Guidance Software, Inc. was a public company (

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

: GUID) founded in 1997. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, the company developed and provided software solutions for digital investigations primarily in the

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, the

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, and the Asia/Pacific Rim. Guidance Software had offices in

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and Washington, D.C. and employed approximately 371 employees. On September 14, 2017, the company was acquired by

OpenText OpenText Corporation (also written ''opentext'') is a Canadian company that develops and sells enterprise information management (EIM) software. OpenText, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is Canada's fourth-largest software company ...

. Best known for its EnCase digital investigations software, Guidance Software's product line was organized around four markets:

digital forensics Digital forensics (sometimes known as digital forensic science) is a branch of forensic science encompassing the recovery, investigation, examination and analysis of material found in digital devices, often in relation to mobile devices and comp ...

endpoint security Endpoint security or endpoint protection is an approach to the protection of computer networks that are remotely bridged to client devices. The connection of endpoint devices such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones, Internet-of-things devices, ...

analytics,

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, th ...

incident response, and e-discovery. The company served law-enforcement and government agencies, as well as corporations in various industries, such as financial and insurance services, technology, defense contracting, telecom, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. The company operated through four business segments: products, professional services, training and maintenance, and operates two certification programs for the EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE) and EnCase Certified eDiscovery Practitioner (EnCEP) designations. In May 2010, the company completed the acquisition of Tableau, LLC. In February 2012, Guidance Software acquired CaseCentral.

Notable case mentions

Guidance Software has been noted in a number of high-profile use cases. In 2002, Guidance Software's EnCase was used in the murder trial of David Westerfield to examine his computers and disks to connect him to child pornography. That same year, EnCase was used by French police to uncover emails from now-convicted shoe bomber

Richard Colvin Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...

. In 2004, EnCase software was used in the trial of now convicted

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mo ...

for the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson. Computer forensic experts used EnCase to examine Peterson's five computer hard drives, which provided valuable evidence that he had shopped online for a boat, studied water currents, bought a gift for his mistress in the weeks leading up to his wife's death and showed interest in a computer map that included

Brooks Island Brooks Island Regional Preserve includes both the of Brooks Island above the low-tide line and of the surrounding bay. The only public access to the island is via an East Bay Regional Park District naturalist tour. Brooks Island is a mostly fla ...

, where his wife was later found. In 2005, American serial killer Dennis Lynn Rader (also known as the BTK killer) sent a floppy disk to FOX affiliate

KSAS-TV KSAS-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Hutchinson, Kansas, Hutch ...

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. Using EnCase, police were able to find metadata embedded in a deleted

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document that was, unbeknownst to Rader, on the disk. The metadata contained "Christ Lutheran Church", and the document was marked as last modified by "Dennis". A search of the church website turned up Dennis Rader as president of the congregation council. Police began surveillance of Rader. In 2011, following

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Online Entertainment's multiple security breaches, Sony said it would be working with Data Forté, Guidance Software and Protiviti to resolve its

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

breach. And in May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden, it was reported that an assault team of

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...

removed computers, hard drives, USB sticks and DVDs from bin Laden's compound for forensic analysis. Based on a job description supporting the task, Guidance Software's EnCase is believed to be the tool selected for analysis of the electronic gear. Later that year, Guidance Software's EnCase was noted as a forensic software tool used in the trial of Casey Anthony, following the death of her daughter Caylee Anthony. Investigators used EnCase to search digital cameras and computers. Using the software, Detective Sandra Osborne of Orange County Sheriff's Department, found correctly and incorrectly spelled searches for the word “chloroform.”WFTV 9
, retrieved 30 June 2011

Key Management

John Colbert - CEO Victor Limongelli- CEO Shawn McCreight - CTO and Founder Frank Sansone - CFO Barry Plaga - CFO Sandy Gyenes - CHRO Mark Harrington - General Counsel

References

{{reflist, 30em Computer security software companies Digital forensics software Software companies based in California Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Companies based in Pasadena, California Software companies established in 1997 1997 establishments in California 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq American subsidiaries of foreign companies Software companies of the United States