Frequently asked questions

With a short conversation about the question to be answered. We clarify which devices, data or rooms are involved, what can realistically be established and how the examination would be structured. Only then is a written instruction issued.

Devices, storage media and data are examined in the permanent examination rooms at the registered office in Krefeld, Germany. Technical surveillance counter-measures and vehicle screening are carried out on site, because rooms, cabling and the radio environment can only be measured in place.

Yes. Devices can be handed over in person or sent by insured carrier. Condition, identifiers and time of receipt are recorded, and the device is stored securely until acquisition.

Costs depend on the device type, the acquisition method and the depth of analysis. After the initial consultation you receive a written estimate with a defined scope. Court-appointed instructions are remunerated under the German Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act (JVEG); private instructions are agreed separately.

Whether an expert report is used in proceedings, and what evidential value it carries, is decided by the competent court or investigating authority. Our examinations are documented so that third parties can review them: recorded handover, cryptographic hashes, described methods and a clear separation between technical finding and assessment. A binding assurance of later admissibility cannot be given.

No. Deleted data can be recovered while the storage areas concerned have not been overwritten. On modern SSDs with TRIM, on encrypted volumes and after a factory reset, recovery is often impossible. We assess the prospects before the examination and say when they are poor.

Each instruction is limited to the agreed question, and only the data required to answer it is examined. Acquired data is stored on encrypted systems, access is restricted to the persons working on the case, and data is deleted in a documented manner after the agreed retention period.

Yes, provided the instruction is lawful and the person instructing us is entitled to have the device or room examined. We do not carry out covert examinations of third-party devices without such entitlement.

A focused examination of a single device usually takes a few working days. Extensive data sets, damaged storage media or several devices take longer. We give a time frame with the estimate and inform you if it changes.

Consultation and correspondence are available in German, English, Italian and Hungarian. Reports are prepared in German; an English version can be agreed.