Digital Forensics & Incident Response
Frontline Forensic Investigations
Precision Under Pressure
Specialists by design. Senior forensic investigators from the public and private sector, leading your crisis response.
When the future of your business is on the line, you need dedicated DFIR specialists with the experience and judgment to guide you through the crisis. At FFI, we understand that your needs extend well beyond the ones and zeros of a breach. The senior forensic investigators assigned to your engagement remain directly involved in uncovering the facts, leading the response, and helping you make critical decisions about your business and its recovery.
Experience spanning FBI Cyber Division and private sector breach investigations.
Our approachThe FFI Difference
Frontline Forensic Investigations was founded on a simple belief: when an organization is facing a consequential cyber event, technical expertise alone is not enough.
Exceptional incident response requires rigorous investigation, sound judgment, and the ability to help businesses make critical decisions when information is incomplete and time matters.
Ransomware example
See how an incident unfolds
This scenario illustrates the connected demands an incident can create. FFI also investigates compromised email accounts, unauthorized access, data theft, and other cyber incidents, tailoring the investigation and response to each situation.
ILLUSTRATIVE RANSOMWARE SEQUENCE
How a ransomware attack disrupts your business.
Follow a ransomware intrusion from initial access through data theft, encryption, and business interruption.
Findings & inputs
FFI recommendations & actions
Scientifically defensible root cause analysis
An evidence based analysis of how the incident occurred, with conclusions and any limitations clearly documented.
The threat actor’s path through your network
An evidence supported reconstruction of the accounts and devices involved, the attacker’s movement, and how access persisted.
A clear assessment of data impact
Findings on what data was accessed, taken, encrypted, or otherwise affected.
Established containment
Validation that identified attacker access paths and persistence have been removed, with no evidence of continued access within the investigated scope.
Restoration of business operations
A coordinated return to business operations, with guidance on restoring systems safely and reducing further disruption.
Recommendations grounded in forensic findings
Practical, prioritized recommendations to address identified weaknesses and improve your network’s defenses.
A forensic report of findings
Upon request of counselA written record of the forensic investigation’s findings and conclusions.
Related to this phase
✓Response under way
Expand for the full walkthrough.
Experience Under Pressure
FFI brings together former FBI Cyber Division Special Agents and Computer Scientists, senior private sector digital forensics and incident response professionals, and legal and investigative experience developed over decades of complex matters.
Our team brings 39 combined years of FBI cyber experience and has collectively performed more than 1,000 full lifecycle digital forensic and incident response investigations, the majority involving ransomware, nation state advanced persistent threats, and significant network compromise.
That experience spans complex international federal cyber investigations and consequential breaches affecting private sector organizations. Years of working alongside cyber insurers, breach counsel, and corporate leadership give our investigators an understanding of both the evidence and its business consequences.
Many members of our team have worked alongside one another for more than a decade. That familiarity allows us to coordinate quickly, anticipate what an investigation requires, and deliver a precise response when the pressure is greatest.
Our Leadership TeamInvestigators First
FFI is built around professionals who are investigators by nature and forensic experts by discipline.
No two breaches are the same, and no two clients are the same. Our people question assumptions, follow evidence wherever it leads, recognize inconsistencies, and understand the significance of what is missing. They distinguish an investigative lead worth pursuing from a technical curiosity that will not materially advance the response.
Technical skills can be taught and continually developed. Investigative instinct and judgment guide which questions to ask, which evidence to pursue, and how to assess what the available facts support.
Our objective is to establish reliable facts, answer the questions that matter, and produce conclusions capable of withstanding scrutiny. That means determining root cause, establishing scope, reconstructing attacker activity, identifying compromised systems and accounts, and evaluating potential data access and exfiltration. Those findings support evidence preservation, containment, and recovery.
Depth, Not Volume
Our model is intentionally selective because consequential investigations demand experienced people who remain close to the evidence, close to the client, and accountable for decisions throughout the response.
The senior professionals leading an FFI engagement remain directly involved in the investigation, the strategy, and critical conversations with counsel, technical teams, insurers, and executives. Clients have continuity with people who understand the evidence and the decisions it informs.
Attention. Continuity. Judgment. Accountability.
More Than a Forensic Lead
Every FFI engagement is led by a professional capable of serving as an incident commander as well as a forensic lead.
