ComputerForensicsDigest.com

Acting swiftly to comply with an order from Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the administration of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has hired StoneTurn Group to search the hard drive of Menino aide Michael J. Kineavy. StoneTurn Group is an multinational firm offering specialized services in complex business litigation, forensic accounting, computer forensics, and employment litigation.

The Menino administration has been under fire since it was learned that Kineavy made a routine practice of deleting emails at the end of each day. Massachusetts public records law requires that public employees retain electronic correspondence for at least two years. The fact that City Hall emails had been destroyed first came to light after The Boston Globe filed a public records act request for emails exchanged between Kineavy and former state senator Diane Wilkerson, who is currently under investigation for corruption.

Area forensics experts told The Boston Globe that they expect that StoneTurn Group will be able to recover many, if not most, of the emails that Kineavy deleted. Some cautioned, however, that Kineavy's methodical practice of "double-deleting" -- deleting emails from his inbox and then emptying his trash folder -- may have caused some data degradation when his computer synced with the servers in City Hall.

Among the unanswered questions right now, experts said, is whether versions of the missing emails were cached to Kineavy's local hard drive, and whether emails to and from Kineavy can be recovered from other City Hall employees.

A more significant problem for the Menino administration is the fact that it has already been warned about the improper handling of electronic records. Last November, the Globe reported, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Ralph D. Gants found that Boston Redevelopment Authority employees were permitted to delete emails -- again in violation of the state's public records law -- to free up space on agency mail servers.

In response, the BRA purchased software to back up emails and hired a consultant to assist the agency in document preservation. Nearly a year after the court's order, however, the BRA does not have a formal policy addressing email retention. The City itself did not have a policy on email preservation until five months ago.

The document retention issue is rapidly becoming a major issue in Boston's mayoral campaign. Two of Menino's opponents, Michael F. Flaherty, Jr., and Sam Yoon, are Boston city councilors and are seeking a City Council hearing on the administration's compliance with the state public records law.