Situation
Tulane University is a private university in the heart of uptown New Orleans. They're the largest private employer in New Orleans, with 4600 full-time personnel and approximately 15,000 students.
During the COVID pandemic, Tulane's Information Security Office- like many higher education institutes- experienced significant personnel turnover.
Over that period, they lost key security roles, including all specialist experience in forensics. Additionally, they needed an assessment to review their processes and technology in order to modernize their program.
At a glance
Organization: Tulane University
Industry: Education
Situation: The organization needed to address a Digital Forensics skills shortage to uphold and modernize their security program.
Challenge: Alongside the inability to create a forensic image of devices, Tulane University lacked internal resources for forensic matters, resulting in little documentation and a lack of processes.
Solution: After spending six months searching for the right organization to support, Tulane selected NCC Group via a referral as they were reassured that they were getting a partner rather than just a report.
Results: The assessment pragmatically highlighted areas of improvement, allowing Tulane to allocate resources appropriately, which increased productivity and their ability to capture data.
Challenge
Before partnering with NCC Group, one person handled all forensic matters on behalf of Tulane. Due to limited resources, there was minimal documentation, and haphazardly managed procedures. As a result, the program became outdated after further staff departures.
The inability to create a forensic image of devices was a real pain point.
There were significant concerns around the suitability of the images being admissible in court, even if Tulane had the tools to extract the data from the drives. Forensic imaging is crucial for litigation and research integrity, and Tulane must provide a forensic image for analysis to ensure the investigation's validity.
Tulane's goal was to establish and maintain forensic standards that would allow their personnel to support approximately 80-85% of the forensic needs of the University. These standards would include data extraction and preservation through legally admissible processes, which would hold up to question- whereas larger-scale investigations may have required third-party assistance.
Solution
After their forensics leads left the team, Tulane had been looking for the right solution for around six months. University stakeholders spoke with one of their existing partners, SecureNation, who recommended NCC Group.
Tulane chose NCC Group for their breadth of DFIR expertise, fair pricing, and the detailed process improvement included within their statement of work. They were confident that NCC Group would provide more than just a report and act as a trusted partner throughout the process.
Result
Tulane was incredibly pleased with the assessment and recommendations the NCC Group experts provided. The report format clearly and precisely broke issues down into menu item selections of improvement areas. This allowed the University to strategically allocate resources to a particular area without boiling the ocean to recognize improvement.
Tulane University is now significantly more advanced from a data acquisition perspective, and the formality of its processes will withstand questioning during potential litigation. They now have a roadmap to continue maturing their forensic program to meet requirements sustainably and cost-effectively.
"The assessment has since replaced our previous existing forensics processes. Comparatively, I am significantly more comfortable and confident in our forensics procedure than I previously was. We faced no challenges during the engagement with NCC Group, the process went smoothly despite being fully remote. The team's productivity and ability to capture data has significantly improved and have also vastly enhanced their knowledge of forensic processes."
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