A significant cyber incident can create simultaneous technical, operational, legal, financial, insurance, regulatory, and communications demands. FFI helps leadership see across those workstreams, establish priorities, understand what is known and unknown, and determine what needs to happen next.
For an experienced FFI responder, the incident may be one of hundreds encountered over a career. For the organization, this may be its first major cyber crisis. We help leadership understand what the findings mean, which decisions matter now, which can wait, and the consequences of each path forward.
The First 72 Hours Matter
Some of the most consequential decisions occur before the investigation has produced definitive answers. The pressure to restore business operations can be enormous. Isolating systems, changing credentials, rebuilding infrastructure, or reimaging devices may be appropriate, but those actions can also alter or destroy critical evidence.
Evidence lost during restoration may leave questions unanswered weeks later: How did the incident happen? What data was compromised? What notification obligations may follow? Keeping systems offline solely for forensic purposes can also impose unacceptable operational consequences.
FFI helps organizations weigh those competing needs, identify evidence at risk, and plan containment and restoration with the investigation in mind. The approach reflects what is known, what remains uncertain, and the technical, business, and legal consequences of the available options.
Understand the consequences before an irreversible decision is made.
Built to Work With Counsel
FFI routinely conducts investigations at the direction of breach counsel within privileged incident response engagements. Our work supports counsel’s assessment of regulatory obligations, contractual requirements, insurance coverage, notification, and potential litigation.
We focus on the questions data privacy counsel needs answered:
- Was information accessed or acquired?
- Did data leave the environment?
- What data was involved?
- When did the activity occur?
- What evidence supports the conclusion?
- What remains unknown?
Our investigators work within the scope established with counsel and the client. When additional work may materially affect the response, we explain its purpose, its potential value, and the question it is intended to answer.
A defensible forensic process gives counsel a clear foundation for informed legal guidance. We document the basis and limitations of our conclusions and bring issues requiring legal judgment to counsel before critical decisions are made.
Focused, defensible findings that make counsel’s job easier.
From Bits and Bytes to the Boardroom
FFI works alongside CISOs, security engineers, and incident response teams while advising General Counsel, executive leadership, insurers, and boards of directors. Each audience needs a clear understanding of the incident at the level relevant to its decisions.
A security team may need to examine authentication artifacts, endpoint telemetry, lateral movement, cloud logging, or data exfiltration. Executives and directors need those findings translated into business implications and answers to practical questions:
- What happened?
- Are we contained?
- What information may have been taken?
- Can we safely operate?
- What is the potential impact?
- What decisions need to be made today?
We communicate what the evidence establishes, what remains uncertain, and how the findings affect the choices ahead. Technical accuracy and clear communication are both essential to a useful investigation.
Clarity for the people making decisions, with the evidence behind every conclusion.
Establish the relationship
Start a conversation.
DFIR services, incident response retainers, and counsel or carrier relationships.
The people behind FFI
Our Leadership Team
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We are preparing this page. Contact FFI to learn more about our team.
Digital Forensics & Incident Response
Establish the facts.
Respond with confidence.
From a focused examination of a single system to a coordinated response to a major breach.
FFI brings investigative depth to the questions facing your organization. When an incident calls for action, we combine forensic analysis with containment, recovery guidance, and experienced response leadership.
1,000+DFIR investigations
39 yearsCombined FBI cyber experience
Senior led investigationsLeadership assigned to every investigation
The right scope for your situation
The same investigative rigor.
A different level of response.
Digital forensics is the foundation. The circumstances determine what else is needed.
Focused forensic investigation
Something needs a closer look.
For exampleA domain controller exhibits unusual behavior, with no established indication of a breach.
FFI examines the system and relevant records to determine what occurred and whether the evidence warrants further action.
- Evidence collection and forensic analysis
- Clear findings and their limitations
- Recommendations for next steps
A defined investigation, which may be undertaken as due diligence.
Coordinated incident response
A suspected or confirmed breach.
For exampleUnauthorized access is discovered, and the organization needs to understand the impact and regain control.
The same forensic capabilities work alongside containment and recovery efforts, with crisis leadership where needed.
