Computer Forensics:  Email Investigation
One of the core solutions to investigations taking place through computer forensics is that which is done with email.  You use email probably every day.  You send messages, read them, delete them as if they are just another piece of junk mail.

I Deleted, It’s Gone
If you are under the impression that as soon as you hit the delete button on an email it is gone, you may quickly learn that this is anything but the case.  When you delete an email, it is still saved on your computer for a good amount of time.  Unless your computer rewrites over it, it is still there.  Of course, it is nearly impossible for you to find yourself but a skilled computer forensic team will have no problem finding those deleted emails.  They are also often saved on your servers, especially when your server is a work related one and your boss knows that people are doing what they should not be doing.  If you deleted an email, it really is anything but gone at least most of the time.

How This Affects You
If you are facing litigation, for example, you may receive a letter that states that you can not and should not do anything to your computer or hard drive.  Usually, they are confiscated and computer forensics are used to search through it, determining just what it is that is in it, including your emails.  Even things that you though were well hidden are there, ready for anyone to see and use against you. Computer forensics are able to pull up data from years ago and can tell you just what it was that you said, did, or wrote.  Computer forensics makes it a point to uncover what the computer holds in information including your emails.