New mobile investigation techniques promise to combat cyberbullying
MEDIA RELEASE – Tuesday, November 24, 2015
New mobile investigation techniques promise to combat cyberbullying by giving parents the information they need to put a
stop to it.
These techniques are presently being used to investigate company fraud and bad employee behaviour.
Business activities are moving to smartphones and tablets, says Computer Forensics’ MD, Brian Eardley-Wilmot. “As a
result, we are seeing a rise in mobile devices being used for both company fraud and inappropriate employee behaviour.”
(http://www.datarecovery.co.nz/)
“We realised in developing the techniques to combat these activities that it was possible to collect information parents
could use to put a stop to cyberbullying, such as threatening, vicious, spiteful texts or Facebook and other chat
messages.
“We can access such offensive texts or messages even when they have been deleted. You can picture it: a young girl
receives such a message, she feels hurt, so she immediately deletes it.
“There is deep concern about this type of bullying and you can definitely see why. The trouble is that, individually,
such messages can look harmless. But when you reconstruct a whole conversation - both sides - a very different picture
can emerge. Such information can give parents something to confront the bully’s family with or to show their school, or
even the police. It’s solid evidence,” says Eardley-Wilmot.
And, if their worries are of a different but still serious nature, parents can also use Computer Forensics’ geolocation
analysis service on their kid’s phone.
“For parents’ peace of mind, we can access this data, break it down, and track their teenager or child’s movements if
they are really concerned,” says Eardley-Wilmot.