- Investigation and evidence preservation
- Containment, eradication, and recovery guidance
- Coordination with leadership, counsel, and insurers
Investigation and response progress together as the facts develop.
You do not need to choose a service package. We help establish the scope, then adjust it with you as the evidence develops.
Our core capabilities
Services built around the work.
Combine the expertise your situation requires, from a specific forensic question to a broader response.
Establish the facts.
Collect, examine, and explain the evidence.
Device Forensics
Examine servers, endpoints, mobile devices, IoT devices, and network appliances to reconstruct events and establish what the evidence supports.
- Evidence collection and preservation
- Device examination and dead box forensics
- Log and telemetry analysis
What we examine
Physical servers and virtual machines, desktop and laptop endpoints, mobile devices, IoT devices, and network appliances. We examine available device data, storage media, virtual disks, and forensic images, including file systems, operating system artifacts, configurations, and user activity.
We correlate device evidence with firewall, authentication, security tool, and application logs to reconstruct activity, identify root cause and persistence, and assess data access or exfiltration. Findings reflect the available evidence and its limitations.
Cloud Forensics
Trace activity across accounts, mailboxes, and cloud resources to establish who accessed what and how it was used.
- Business email compromise investigations
- Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, and Google Workspace
- Account activity, persistence, and data exposure
Inside a cloud investigation
We examine sign-ins, audit logs, mailbox rules, permissions, application access, and configuration changes. Findings can help trace fraudulent payment instructions and identify continuing access.
The analysis reflects the platform, available logging, and evidence limitations.
Forensic Reporting & Briefings
Turn technical evidence into clear findings for clients, counsel, insurers, and the people making decisions.
- Executive summaries of material findings
- Comprehensive forensic reports
- Technical, executive, and board briefings
Reporting options
Executive summaries cover the critical evidence, principal findings, root cause, and data impact. Comprehensive reports document the sources examined, detailed findings, and analysis behind each conclusion.
We explain what is established, what remains uncertain, and the implications. Written reports are prepared within the agreed scope and, where involved, at counsel’s direction.
Address the threat and its consequences.
Targeted support through coordinated incident leadership.
Forensic Hunt & Containment
Find attacker activity, limit further access, and guide eradication and safe recovery as the investigation progresses.
- Targeted hunts using EDR tools
- Coordinated isolation and access mitigation
- Evidence preservation and recovery guidance
How the work progresses
Custom investigative queries help identify compromised devices, persistence, and lateral movement. Findings from forensic examinations feed the hunt as new indicators emerge.
We coordinate authorized containment with your technical team, address identified access paths, and guide restoration with critical evidence and business continuity in mind.
Ransomware Negotiations & Settlement
Manage threat actor communications and help leadership evaluate the demand, evidence, and available options.
- Evaluate claims and supporting evidence
- Lead communications and negotiations
- Support an informed settlement decision
Decision and execution support
We help assess whether to negotiate, settle, or walk away, informed by encryption, data theft, recovery options, and business priorities.
When settlement is authorized, we coordinate with counsel, insurers, and payment providers, and assist with decryption where applicable.
Cyber Crisis Management
Bring experienced leadership to the operational decisions, competing priorities, and uncertainty surrounding an incident.
- Senior guidance for CISOs and executives
- Coordination with counsel and insurers
- Business continuity and restoration priorities
Leadership through critical decisions
A member of our leadership team is assigned to every investigation. When crisis management is needed, that leader connects the evidence to decisions across the response.
We explain tradeoffs early, including when restoration may destroy important evidence, and bring questions requiring legal judgment to counsel.
A reason to investigate
Situations we investigate.
You may have a specific concern, an unexplained event, or a breach already in progress.
Suspicious system behavior
Unexplained activity on a server, endpoint, or account.
Forensic due diligence
A focused examination to answer a specific concern.
Ransomware & cyber extortion
Encryption, data theft, and threats of disruption or disclosure.
Business email & cloud compromise
Unauthorized mailbox, identity, or cloud resource activity.
Payment fraud & wire redirection
Manipulated communications and diverted payment instructions.
Nation state & persistent threats
Targeted intrusions, covert access, and sustained attacker activity.
Vulnerability exploitation
Known and zero day flaws in applications, appliances, and exposed services.
Malware & network compromise
Malicious tools, stolen credentials, and movement across systems.
