that would result in a gigantic, bloated application. Rather, e-discovery software providers offer various tools to assist with each e-discovery phase or task.

E-Discovery Tools

The next question is, what types of tools do you need? E-discovery software can be used for a variety of tasks. For example, electronic discovery software can be used to

• Search for relevant data and emails on a network, Microsoft Exchange Server, or PC
• Recover deleted or lost data (including email) on a PC, network, or other media
• Collect data in a forensically sound manner to preserve file system and file meta data
• Review and mark ESI as relevant, privileged, confidential, or other categories (ESI may include documents, email, spreadsheets, sound, or video)
• Destroy and erase data after litigation is completely over

E-Discovery Software Companies
Some of the largest electronic discovery software and service providers include Kroll Ontrack, Fios, Electronic Evidence Discovery, Renew Data, Zantaz, and Applied Discovery. There are also many small shops that provide e-discovery services.

Electronic Discovery Software Advice

1. Buying e-discovery software is not simple. Courts will not tolerate attorneys with an incompetent e-discovery process that results in missed data or spoliation. The consequences of doing e-discovery wrong has included monetary sanctions, spoliation inferences, and more.

2. If you do your own e-discovery, be sure you know what you are doing. First, the person using the e-discovery software should understand the hardware and software technology where the ESI may reside. Second, the the person using the e-discovery software should understand the court rules governing electronic evidence discovery.

3. Know when to get help. If you don’t have experience doing e-discovery, hire someone who does, such as an e-discovery vendor. If you do e-discovery frequently, it may be worth training someone on your staff to do the work and buying the software tools that are necessary. (Even then, you may outsource some of the complex e-discovery tasks.) If you rarely do e-discovery, hire an e-discovery vendor to do the work for you, which will be substantially cheaper and will ensure the work is done right.