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Information Loss & Data Incident Investigation — Pakistan & International

Nobody broke in. The file simply left.

Office workstations with screens, nothing legible

Since the 1990s

30

years investigating

250+

investigations closed, incl. HiPOs

15

countries served

20+

countries of lead seminars

100+

nationalities trained

01

Most information loss is not a hack.

A price list emailed to the wrong customer. A shared folder open to anyone with the link. Tender documents copied by a manager on his way out. Five years of accounts on a server whose backup quietly stopped. We investigate how information left, was lost or was corrupted, and we work alongside your IT team or specialist providers on the technical side.

Email being sent from a laptop in an office
Misdirected email
USB drive plugged into a laptop
Copied on departure
Server rack in a small office server room
Failed backup
Boxes of paper records in a storeroom
Lost paper records

02

Trace the record. Find where it slipped.

How it gets lost here

Sent to the wrong address, or shared with a link that anyone can open, and never revoked.

Shared drive permission settings on a screen, nothing legible

What we look at

Sharing settings, email logs and who approves external sharing.

03

$4.88m

The global average cost of a data breach in 2024.

Source: IBM, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024.

Most of that cost is not technical. It is lost customers, disrupted operations, legal work and the time it takes to find out what happened. The faster an organisation can say clearly what was lost and why, the smaller the damage.

Boardroom meeting discussing an information incident

Pakistani companies that serve customers in Europe and the Gulf are increasingly asked to show how they protect data. A clear, independent account of an incident, and a credible plan, keeps those relationships intact.

04

You commission one investigation. You get a review of the whole system.

One leaked file. Every record better protected.

  1. → 23 former staff still had active access to shared drives.
  2. → 40% of sensitive folders were shared "anyone with the link".
  3. → No restore from backup had been tested in over a year.
  4. → Old laptops were sold on without being wiped.
  5. → No one owned the decision on what counts as confidential.
Access review being carried out on a laptop

A typical example, based on what we see across many information loss investigations. Not a single client’s case.

Information lost or leaked this week? A first call costs nothing, and tells you which logs to preserve before they roll over.

Talk to an investigator WhatsApp

The P3i approach

How we investigate an information loss. Fact-finding, not fault-finding.

Every P3i investigation is led by a senior investigator and supported by internationally qualified process specialists. You will not receive a list of people to blame, or a long list of generic actions. You will receive the facts, the proven causes, and a short plan that closes the gaps, in this case and across your system.

Independent

No products, repairs or contracts to sell you afterwards.

Senior-led

Thirty years of investigation, from the first call to the final briefing.

Beyond the event

Process specialists find the other cracks before they fail.

Ready to present

Written for boards, buyers, insurers and regulators.

How P3i does it for you

  1. 01

    Contain and preserve logs

    We advise on containment and on preserving logs before they roll over.

  2. 02

    Trace the record

    Created, stored, shared, backed up, accessed and disposed.

  3. 03

    Find how it left

    Misdirected email, open links, lost devices or departing staff.

  4. 04

    Work with your IT team

    Technical analysis stays with them; we investigate handling and controls.

  5. 05

    Protect every record

    Access, sharing, backup and disposal fixed across the organisation.

What you receive

Record trailLoss pathwayControl failuresAccess and sharing reviewOrganisation-wide action planBoard briefing

Call us when

Confidential files reached the wrong peopleRecords lost or corruptedA backup failed when neededA client asks how their data was protected

Free 30-minute case assessment.

Tell us what happened. In confidence, we will tell you what the investigation should cover, how long it will take and what to preserve today.

How we work with you

What happens after you call.

After an information loss, the first call covers containment, which logs to preserve, and how to coordinate with your IT team. From there, this is the usual pattern.

  1. First hour

    A call with a lead investigator. You leave it knowing what to preserve today and who to call next.

  2. Day one

    An investigator on site, anywhere in Pakistan. Scope and fixed fee agreed in writing.

  3. Week one

    A private briefing on early findings, so urgent risks are dealt with before the report is finished.

  4. Weeks three to four

    The final report, the wider system review and a remedial work plan, presented to your team.

  5. After

    We come back to check the actions were completed and actually worked.

Typical timings for a single-site event. Complex, multi-party matters take longer, and we tell you so on the first call.

What you receive

A full investigation report. This is only its first page.

The summary is what leadership reads first. Behind it sits the complete file: every witness heard, every document and record examined, and every finding tied to numbered evidence, so a board, an insurer, a buyer or a regulator can test it.

P3i Investigation Report · Summary Page 1 · Executive summary

1 · Established sequence

2 · Causes

Immediate
Underlying
Systemic

3 · Wider system findings

4 · Remedial work plan

ActionOwnerDateTest of effectiveness Fit personal locks for every operatorPlant Mgr30 daysSpot audit, 10 isolations

Illustrative summary page. Report length and structure depend on the scope of each case.

Inside the full report

  1. 01Executive summary SHOWNThe findings and actions leadership needs, on one page. This is the page shown here.
  2. 02Terms of reference & scopeThe questions asked, the boundaries of the investigation and who commissioned it.
  3. 03MethodHow evidence was gathered, and which analysis methods were chosen for this case, and why.
  4. 04Verified chronologyThe sequence of events, reconstructed from records, data and accounts, minute by minute where it matters.
  5. 05Site & technical examinationScene, equipment, failed parts, measurements and photographs, with specialists where needed.
  6. 06Witness evidenceInterview schedule, accounts in summary, and where the witnesses agree and where they conflict.
  7. 07Documents & recordsPermits, procedures, maintenance, training, rosters, CCTV, tracker and control-system data reviewed.
  8. 08Causal analysisImmediate, underlying and system causes, each one tied to numbered evidence.
  9. 09System reviewWhere the same weaknesses exist elsewhere in the operation.
  10. 10Findings & conclusionsWhat is proven, what is probable, and what remains open, stated plainly.
  11. 11Recommendations & work planTargeted actions, each with an owner, a date and a test of whether it worked.
  12. 12AppendicesEvidence register, photograph log, interview records, drawings and data extracts.

Every action has an owner, a date and a test of whether it worked. The evidence stays indexed, so any reader can check how each conclusion was reached.

From our files

CASE 10 · ANONYMISEDLoss of sensitive information from a company laptopRead the case →CASE 12 · ANONYMISEDIncident with significant reputational exposureRead the case →

See all 16 cases →   Client names, people, locations and dates removed.

06

What leaders and IT heads ask us first.

Is this a cyber-security service?

No. Technical analysis stays with your IT team or specialist providers, and we work alongside them. We investigate how information was handled, which controls failed and what must change.

Most of our losses are not hacks. Is this still for us?

Yes. Most losses come from ordinary work: a misdirected email, an open link, a lost laptop, a backup that never ran, or records taken by someone leaving.

What should we do in the first 24 hours?

Contain the loss if you can, preserve system and email logs before they roll over, list who had access, and do not delete or change anything connected to the event.

Will you only look at this incident?

No. Our process specialists review how information is created, stored, shared, backed up and disposed of, and give targeted actions for the gaps that would cause the next loss.

Preserve the logs. Then call us.

Report an information loss Reputation Loss