Email Forensic Analysis Exposes Corporate Espionage and Data Leak
Published on: 08 Jul 2025
In 2021, a multinational corporation suspected that sensitive product designs were leaked to a competitor. The internal security team engaged digital forensic experts to analyze email servers and archives to identify the source.
Forensic investigators:
Retrieved deleted and archived emails from Exchange servers
Analyzed email headers to trace the origin and timing of suspicious messages
Detected unauthorized forwarding rules set up to exfiltrate information
Cross-checked email content with leaked data to establish a link
Their findings revealed an employee using covert forwarding rules to send confidential emails externally. The company strengthened its email security policies and implemented continuous monitoring to prevent recurrence.
Forensic investigators:
Retrieved deleted and archived emails from Exchange servers
Analyzed email headers to trace the origin and timing of suspicious messages
Detected unauthorized forwarding rules set up to exfiltrate information
Cross-checked email content with leaked data to establish a link
Their findings revealed an employee using covert forwarding rules to send confidential emails externally. The company strengthened its email security policies and implemented continuous monitoring to prevent recurrence.
