Forensic Data Recovery
We do the technical work: write-blocked imaging, data extraction, and chain of custody documentation. Your legal team, HR department, or law enforcement handles the investigation. No enterprise markup.
Our Role in Your Case
We handle: The technical recovery. Imaging, extraction, documentation.
You handle: The investigation. Analysis, conclusions, legal strategy.
This division of labor keeps costs down and keeps us focused on what we do best.
Who Uses Forensic Data Recovery
Law Firms
Civil litigation, divorce proceedings, contract disputes. You need data extracted from a device to support your case. We image it, extract the files, and provide documentation your expert witness can rely on.
HR Departments
Employee misconduct investigations, policy violations, IP theft concerns. You need to examine a company laptop or phone. We extract data while maintaining chain of custody for any disciplinary or legal action.
Law Enforcement
Criminal investigations where evidence is on damaged storage media. We recover data from drives that standard forensic tools cannot read due to physical damage.
Insurance Investigators
Fraud investigations, claims verification. You need to examine data from a claimant's device. We provide neutral, documented extraction.
Private Investigators
You have authorization to examine a device and need technical assistance with data extraction from damaged or difficult media.
Corporate Legal
eDiscovery preparation, regulatory compliance, internal audits. You need data preserved and extracted from storage devices with proper documentation.
What We Provide
1. Write-Blocked Forensic Imaging
We connect your media through a hardware write-blocker that physically prevents any writes to the original device. We then create a bit-for-bit image capturing every sector, including deleted files and unallocated space.
Technical details: We use PC-3000 professional imaging hardware. Images are verified with MD5 and SHA-256 hashes. Any read errors or bad sectors are logged with their exact locations.
2. Chain of Custody Documentation
We document the complete handling history of your media from receipt to return. This includes intake photographs, condition notes, who handled it, what was done, and when.
Documentation includes: Intake form with photographs, handling log with timestamps, imaging log with hash values, file listing of recovered data, signed attestation of procedures followed.
3. Data Extraction and Recovery
From the forensic image, we extract all accessible files, deleted files that have not been overwritten, and file fragments. We can target specific file types or date ranges if you have particular needs.
Recovery scope: Active files, deleted files, shadow copies, email archives, database files, browser history, document metadata.
4. Secure Handling
Your media stays in our secure Austin facility for the duration of the work. We sign NDAs and can accommodate specific security requirements from your legal team.
Security measures: Access-controlled facility, device tracking from receipt to return, no outsourcing, secure data destruction after delivery. See our data security page for full details.
What We Do Not Provide
Being clear about scope helps everyone. Here is what we do not do:
Forensic Analysis or Investigation
We extract and document. We do not analyze what the data means, draw conclusions, or investigate. That is your job or your forensic examiner's job.
Expert Witness Testimony on Analysis
We can testify about what we did: how we imaged the drive, what we recovered, what condition it was in. We cannot testify about what the data means or provide opinion evidence.
Certified Forensic Lab Credentials
We are a data recovery lab. We follow sound forensic imaging practices, but we are not a certified forensic laboratory. If your case requires specific certifications, check with your attorney about requirements.
Password Cracking or Bypass
If a device is encrypted or password-protected and you do not have the credentials, we cannot bypass that security. We image what is accessible. Decryption is outside our scope.
Pricing
Forensic work uses our standard data recovery pricing. Chain of custody documentation is included at no additional charge.
Forensic Imaging + Extraction
$300 - $1,500
Write-blocked imaging, chain of custody documentation, file extraction and listing. Price depends on drive size and condition.
Chain of Custody Documentation
Included
Intake photos, handling log, hash verification, imaging logs, signed attestation.
NDA Services
Small Admin Fee
We sign your NDA or provide ours. Covers the time for legal review of custom agreements.
Evaluation
Free
We assess the device and provide a firm quote before beginning paid work.
Why No Enterprise Markup?
Other labs charge $3,000-$5,000+ for forensic imaging by calling it an “enterprise tier.” We use the same write-blocked imaging process for everyone. The only difference for legal work is the documentation, which we include at no extra charge. You pay for the technical difficulty of the recovery, not for the word “forensic.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you a certified forensic lab?
Can your work be used in court?
What documentation do you provide?
Will you sign an NDA?
How much does forensic imaging cost?
Can you provide expert testimony?
Need forensic imaging for a case?
Write-blocked imaging with chain of custody documentation. NDA available. Free evaluation.