Page 12 - Understandinging Forensic Technology Landscape

Common uses for data analytics Tools and techniques

Data analytics identify evidence stored in one or more General data analytics tools
databases that may be relevant to a matter. The number • Microsoft Excel is frequently used with other tools or
and variety of databases containing potentially relevant on a stand-alone basis to work with smaller data sets
information depend upon the nature of the matter for analysis and modeling and presentation of results.
and the structure and complexity of the databases.
Examples of uses include the following: • Microsoft Access is good for mid-size data sets
(in other words, millions of rows, depending on the
• Forensic accounting investigations — Identifying volume of information per row) and databases,
historical transactions at issue, restoring electronic such as those with millions of records or multiple
transactions from historical statements, comparing related tables.
transactions as they should have occurred to actual
transactions (for example, to determine exposure and • Audimation handles straightforward repeatable
damages), and accumulating data for analysis such as analyses based on database extracts (that is, exports
regional or segment data. of structured information from databases). Its tools
include SmartExporter, which extracts SAP data, and
• Large-scale employee conduct investigations — CaseWare IDEA, which exports and analyses common
Validating the time periods in which alleged activity accounting software data and runs common audit
occurred, determining whether such activity was tests and reports.
concentrated within certain branches, regions or
divisions, identifying the number of products and • Microsoft SQL Server reliably handles larger data
associated fees earned or commissions payable that sets and more complex and tailored analyses.
are potentially at issue, whether there are trends in • Oracle OpenWorld is well-equipped for working
the data that correspond to events or the activity of with larger data sets up to “big data” sizes and more
selected individuals. complex analyses.
• Financial control investigations — Data analytics • Python is a free, open-source programming language
can be used to identify the financial controls that that allows for manipulation and cleaning of files,
were implemented versus those that were proposed; analysis, automation of tasks, interfacing and
identify transactions that should have been caught by extraction of data from a variety of sources. Numerous
the controls and how they were handled historically; libraries are freely accessible, giving the user many
and test proposed new controls and the estimated options for working with data.
effectiveness, the number of transactions, and
associated dollar amounts at issue. Statistics-based data analytics tools
• JMP/SAS gives the user the ability to perform
• Analysis of structured data in evidence repositories —
Big data solutions support centralized management of complex analyses, visualization, automation and
evidence by providing efficient search and analysis even modeling across a variety of platforms (including
when data size becomes very large. mainframes). They are frequently used in large banks,
insurance companies, and healthcare institutions.
• Regulatory compliance monitoring — Data platforms
provide the ability to create and maintain specific • R or The R Project for Statistical Computing provides
analysis tools that access data systems on a live or a free program for statistical analyses and graphs.
frequent basis, allowing real-time or near real-time • IBM SPSS Statistics is a less-expensive alternative
monitoring. to SAS with similar capabilities.

• Stata is a less-expensive alternative to SAS with
similar capabilities.

Understanding the forensic technology landscape | 8