Cybercrime

Our licensed private investigators have a wide variety of skills and diverse backgrounds. With 30+ years of experience, we have an excellent track record of providing high quality investigation services. From start to finish, our knowledgeable, discreet, and detail oriented staff goes above and beyond to manage your expectations, remain 100% confidential and update you daily as events unfold on your case. 

We rely on the best investigative technology and techniques, and comply with the industry’s leading standards for surveillance, locating, record search, and process services. 

We live in the age of the computer

A computer is essential to the workplace. It’s how we interact socially. It’s where we turn for entertainment, banking, and nearly everything else. And that same device — the one holding your finances, your correspondence, your photos, your business’s secrets — is a sitting target for criminals.

If you suspect your computer or accounts have fallen victim to a security breach, the best place to turn is a private investigator with a background in computer forensics. At The Night Owls Agency, we use current techniques and forensic software to locate and eliminate cyber threats to you, your business, or your family. We also conduct vulnerability assessments to pinpoint where you may be exposed to future attacks.

The threat is closer than you think

Cyber criminals are everywhere, and one may already be using malware, viruses, spyware, or outright hacking to reach the information on your devices. Every computer has security measures — firewalls, anti-virus software — and the uncomfortable truth is that a determined attacker can often get past all of them. Security tools raise the bar; they don’t make anyone untouchable.

What makes this especially dangerous is that computers are usually compromised without their owners knowing — until it’s too late. Unlike a burglary, a digital intrusion leaves no broken window. The first sign is often the damage itself: drained accounts, stolen data, a business’s confidential information showing up somewhere it shouldn’t. By then the thief has had free run for weeks or months.

Why a private investigator, not just an IT technician

Engaging a licensed private investigator for computer forensic work means you’re getting more than someone who sits in a lab analyzing the contents of a hard drive. The technical work on the device is only part of the job.

An IT technician can tell you that you were breached and help you patch the hole. What they generally can’t do is investigate the people behind it. At The Night Owls Agency, we’re equipped to follow up on any threats we find and conduct a real-world investigation into the individuals taking advantage of you in the digital one. That combination — forensic skill plus investigative reach — is what actually stops the problem rather than just documenting it.

Cybercrime can originate anywhere. The people who compromised your accounts may be on the other side of the world. But through our network of international affiliates, we can help trace people in nearly any corner of the globe. Locating a cybercriminal online can be an effective way to halt their activity against you; locating them in the real world is sometimes what it takes to stop the intrusions into your privacy and your business for good.

Computer forensics for legal cases

Beyond active threats, computer forensics plays a major role in litigation and family matters. Digital evidence — messages, files, browsing history, deleted material — is often decisive, but only if it’s collected and preserved properly. Evidence gathered carelessly can be challenged and excluded, and improper access to someone else’s device or accounts can itself be unlawful.

We understand chain-of-custody requirements and the legal boundaries around digital evidence, so that what we recover is both useful and admissible. We work within the law — accessing what we’re authorized to access — and we advise clients and their attorneys on the lawful path, including when a court order is the right route to obtain something.

Services we provide

Our computer forensics and cybercrime services include:

• Desktop, laptop, and tablet forensic collection and analysis

• Cell phone forensic collection and analysis

• Password recovery and password bypass

• Email collection and sanitation (Gmail, Yahoo, Office 365, Outlook, Exchange, and more)

• Recovery of deleted files, photos, and videos

• Internet activity and browsing history analysis

• Cloud data collection (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, and major social platforms)

• Call logs, voicemail, contacts, and notes

• Analysis of installed applications (for spying/hacking investigations)

• Video conferencing investigations

Device forensic collection and analysis covers:

• Apple and Windows desktops and laptops

• iPads, Microsoft Surface, and Android tablets

• iPhones (all models) and Android phones (Samsung Galaxy, LG, and others)

• Recovery of text messages, group chats, call history, emails, pictures, videos, contacts, and app data (WhatsApp, Snapchat, and more) from mobile devices

Password recovery and estate access

One area where our forensic work provides real relief is helping families after a loss. When a family member passes away unexpectedly, the people left behind often need immediate access to emails, bank records, and financial information — and find themselves locked out.

We assist probate attorneys, trust attorneys, estate planners, executors, beneficiaries, and successor trustees in gaining access to financial documents, accounts, and backups. That includes recovering usernames and passwords for a deceased person’s investments, pension funds, bank and savings accounts, brokerage and day-trading accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, retirement accounts, and more — and recovering documents, pictures, email, and deleted files.

Even without a password, we can often retrieve the data and identify a deceased person’s accounts using forensic tools. Even when a drive is encrypted — BitLocker, FileVault, and similar — the data you need can frequently still be recovered.

We can recover or retrieve passwords for a wide range of files and systems, including Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, cryptocurrency wallets, password managers, encrypted files and drives, archives (7zip, .zip, .rar), Android devices, and major cloud and backup services (Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, iTunes/iOS backups, and more).

Protecting your business

For business owners, the stakes are especially high. A breach can mean stolen trade secrets, compromised customer data, drained accounts, and lasting reputational damage. Our vulnerability assessments identify where your systems and practices leave you exposed before a criminal finds those gaps — and if you’ve already been hit, we investigate both the technical breach and the people responsible.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if I’ve been hacked?
Often you don’t, until damage appears — unfamiliar account activity, data showing up where it shouldn’t, or devices behaving strangely. If you suspect something, a forensic assessment can confirm it.

How is a PI different from my IT person?
IT can secure your systems and confirm a breach. We do that groundwork and then investigate the people behind the attack — following the trail into the real world when necessary.

Can you recover deleted or locked data?
In many cases, yes — including from encrypted or password-protected devices, using forensic tools.

Can you help access a deceased relative’s accounts?
Yes. This is a common request, and we work with families and estate professionals to recover access to accounts, documents, and financial information.

Will digital evidence hold up in court?
When it’s collected and preserved properly, yes. We follow chain-of-custody practices and lawful-access boundaries specifically so the evidence remains admissible.

Where to Begin 

We are here to assist you in answering questions in regards to you cyber security. To begin please call, email or submit a request form below.

Serving the entire state of Florida.