Computer Forensics

Computer Forensics for Company Receivers, Administrators & Liquidators

The Role of Computer
Forensics in Business

When a company tips into distress, the truth is almost always buried in its data. Computer forensics—also called digital forensics—systematically identifies, preserves, analyses, and presents that data so it stands up in court. For receivers, administrators, and liquidators, forensics can:

Preserve volatile evidence before it disappears (or is “cleaned”).
Reconstruct timelines of key decisions, transfers, and access.
Detect fraud and asset misappropriation—and trace where the money went.
Locate and retrieve business-critical records thought to be “lost.”
Support ASIC and court submissions with defensible reports.

This guide explains what computer forensics is, how it applies in corporate insolvency, exactly what you can expect from a forensic engagement, and practical steps to maximise recoveries and reduce risk.

What is Computer Forensics?

Computer forensics (a branch of digital forensics) is the discipline of collecting and analysing information from computers, servers, cloud platforms, and mobile devices in a forensically sound manner so that findings are admissible and persuasive in legal or regulatory proceedings.

Unlike cybersecurity (which is primarily forward-looking and preventative), computer forensics looks backwards to answer four questions:

Forensic practitioners combine technical skills (imaging, data recovery, log analysis) with legal and procedural rigour (chain of custody, evidence handling, reporting standards) to ensure facts can withstand cross-examination.

Why computer forensics matters in insolvency

In administration or liquidation, appointed professionals must assess solvency, identify and protect assets, investigate potential misconduct, and provide timely reports. Today, those facts live across email, collaboration tools, accounting systems, CRMs, and phones—often spread over cloud apps and personal devices. Computer forensics:

Speeds up fact-finding by zeroing in on the most probative data.
Improves recoveries through asset tracing (including crypto and offshore paths).
Reduces legal risk by preserving evidence properly from day one.
Supports regulatory obligations (e.g., ASIC reporting, books & records inquiries).

Typical objectives for receivers, administrators & liquidators

Evidence preservation: Rapidly secure laptops, desktops, servers, and cloud accounts before access is revoked or data is altered.
Fraud & misconduct detection: Identify unauthorised payments, false vendors, back-dated records, and “ghost” users.
Asset tracing: Follow money flows across bank files, accounting systems, email approvals, and external wallets or payment gateways.
Record reconstruction: Recover missing accounting data, emails, and messages; rebuild transaction histories.
Director & officer conduct review: Correlate decisions, communications, and approvals against statutory duties and timelines.
Regulatory support: Produce defensible reports and evidentiary bundles for ASIC and the courts.

The computer forensics workflow (what to expect)

1) Stabilise & preserve

Legal hold instructions to employees and vendors.
Forensic imaging (bit-for-bit) of endpoints, servers, and selected cloud sources.
Chain of custody established for each evidence item.
Access controls tightened: disable former staff accounts, rotate shared passwords, snapshot key cloud data.

2) Scoping & triage

3) Acquisition & validation

4) Analysis

Timeline reconstruction: file metadata, logs, mailbox events, MFA prompts, admin actions.
Search & filtering: keywords, entities, custodians, time windows, proximity search.
Link analysis: people ↔ payments ↔ systems ↔ documents.
Accounting cross-checks: reconcile ledgers vs. bank statements; examine last-minute journal entries, vendor creations, and changes to payment approvals.
Cloud audit trails: Microsoft 365 Unified Audit Log, Azure AD sign-ins, Google Admin audit, AWS CloudTrail/GCP Audit Logs, SaaS admin logs.
Crypto tracing (where relevant): wallet clustering, transaction graphing, exchange off-ramps (subject to jurisdiction and KYC data).

5) Reporting & disclosure

6) Expert support

High-value use cases in insolvency

Detecting fraud & misconduct

False vendor schemes (payments to entities linked to insiders).
Round-tripping and “loan” arrangements masking asset stripping.
Expense fraud and kickback patterns.
Unauthorised data exfiltration (e.g., IP moved to personal clouds before resignations).

Signals to look for

Preserving evidence for legal action

Locating hidden or misappropriated assets

Understanding the digital landscape you inherit

Supporting ASIC/court reporting

Practical scenarios

Case 1: Suspicious pre-appointment payments

In the 30 days pre-administration, large payments hit a new “vendor.” Forensics correlates Outlook approvals, Xero audit logs, and bank CSVs to show the vendor’s ABN links to a director’s associate. Email threads and Teams messages reference “cleaning it up before the change.” Funds are traced to a personal account, supporting unfair preference or insolvent transaction recovery action.

Case 2: “Missing” financial records

Staff claim a RAID failure destroyed FY documents. Forensic imaging of the NAS reveals manual deletions two days after voluntary administration discussions began. Shadow copies and backup archives resurrect the ledgers; Windows event logs pin the deletions to a specific user and workstation.

Case 3: IP moved to personal clouds

Product source code and client lists disappear. Endpoint analysis shows mass OneDrive → personal Gmail transfers during the director’s overseas trip. OAuth logs confirm the same device fingerprint. Counsel obtains orders to restrain use; data is returned and quantified for damages.

