Over the past few days we’ve dealt with two cases where our clients were deeply invested in the question of whether or not the contents of sealed court documents could be made public. And our answer to both of them was the same: If someone knows about the documents, some of the information might be […]
What gets less coverage, however, is how often small business owners are the weakest link in an identity theft chain. Certainly big businesses have been called out for serious data breaches, including misrepresenting whether or not their data was encrypted. But, as it turns out, personally taking pains to protect against hackers and identity thieves can all be for naught if thieves are accessing your digital data via the smaller businesses you frequent. This could include your favorite local restaurant, or the neighborhood Mom and Pop bookstore or boutique you proudly support. Take credit card terminals, for example: Small businesses are especially vulnerable to the plethora of ways hackers collect cardholder data via credit card terminals used to process credit card sales.
Here are some ways small businesses can protect their client’s data from credit card terminal breaches.
An entertaining piece in the Wall Street Journal today describes the preferred mobile phone for Japanese philanderers. It’s an older Fujitsu model that the faithful get reconditioned to keep it running for three years and longer. Its main advantage is that you can conceal missed calls and other information from the casual observer, but to […]
Clients often ask us whether we tape-record phone calls we make in the course of an investigation. Our brief answer is, “never.” Here is why: Recording could be illegal. Some states allow tape recording conversations if one of the two people in the conversation is aware that a tape is rolling, but some require that […]
A wonderful new book called The Half-Life of Facts by Samuel Arbesman makes riveting reading for anyone in the business of gathering information. Don’t let the fact that the author is an applied mathematician scare you off. Arbesman keeps his examples mostly in the realms of science and general knowledge, and leaves the law alone. […]
Among the pros (and cons) of having a cell phone is that you don’t have to stay chained to your desk anymore. Now you can do business anywhere you have phone coverage. But sometimes we are so consumed by the convenience of being able to conduct business on the go that we forget the risks.
By now the General David Petraeus debacle has been all over the news. We certainly don’t need to go over all the sordid details. Nor do we need to go over all the Internet security tips the case has made front page news. A summary of the greatest tips should suffice: Big brother may […]
On Election Day, it’s useful to remember that Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill’s famous assertion that “All politics is local” can apply to investigations as well.
When we’re tasked with a public records search, our clients expect that we’ll review federal and state government records. What they may not realize, though, is that an exhaustive public records search also requires digging through local public records, which may be a treasure trove of offline information unavailable elsewhere. Remember, though: There’s local and then there’s local. Think of it as gradually smaller geographic circles until you hone in on where the person you’re investigating actually lives or works.
Unbeknown to most cell phone users, just turning your cell phone on reveals your location. That’s because once turned on, your cell phone constantly “pings” (bounces a signal off of) nearby cell phone network towers. This data is collected by the cell phone company and can be traced to reveal your location.
Short of turning your cell phone off and pulling out its battery, there’s nothing you can do about this: This is just basic cell phone technology at work. Technology that can determine your physical whereabouts for as long as your cell phone is turned on, which for most of us means 24 hours a day.
Attorneys know that one of their primary obligations to their clients is to protect client confidences. Therefore, great pains are taken to make sure that clients’ highly personal information stays in safe hands. But what happens when attorneys are the ones passing along their personal information? Well, unfortunately lawyers are far less careful with their own confidential information than they are with their clients’.
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Charles Griffin Intelligence was founded in 2009 by Philip Segal, a New York attorney and expert on complex domestic and international business and finance. Based in the heart of New York City and working worldwide, Charles Griffin is dedicated to ethical fact-finding.
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