There are several stories about how electronic discovery (also called e-discovery or ediscovery) can be a good start-up business for those who are not yet sure on what they want to do with their lives. And no one can best personify success in ediscovery business that better than Abtin Buergari, founder and CEO of Washington, D.C., startup, Modus eDiscovery.
Buergari has a fantastic rags-to-riches story which was featured in several publications already. He is simply a man who grew up in poverty and was working himself through law school until his ideas for doing his job better got him fired — and sued — by his employer.
So he took those ideas and started his own company, dropping out of college and living on credit cards. Now, his company is generating US$ 18 million in sales and landed US$ 10 million in venture investment. He is also commanding a 200-employee workforce with 12 offices.
But what is ediscovery? It refers to any process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. E-discovery can be carried out offline on a particular computer or it can be done in a network. Court-ordered or government sanctioned hacking for the purpose of obtaining critical evidence is also a type of e-discovery.
The nature of digital data makes it extremely well-suited to investigation. For one thing, digital data can be electronically searched with ease, whereas paper documents must be scrutinized manually. Furthermore, digital data is difficult or impossible to completely destroy, particularly if it gets into a network. This is because the data appears on multiple hard drives and because digital files, even if deleted, can be undeleted. In fact, the only reliable way to destroy a computer file is to physically destroy every hard drive where the file has been stored.
In the process of electronic discovery, data of all types can serve as evidence. This can include text, images, calendar files, databases, spreadsheets, audio files, animation, Web sites and computer programs. Even malware such as viruses, trojans and spyware can be secured and investigated. Email can be an especially valuable source of evidence in civil or criminal litigation, because people are often less careful in these exchanges than in hard copy correspondence such as written memos and postal letters.
Computer forensics, also called cyberforensics, is a specialized form of e-discovery in which an investigation is carried out on the contents of the hard drive of a specific computer. After physically isolating the computer, investigators make a digital copy of the hard drive. Then the original computer is locked in a secure facility to maintain its pristine condition. All investigation is done on the digital copy.
E-discovery is an evolving field that goes far beyond mere technology. It gives rise to multiple legal, constitutional, political, security and personal privacy issues, many of which have yet to be resolved. Fortunately for Buergari, he was able to manage all these uncertainties and convert it into a productive venture.
Buergari has a fantastic rags-to-riches story which was featured in several publications already. He is simply a man who grew up in poverty and was working himself through law school until his ideas for doing his job better got him fired — and sued — by his employer.
So he took those ideas and started his own company, dropping out of college and living on credit cards. Now, his company is generating US$ 18 million in sales and landed US$ 10 million in venture investment. He is also commanding a 200-employee workforce with 12 offices.
But what is ediscovery? It refers to any process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. E-discovery can be carried out offline on a particular computer or it can be done in a network. Court-ordered or government sanctioned hacking for the purpose of obtaining critical evidence is also a type of e-discovery.
The nature of digital data makes it extremely well-suited to investigation. For one thing, digital data can be electronically searched with ease, whereas paper documents must be scrutinized manually. Furthermore, digital data is difficult or impossible to completely destroy, particularly if it gets into a network. This is because the data appears on multiple hard drives and because digital files, even if deleted, can be undeleted. In fact, the only reliable way to destroy a computer file is to physically destroy every hard drive where the file has been stored.
In the process of electronic discovery, data of all types can serve as evidence. This can include text, images, calendar files, databases, spreadsheets, audio files, animation, Web sites and computer programs. Even malware such as viruses, trojans and spyware can be secured and investigated. Email can be an especially valuable source of evidence in civil or criminal litigation, because people are often less careful in these exchanges than in hard copy correspondence such as written memos and postal letters.
Computer forensics, also called cyberforensics, is a specialized form of e-discovery in which an investigation is carried out on the contents of the hard drive of a specific computer. After physically isolating the computer, investigators make a digital copy of the hard drive. Then the original computer is locked in a secure facility to maintain its pristine condition. All investigation is done on the digital copy.
E-discovery is an evolving field that goes far beyond mere technology. It gives rise to multiple legal, constitutional, political, security and personal privacy issues, many of which have yet to be resolved. Fortunately for Buergari, he was able to manage all these uncertainties and convert it into a productive venture.
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