About
A digital forensic investigation company specializing in eDiscovery, litigation support and corporate investigations needed a reliable solution to convert large volumes of EML files into PDF format.
The organization regularly collected email evidence from various sources, such as employee backups, archived mailboxes, and exported email repositories. Contained in these emails were key information such as conversations, attachments, date/time stamps, sender information and message headers necessary for investigation and legal review.
Forensic analysts and legal teams spent hours reviewing thousands of emails because EML files need special email applications to be accessed. The organization needed a standardized format that was easily accessible, reviewable and shareable during legal proceedings.
To fulfill this need, the team used EML to PDF Converter that converted the email evidence to PDF files while keeping the original email structure and key details.
Sector
Digital Forensics and eDiscovery Services
Organization History
The firm offers digital investigation services for law firms, corporate organizations and compliance teams. It provides mainly the following services:
· Email collection evidence
· Litigation support
· In-house investigations
· Analysis of regulatory compliance
· Digital evidence preservation
The organization had email records from a number of sources, and so needed an efficient process for documenting email.
The Problem: Managing Large Batches of Evidence Emails
During investigations, thousands of EML files containing sensitive business communication were provided to the forensic team. Although EML files preserved all email information, there were a number of problems in reviewing and ordering these files.
The company was facing:
· 275,000 EML files
· Total email data of 410 GB
· Over 680,000 attachments
· Over 85 investigation projects a year
· 18 forensic analysts working on email analysis
It took a lot of time and resources to process that much email evidence .
Problems encountered during the investigation
Challenges in Reviewing EML Files
Forensic analysts had to open individual EML files in compatible email applications. This process slowed investigation timelines when dealing with thousands of messages.
Analysts had to spend extra time opening emails, checking contents, verifying attachments and preparing records for legal teams when reviewing emails manually.
Universal Evidence Format Needed
Legal teams and outside reviewers typically need documents in PDF format because PDF files are more easily accessed, archived, and shared.
The only problem with storing evidence in EML format was the fact that recipients must have appropriate e-mail software to view files properly.
Keep All Email Info
In addition to the message’s body, email evidence typically has crucial details like:
· Information about sender and receiver
· Subject details
· Time and date stamping
· Format of email
· Attachment
Any loss of information during the conversion process may affect the accuracy of the investigation.
Solution Implementation
The forensic team used TrustVare EML to PDF Converter to make the process of converting email evidence to PDF documents easier.
The team imported folders full of EML files, many of them, and processed them in batches. This conversion process created the PDF files, but also preserved key email properties that could be used for analysis and documentation purposes.
The converted PDFs were then catalogued based on individual investigation cases and distributed to authorized legal teams for review.
Conversion Process
The organization took the following steps:
Step 1: Gather EML Evidence Files: EML files were collected from various sources and kept in orderly case folders by investigators.
Step 2: Add EML Files in the Converter Tool: The collected email files were loaded to the conversion software for processing.
Step 3: Choose PDF Export Format: PDF was chosen as the preferred output format for documentation and review by the team.
Step 4: Transform Email Files: The software parsed the collection of emails and created PDFs of the messages.
Step 5: Check the Converted Documents: Generated PDFs were checked by analysts to confirm that email content, formatting and attachments were properly preserved.
Results Following Implementation
The investigation workflow of the organization was improved after the email evidence was converted into PDF format.
The team did the following:
· EML files: 275,000
· 410 gigabytes of emails
· More than 680,000 attachments
The conversion process took approximately 9 hours, significantly reducing the time spent preparing email evidence.
The generated PDF files enabled investigators and legal professionals to review email records without relying on specific email applications.
Benefits Obtained
Evidence Preparation Speed-Up
The forensic team shortened the time it took to prepare email records for investigation and legal review.
Easy Email Record Sharing
PDF documents could be shared with attorneys, compliance teams and outside reviewers with no compatibility issues.
Improved Documentation of Cases
Each investigation was given organized PDF archives to facilitate evidence management.
Preserving Email Information
During the conversion, the important email information such as the message body, sender, date/time stamps and attachments were preserved.
Better Management of Big Investigations
The company could have done a lot better with massive collections of email in complex legal cases.
Conclusion
Converting EML files to PDF is a convenient way for digital forensic and eDiscovery professionals to organize, review and share email evidence.
In this case the organization could transform 275,000 EML files, which hold 410 GB of email data, into usable PDFs. This would help investigators reduce their preparation time and have more control over their digital evidence.
