Peter Garza (born August 6, 1960) is a United States
computer forensics
Computer forensics (also known as computer forensic science) is a branch of digital forensic science pertaining to evidence found in computers and digital storage media. The goal of computer forensics is to examine digital media in a forensical ...
expert and
cybercrime investigator.
As a Special Agent with the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Peter Garza conducted the first court-ordered Internet
wiretap in the United States while investigating the Julio Cesar Ardita ("El Griton")
hacking case. Ardita was charged by the U.S. Justice Department with using compromised user accounts at
Harvard University to hack into government and university computer systems in the U.S. and abroad. Ardita pleaded guilty on May 19, 1998 in the United States District Court of Massachusetts to unlawfully intercepting electronic communications and damaging files on military computer systems.
Garza founded EvidentData, Inc., a private sector consulting firm specializing in computer forensics,
electronic discovery
Electronic discovery (also ediscovery or e-discovery) refers to discovery in legal proceedings such as litigation, government investigations, or Freedom of Information Act requests, where the information sought is in electronic format (often refe ...
, and expert consulting, in 1999. EvidentData was acquired by First Advantage which he left in 2009 to form Data Forté. Garza continues to be involved in many high-profile
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
cases. He gave expert testimony regarding altered electronic documents in a case (Beckman Coulter Inc. v. Dovatron International Inc.) which resulted in a $934 million jury award and testified regarding critical deleted but recoverable data in a case (Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn, Inc. v. Dunn) brought by sports agent
Leigh Steinberg against former partner David Dunn which resulted in a $45 million jury award.
Peter Garza earned a Master of Science in Information Systems from
Claremont Graduate University
The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...
in 2001. He also developed and taught a graduate course in Computer Forensics at
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
External links
Article regarding Ben Roethlisberger caseFortune Small Business article discussing Peter Garza's workArticle regarding the Julio Cesar Ardita hacking case
from Informit
Department of Justice press release regarding first Internet wiretap
* ttp://www.devicelink.com/mx/archive/03/11/news3.html Article regarding Beckman Coulter Inc. v. Dovatron International Inc.br>Article regarding Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn, Inc. v. Dunn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garza, Peter
Computer security specialists
Living people
1960 births