SunBlock Systems Finds That Multiple Departing Employees Can Add Up to Trouble

The Client

A large medical equipment manufacturer

The Scenario

Three key employees from the sales team left the client company within weeks of one another. The client suspected that these employees coordinated their departures and planned to work for a direct competitor.

The Investigation

SunBlock investigators conducted an onsite examination of the departed employees' laptops. The investigation uncovered the following facts:

• Employee #1 copied 11 CDs worth of company proprietary data off his laptop in the 48 hours before his resignation.
• Employee #2's hard drive did not reveal any incriminating data.
• Employee #3's hard drive turned up an e-mail inbox that appeared to be empty.

Using forensic techniques, SunBlock recovered Employee #3's deleted e-mails, including messages to Employee #2 at his new company (the direct competitor) regarding recruiting Employee #3 to join the company. In addition, SunBlock investigators uncovered e-mails containing company proprietary data sent to various high level individuals employed by the competitor.

The Benefits

SunBlock's personnel were able to use their training and investigative skills to conduct a full and comprehensive examination that enabled the client to find evidence incriminating the departing individuals, despite their attempts to cover their tracks. In this particular case, Employee #2 would have been in the clear if not for Employee #3's actions. In addition, the client was able to confirm their suspicions about the competitor's unscrupulous business practices, which enabled the client to pursue legal action against the former employees as well as the competitor.