A document leak is an incident that involves the release of confidential information. It can occur when an employee intentionally or unintentionally releases classified material to the public, either via email, instant messaging app, website or other platform.
When a document leak happens, an initial fact-finding investigation typically focuses on two critical points: how the material surfaced and how it got there. This helps investigators establish the ‘chain of custody’, or the trail that led from secure to public, and ultimately helps identify potential suspects.
Initial fact-finding may include reviewing all systems that have been compromised, and determining the point of origin (for example, a file folder on an internal network). In addition, it’s important to temporarily suspend any normal deletion cycles across all cloud platforms, servers or documents repositories until they can be reviewed. This will prevent accidental overwriting of potentially relevant evidence.
Once investigators understand how the material was accessed and disseminated, they can begin to assess whether it’s genuine or not. They will also determine whether the information has been modified, and if so, how.
A document leak can have many consequences, depending on the content and context. It can affect reputation and credibility, cause financial loss or lead to regulatory action. It can even undermine trust in a company, and create a risk of cyber threats. It’s important to act swiftly, but with discretion. A premature internal announcement can trigger panic or alert the leaker, which can make it harder to investigate.