Cyber crime in the UK now accounts for £16 billion of losses every year, and the number is rising all the time, according to the latest National Crime Agency (NCA) report.

The research, released in late June, explained that as businesses and consumers transition from a physical to a digital world – wherein they bank on their phone, rather than in a store, for example – the potential for cyber crime is huge, with mobile malware an increasingly prevalent avenue for attacks. This issue is becoming exacerbated with the uptake of 4G technology, which makes it easier and quicker for people to conduct cyber attacks remotely.

And with the rise of cyber crime – that being any illegal activity that is committed through the use of a computer and the Internet – comes the rise of computer forensics. Indeed, computers forensics have become a fundamental part of Frenkels Forensic’s forensic accounting services.

Computer forensics involves the analysis of all the information stored within a computer, not just the documents, to determine what actions were performed, when and by whom. Frenkels Forensics is instructed in many cases to produce a report on this data analysis to prove precisely how a cyber attack or act of cyber crime took place and who was responsible. This can involve decoding encrypted data and gaining access to well-protected or hard to detect files.

Bringing this together with the company accounting expertise, Frenkels Forensics can also establish the monetary damage caused by the crime; following the audit trail left by a computer which can provide valuable evidence to help in a wide variety of court cases.

For expert help with a computer forensics investigation contact Frenkels Forensics for an independent appraisal.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for advice in any aspect of forensic accountancy, then do get in touch via Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn or by visiting our website www.frenkels.com

By Vitek Frenkel – find me via Google+.