Case 4: Insider collusion with a supplier

Email threading plus invoice metadata exposes a pattern of duplicate billing for “urgent” work. EXIF data in PDFs shows edits with a third-party tool at the supplier side; Teams chats reveal the insider asking the supplier to “bump” totals and split the difference.

Case 5: Crypto assets off-ramped

Wallet addresses discovered in an export from a password manager. Blockchain graphing traces funds through mixers to a major exchange with Australia-facing KYC. Subpoena-ready artefacts and timing correlations support asset freezing and recovery attempts.

Sources of digital evidence you shouldn’t overlook

Email (Exchange/Outlook, Gmail): mailboxes, shared mailboxes, archive PSTs, transport logs.
Collaboration: Microsoft Teams, Slack, SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive/Chat.
Accounting/ERP: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Dynamics, SAP (audit logs, journals, vendor master changes).
Banking gateways: ABA files, API exports, remittance PDFs, 2FA app logs.
CRM/marketing: Salesforce, HubSpot—deal flows, permissions, file attachments.
Endpoints: Windows/macOS artefacts (prefetch, registry, event logs, file system timelines).
Mobile devices: call/SMS/MFA logs (subject to lawful access and proportionality).
Dev & IP: Git (commit history), Jira, Confluence, code repos, CI/CD logs.
Backups: Veeam, Acronis, Azure Backup, Google Vault—snapshots that undo “convenient” deletions.

Tooling & methods (plain-English overview)

Forensic imaging & recovery: write-blockers; bit-level images; tools such as EnCase, FTK, X-Ways, Magnet AXIOM.
eDiscovery & review: filtering, de-duplication, threading, analytics, and TAR (technology-assisted review).
Cloud-forensic connectors: Microsoft 365/Google Workspace native exports with full metadata; Azure/Google/AWS audit logs.
Log & timeline analysis: Windows Event Logs, Sysmon, Azure AD Sign-Ins, M365 Unified Audit Log, Google Admin logs.
Crypto tracing: transaction graph analysis; attribution via exchange KYC (subject to legal process).

Legal & regulatory considerations (Australia-aware)

This section is informational, not legal advice.

Chain of custody: Document every evidence transfer; record hashes.
Privacy & proportionality: Respect the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and employment contracts; narrowly target personal data when possible and apply minimisation.
Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme: If a breach of personal information is discovered, forensics can help assess eligibility and scope of notifications.
ASIC obligations: Provide accurate, well-documented findings aligned to statutory reports and any books and records inquiries.
Retention & destruction: Agree on evidence retention policies post-matter; consider litigation holds.

1. Issue holds: Send legal hold to staff, MSPs, and key vendors.

2. Secure admin access: Change shared passwords; capture admin creds; revoke ex-staff accounts.

3. Freeze the scene: Stop “clean-ups”; snapshot VMs/cloud data; set immutability on backups if available.

4. Prioritise custodians & systems: Directors, finance, operations; email, accounting, file shares, cloud drives.

5. Arrange imaging: Laptops/desktops, critical servers, and targeted cloud exports.

6. Record everything: Start a chain-of-custody log and an actions register.

7. Plan interviews: After initial data review, conduct targeted staff interviews with artefacts in hand.

What a good forensic report gives you

Clear scope and methods (so findings are defensible).
Chronology of key events tied to documents, emails, logs, and transactions.
Findings mapped to questions of law (e.g., insolvent transactions, director duties).
Concise executive summary + technical appendices (hash lists, search terms, timelines).
Exhibits ready for court/ASIC (with page/para references).

Why choose Computing Australia for computer forensics?

Experienced forensic analysts accustomed to insolvency matters, fraud reviews, and regulatory contexts.
Rapid response: we move quickly to preserve volatile evidence and reduce spoliation risk.
Court-ready outputs: clear, concise reports aligned to legal strategy and statutory reporting.
Breadth of capability: digital forensics, eDiscovery, incident response, data recovery, and expert testimony under one roof.
Collaborative approach: we work with your legal advisers, administrators, and IT stakeholders for efficient, proportionate outcomes.

Engagement model (simple):

1. Triage call → 2) Preserve & stabilise → 3) Targeted collection → 4) Analysis & interim briefings → 5) Final report & testimony support

Benefits at a glance

Benefit	What it means for you
Evidence Preservation	Legally defensible artefacts; fewer admissibility challenges
Faster fact-finding	Shortens time to clarity on money flows, decisions, and access
Fraud detection	Identifies insider threats, false vendors, and exfiltration
Asset tracing	Illuminates paths to recover misappropriated funds/IP
Regulatory support	ASIC/court-ready reports, timelines, and exhibits
Operational insight	Map of systems, data owners, and control gaps you inherit

Call to action

If you’re managing an insolvency, suspect misconduct, or simply need clarity fast, talk to Computing Australia’s Computer Forensics team. We’ll help you secure evidence, surface the truth, and improve recoveries—with outputs you can rely on in court or with the regulator.