Professional, Affordable Digital Forensics Services in South Africa

Digital Forensics is a lot more complex than using a range of well-developed forensic software that can be bought online to investigate something – it is a skilled understanding of all things digital (this includes cellular and computer based forensics), the investigative process, and criminal as well as civil investigations. 

The TCG Digital Forensics division came to be in the year 2006 when it separated from The Computer Guyz and began offering Digital Forensic services including digital fraud investigations, service of summons, data recovery and CFE in South Africa.

With over 18 years of experience in trading in South Africa, we know exactly where we should be when it comes to our customers market needs as well as the Digital Forensics field. Our incident response team is trained with a broad background of skills ranging from IT intelligence and data investigation to network security and so much more.

At TCG Digital Forensics, we use the latest software and a system of techniques to collect, research, investigate, and uncover the digital evidence that you require. Our digital forensics services are designed around the requirements of a specific set of clients which includes investigative firms, attorneys, investigators, forensic auditors and blue chip customers, however we do cover a wider scope should you need our assistance.

Do you have a particular set of requirements? Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time. Our main digital forensic investigation offices are in Cape Town, but we do have offices in the Pretoria area and a presence in the coastal area of Durban.

We are proud to offer all our customers clean, professional and methodical digital forensic services supplied by our professional incident response team. Here are some of the Digital Forensic services, including cellular forensics services and computer forensics services that we provide in Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and nationally…

Incident Response Team

Business Continuity Planning

Cyber Penetration Testing

Hacking Recovery

Cyber Investigations

Cellular Phone Analysis

Hard Disk Drive Analysis

Device Acquisition

Testimony

Due Diligence Investigations

Image Enhancement

Certified Fraud Examiner Services

Service of Summons

Learn more about our Digital Forensics services by visiting our website www.tcgforensics.co.za

CFE Services in South Africa

As the business world and the online continues to grow so does fraud. And with the growth of digitization comes more ways for fraudsters to find possible victims! 

There are a range of different and somewhat scary fraud trends that business owners as well as individuals should keep their eyes open for. Fortunately with the growth of fraud comes the growth of professional and reliable CFE Services in South Africa.

TCG Digital Forensics in South Africa offers a range of unique expertise in the CFE field. In order for your company to be aware of fraud and prevent it in the future without harming your organisation as well as your employees and clients, CFE (Certified Fraud Examiners) provide digital forensic services where they will assist in detecting, preventing and investigating the situation.

We offer CFE services in South Africa that can protect and assist you as an individual as well as your business, overall our digital forensics services are there to strengthen your anti-fraud protection efforts.

NEVER let fraudsters try and damage your business, make sure to take the right steps and communicate with the right people involved in CFE in South Africa. Here are some fraud trends to keep an eye out for…

- Identity theft
- Fake accounts
- Machine learning

Fraud continues to grow at a rapid rate, which is why you need to keep up with the trends! Contact TCG Digital Forensics for reliable, professional and effective CFE services in South Africa.

For more information about our digital forensic services in South Africa, please do not hesitate to contact TCG Digital Forensics directly on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

How to protect yourself against SMS Phishing Attacks (SMiShing)

Everyday scammers are coming up with new ways to target people and trick them into parting with their money. Nothing digital is safe anymore – social media networks, emails and now even SMSs.

SMS phishing, otherwise known as SMiShing, are phishing scams that are sent out on SMSs!

Here are some helpful tips on how to spot a SMiShing scam SMS…

Always double check SMSs from your bank. If your bank does send you SMSs, then be sure to find out what number they use so if you receive an SMS you can compare it and find out if it’s legitimate. If you do now know the number, call your bank’s customer service number just to be sure.

Be wary of suspicious-looking numbers & links. Scammers are likely to mask their identities so they will use a variety and different phone numbers as well as unusual links in SMS scams – if you receive any SMSs from strange numbers that you do not recognise always double check with whoever sent it and NEVER link on a link you do not recognise.

Report threats. Should you ever receive regular SMS scams, any threatening or potentially dangerous SMSs always report it to the local authorities, cybercrime centre/website or get in touch with a professional digital or mobile forensics expert from www.tcgforensics.co.za in South Africa – call 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

Always stay vigilant and be aware of the common techniques that SMS scammers use when they’re SMiShing – this will go a long way when it comes to keeping yourself and your money safe!

3 Reasons why you should always update WhatsApp

In this digital age, time is important, so most people want to satisfy most of their needs in just one click… More and more messengers are becoming popular, but WhatsApp still remains especially popular, which is why hackers keep their sights on it.

Here are some of the vulnerabilities in the WhatsApp application…

> Did you know that it is possible to gain access to an individual’s messages because of vulnerability in the WhatsApp protocol?

> Hackers can a gain access to a user’s cell phone by using a vulnerability that is triggered when a video call is answered.

