Community Spotlight-

eFor

A computer forensics company in Tracy.

The information age has inspired a lot of change in the business community and the pace of that change is staggering.  Low cost Internet connections have made it possible for even the smallest company to have an Internet presence.  Many small companies can operate out of the home of the owner while being connected to the Internet and appearing to be a much larger organization.

   These business advantages often lead to problems within organizations as employees find ways to abuse the benefits of the Internet.  Spam, hacking pornography, wasting time surfing the Internet, data loss, and sending critical company data to insecure locations are just a few of the problems the typical business might experience as a result of the computing revolution.

   Dave Townsend’s eFor Corporation specializes in helping companies secure their company data and assists in ensuring the privacy of their customers and employees.  Located at 2880 North Tracy Blvd, Suite 5, Dave maintains his office and a small computer lab where he and his employee work to track cyber criminals.

   Dave built the foundation for fighting cyber crime many years ago when he entered law enforcement with the Santa Cruz Police Department.  He moved to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s office, but spent the last nine years of his career with the Santa Clara Police Department. 

   Dave retired as a detective in the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) high-technology crime task force that was made up of members of many different government agencies. 

   Members of the REACT team came from police departments, the FBI, Secret Service, US Marshals, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency.  Members of the various agencies of the government work together to bring whatever talent was necessary to solve a crime. 

   After retiring from the Santa Clara Police Department, Dave opened the doors of e-for on December 17, 2002.  His first contract to do computer forensics was with the California Highway Patrol.

   eFor’s primary market is not in Tracy, but he is prepared to provide services to the local business community.  Prior to opening eFor, Tracy businesses would have to go to San Francisco or San Jose to get the same quality of assistance from a computer forensics specialist.

   eFor strives to enhance the technical aspects of a company computer network to provide protection from viruses, intrusions, and internal abuse to help assure the network is being administered in a proper and secure manner. 

   New regulations that went into effect last July significantly raise the liability for businesses when a customer’s personal information is believed to be compromised.   The important thing to note is that proof of the compromise is not needed if it can be reasonably assumed that intruders have gained access to the data. 

   Privacy is becoming more important in the business and medical environments.  eFor can review a company’s information systems function to verify and certify that the network is being administered in a way that protects the privacy of customers and patients. 

   Dave says that the proliferation of wireless networks is having an adverse effect on data security.  In the old days, hackers used to “war dial,” which is the use of automated phone dialers that located phone numbers used by computers.  Their computer programs kept calling phone numbers until a computer with a modem answered the phone. 

   Hackers now drive around through business districts and residential neighborhoods with laptop computers looking for wireless router signals they can exploit.  They paint a few little dots on the curb to identify the locations of wireless network signals and then post the locations on the Internet.  Hackers and spammers can exploit the wireless networks to commit criminal acts.

   Dave says that Laptop computers are creating a new challenge for businesses.  While a company might be careful about securing its confidential data on the servers, people often take laptop computers home or through airports where they are stolen. 

   Critical data becomes available to the thief who steals the laptop and he might sell the information to a competitor.  Another problem is that critical data can be lost to the company because the laptop computer has not been properly backed up to a safe or centralized location.

   Dave advises that the human element cannot be removed from the security equation.  As much as the company network administrator might do a good job of keeping the computers running properly, the security of the network is a different discipline.  Administrators often use automated programs to review their logs, but log-reading programs cannot replace the experienced eye of a forensics investigator.

   Why should a company have their network proactively evaluated to determine if there are security or integrity problems?  Dave reports that responding and cleaning up a network intrusion issue is often over four hundred percent more expensive to handle than doing proper evaluations and audits.  Those figures do not take into account the adverse publicity or the cost of attending trials or defending civil suits.

   Can eFor help companies that have had their network compromised?  The answer is yes.  Dave knows how to handle an intrusion situation to allow you to recover the network with minimal damage. 

   eFor brings a valuable service to the Tracy business community.  Feel free to contact Dave Townsend at e-for at (209) 832-7001 if you have any questions about your own network security situation.

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