Much of the early use of computers was for the storage of financial data. Hence, initial groundwork in the area of computer forensics was done by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division and other federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation).
In the private sector, organizations such as Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche, and other large corporate auditors had an early interest in computer forensics. Today, crimes involving a computer have expanded much further than those of only financial interest.
To understand who might be interested in performing computer forensics, it is helpful to break down the types of involvement the computer could have with a crime. One type of involvement is where the computer assisted the crime, such as with fraud and child pornography.
Another situation where computers commonly assist in a crime or employee malfeasance is intellectual property theft in the corporate environment. All too often a customer list or product design information is downloaded by an employee and taken to competitors.