Misconfiguration & exposure
Exposed services and unintended access to systems or data.
Insider activity & data theft
Unauthorized actions by employees or other trusted users.
Engaging FFI
Start with what you know.
Our scoping call brings the facts, your concerns, and immediate priorities into focus.
- 01
Understand the concern
Discuss what you observed, what has already been done, and the questions you need answered.
- 02
Set the priorities
Identify evidence to preserve, urgent actions, and an agreed scope with you and counsel, where involved.
- 03
Follow the findings
Explain what the evidence establishes and discuss any additional work the developing facts warrant.
See the services working together
An incident response,
in action.
Follow an illustrative ransomware incident and see how forensic findings inform containment, recovery, and the decisions around your business.
Ransomware is one example. The services and priorities depend on the incident.
Start a conversation
Tell us what you are seeing.
A specific forensic question or a wider incident. We will help you identify the next step.
Discuss your situationOur services
Managed Security Services
Coming soon
More information is coming soon. Contact FFI to discuss your needs.
Our services
DFIR Retainers
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More information is coming soon. Contact FFI to discuss your needs.
Recognize the signs. Understand the stakes.
Do I Need
Incident Response?
Explore what a breach can trigger Getting back online is only part of the response.
Confirmed or suspected unauthorized access raises questions that a password reset, a wiped server, or a rebuilt network cannot answer on its own. How did the attacker get in? Is access still possible? What information was exposed—and whose? Technical fixes alone can destroy critical evidence and leave operational, insurance, legal, and privacy concerns unresolved, with consequences for your employees, customers, and business partners. Depending on your agreements, even a potential impact to a partner’s data may trigger contractual notification obligations. An experienced incident response team helps establish the facts, puts counsel in position to assess those obligations, and coordinates the response around the people and relationships your business depends on.
Early action matters
You may have an opportunity to act before the damage escalates.
Some breaches are unmistakable: encrypted systems, a ransom note, or operations brought to a halt. Others develop quietly. Unexplained data leaving your network, accounts repeatedly compromised after password resets, or unfamiliar administrative activity may signal an attacker who still has access—even while your business appears to be operating normally.
These warning signs can also reveal activity that precedes ransomware. Moving quickly to investigate and contain the intrusion may provide an opportunity to stop the attacker before widespread encryption, further data theft, or major business interruption occurs. You do not need to wait for a ransom note to take a suspected intrusion seriously.
- Encrypted systems
or a ransom note - Unexplained data
leaving your network - Accounts compromised
after password resets - Unfamiliar
administrative activity
The response around your business
Many moving parts.
One coordinated response.
A single instance of unauthorized access can trigger all these critical considerations. FFI helps coordinate the response, keeping your current business operations live while managing your future risk.
Every incident is different. These are considerations to assess; the facts determine which actions are necessary.
This scenario illustrates the connected demands an incident can create. FFI also investigates compromised email accounts, unauthorized access, data theft, and other cyber incidents, tailoring the investigation and response to each situation.
ILLUSTRATIVE RANSOMWARE SEQUENCE
How a ransomware attack disrupts your business.
Follow a ransomware intrusion from initial access through data theft, encryption, and business interruption.
Findings & inputs
FFI recommendations & actions
Scientifically defensible root cause analysis
An evidence based analysis of how the incident occurred, with conclusions and any limitations clearly documented.
The threat actor’s path through your network
An evidence supported reconstruction of the accounts and devices involved, the attacker’s movement, and how access persisted.
A clear assessment of data impact
Findings on what data was accessed, taken, encrypted, or otherwise affected.
Established containment
Validation that identified attacker access paths and persistence have been removed, with no evidence of continued access within the investigated scope.
Restoration of business operations
A coordinated return to business operations, with guidance on restoring systems safely and reducing further disruption.
Recommendations grounded in forensic findings
Practical, prioritized recommendations to address identified weaknesses and improve your network’s defenses.
A forensic report of findings
Upon request of counselA written record of the forensic investigation’s findings and conclusions.
Related to this phase
✓Response under way
Coordinated incident response
FFI coordinates the response
One breach sets many demands in motion. FFI helps leadership, investigators, counsel, insurers, and other stakeholders coordinate the decisions and actions around your business.