Starting A Business in Digital Forensics – Part 1

Digital Forensics LabDeveloping a business plan is always a subjective affair, especially in digital forensics which is such a new field and full of unknown quantities. Uk computer forensics experts http://www.computersciencelabs.com/ are one of the best known computer and data investigators in the country and considerable advice and examples of using best practice were adopted by them in the construction of their original business plan. Of course, your own organisation will likely also have its best practices and accepted ways of during things. The material provided here is not intended to be a rigid template, but is offered as an example of a type of business case used successfully by an organisation to create a digital forensics laboratory.

As with any good document you want senior management to absorb, there should be an executive summary at the from telling them – in the length of only a page or so – what the document is about and giving them the “elevator pitch” level of information you want them to approve. To provide context, the following business plan has been written as though the digital forensics laboratory would work within the security department.

Executive Summary

  • This document is the Business Plan for a proposed new activity to be managed by the Security department at the parent Organisation.
  • The activity is concerned with the provision of a Digital Forensics Service, aimed at law enforcement, government departments, major corporations, and small to medium enterprises in the high tech market. The market is ready to explode, and we are ready to exploit it.
  • The market need for these digital forensics services arises for the growth in the detection and pursuit of digital based crimes and the resultant need to forensically image digital devices for law enforcement agencies, government departments, and corporations, and to provide individuals who can act as “expert witnesses” in the courtroom.
  • The Digital Forensics Service will provide a low cost easy to understand service, and be a highly effective solution for the coronet business climate.
  • The purpose of this business case is to present management with the information needed to determine whether or not to proceed with the business. Approval to proceed is sought.
  • Although not without risk, the digital forensics business has both a low technical risk and low financial risk, and is capable of being managed by the Security department.
  • The digital forensics business requires a relatively small investment and has a payback period of less than three years.
  • Income in year 1 will be £150,000, rising to £1,000,000 in three years, and £2,500,000 in five years.

The next section of the business plan is the outline of the proposal that gives a short explanation of the purpose of the plan and an indication of scope.