> There is vulnerability with the two-factor authentication on WhatsApp. If a user switches off their phone at night, the password recovery system can be made to call and name the code, this code can be accessed using voicemail since most passwords are still weak.

To avoid becoming the next victim, always keep your WhatsApp updated! Has your phone been hacked? Please contact us immediately at TCG Digital Forensics in Cape Town and Centurion – give us a call on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

What is Service of Summons

What exactly is the meaning when we hear “Service of Summons”?

The service of summons needs to be composed of a number of important documents and information. If you take a look at Rules 5 and 7 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, as well as Rule 17 in the Uniform Rules of Court you will get a detailed description of what a service of summons contains. Here are some of the most important items a service of summons needs to consist of…

- A clear form of consent to the particular judgement
- Citations of both parties involved
- The particulars of the claim
- The address of the party involved that will receive the service of summons during the legal process

The service of summons is then passed on to a legal attorney or lawyer and signed, however the party involved can sign off if they chose not to be assisted by an attorney.

The next step is for the service of summons to be drafted, once this is done it is checked thoroughly by an officer of the court who stamps the summons document and assigns it with a unique case number.

When the summons is issued by the officer of the court, it can be served.

As a value added service to our clients abroad, at TCG Digital Forensics are offering a service of summons processing/service in South Africa.

We are able to affect the service of legal processing/summons in the following areas in South Africa:

·         > Cape Town

·         > Durban

·         > Johannesburg

Please note that we may be available to offer our services to clients in other, additional areas on request. Service is executed by experienced process servers with supporting statements issued and commissioned to that effect. Generally we offer summons processing/services around the needs of attorneys, investigators and forensics audits, but we also cover a wider scope.

For additional information or discussions around the serving of legal process/summons in South Africa as well as additional areas, please do not hesitate to make contact with us directly on 021 110 0422 | 087 001 0523 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za

Cellular Best Practices for At-Risk Individuals

Email

· Register a unique email address to use when setting up your phone. Do not use your usual email address. You can add that later as a functional email account.

· Use a totally unique password for the email account with which you setup your phone.

· NEVER give anyone the above email address or password and do not use that email address for anything else.

· iPhone is safer than Android – provided that you follow these guidelines – specifically around using an anonymous email address.

· Always use solid, complex passcodes.

Data

· Enable encryption to secure your data if your phone ever gets lost.

· NEVER migrate data between phones. Rather back the data up and transfer it separately.

· NEVER hand your phone to anyone. Keep it in your hands if you need to show them something.

· Avoid linking your phone to any computer you do not have control of.

· KNOW what data you are backing up to Google, WhatsApp etc. be sure it is the minimum required information and no more.

General

· Keep apps to a bare minimum – if you don’t use it or need it, take it off!

· Never jailbreak an iPhone or root an Android device – only load apps from the relevant app store.

· Avoid using Wi-Fi. Only use Wi-Fi that is manually configured with a hidden SSID and Mac Addressing linking your phone to it. Outside of this, leave Wi-Fi OFF completely.

· Unless you absolutely must use Bluetooth – disable it

· Ensure that Kaspersky or Bitdefender are loaded on your device.

· Make sure that your handset is configured to automatically update your operating system – security vulnerabilities are exposed regularly and fixed. You need them!

For a wide range of digital forensics services including fraud investigations, CFE in South Africa, cellular forensics, service of summons, penetration testing, data recovery and so much more - give us a call now on 087 001 0523 / 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za. For more information visit our website here... www.tcgforensics.co.za

What can you do to keep your Broken Phone’s Data Safe?

Only you know how valuable the data on your mobile phone is, what you do with the information is up to you. So, do you know how to keep your personal data safe on your phone when it suddenly breaks?

The answer isn’t a simple one – how do you use your phone when the screen is cracked? It happens a lot more often than you think. The question is what do you do to protect your data when you can’t use your phone properly?

Here are a few things you can do to make it difficult for anyone without professional forensic skills to get to your stuff…

      1.       Use a secure lock screen – Swiping to unlock is easy enough for a monkey to do, so make sure you always lock it properly!

      2.       Set up Find My Device – Install Find My iPhone on your iPhone or Find My Device on your Android from Google Play Protect. Even if you can’t use the phone you can still access the data.

      3.       Change your Password – Use another device to change your Google password, this extra step will stop anyone from accessing your data and ensuring damage is minimal.

      4.       You may need to speak to a Professional – If you feel your data is precious enough to stress over, then you need to hire someone such as a professional digital forensic expert to assist you in retrieving or destroying it.

Looking for both cellular and computer forensics services? TCG Forensics is a digital forensics company in South Africa that is always at your service. We generally work directly for private investigators, polygraph examiners, attorneys and similar parties although we can accept a direct brief from a corporate entity that requires our services. We are able to assist bona fide law enforcement agencies with the procurement of forensic software and hardware once credentials have been verified.