Incident in progress What to do in the first hour → Preserve first. Several ordinary responses destroy the evidence permanently.
Wirewalk Forensics and Security

Scope of services

Every service I perform, what it costs or how it is priced, and whether I take it, refer it out or decline it. Every line also carries what that service does not establish.

Document
WW-F-003
Version
1.0
Issued
2026-09-11
Last revised
2026-09-11
Scope
Services, price class, limits
Authority
Principal

How the prices work

FIXED buys a stated artefact. HOURLY · CEILING is the published rate against a written stop-point: nothing above it is billed, and at 80% I stop and report. TRIAGE is a fixed first block, credited against what follows. FIXED UNIT publishes the unit, not the total.

Everything below I TAKE; refer-outs and declines last.

Host and disk forensics

You hold the image, its hashes and a signed chain of custody.

ServicePriceNot established
Acquisition — computer, drive, media$950 / $1,450 / Quotedto 2 TB, 2–8 TB, 8 TB+; media at cost above 2 TB; 90 days storage; $650 each further device, same matter, site and dayWho created or deleted it.
Targeted artefact collection$475manifest of what was leftAnything outside the collected set.
On-site collection$2,900per examiner-day; to 8 hours within 60 miles, travel beyond at costThat every device was disclosed.
Remote or custodian-kit collection$900plus shippingThat the custodian collected everything.
Server, RAID, NAS, hypervisor imagingQuotedHOURLY · CEILINGDeleted content, on a live export.
Verified copy for production$350plus mediaAdmissibility. FRE 902(14) needs a 902(11) certificate.
Evidence storage after closing$75per matter per month, to 4 TB; 90 days after final invoice freeAny retention duty of yours.
Certified destructionon written instruction$150That no other copy exists.
Filesystem, artefact, timeline examinationHourly, cappedWho was at the keyboard.
Deleted-data recovery and carvingHourly, cappedThat anything is recoverable.
Data-theft and exfiltration examinationHourly, cappedIntent. Copying looks like sync.
Deletion and wiping examinationHourly, cappedIntent to deprive: FRCP 37(e)(2).
Password and encrypted-volume attackHourly, cappedwritten cap agreed firstSuccess. No key, no volume.
Second opinion on an IT finding$2,600per findingThe state before IT arrived.

Mobile devices

Priced per attempt, not per result.

ServicePriceNot established
Extraction — logical or advanced logical$850per device, per attempt; $600 each further device, same matterA complete handset; logical gets what is offered.
Extraction — full file system attempt$1,800logical price if only logicalThat the deeper level is reachable.
Examination — messaging, call, location, appsHourly, cappedWho held the phone.
Physical, before-first-unlock, advanced unlockNot publishedquoted after inspection; TAKE or REFER OUTThat it can be done.

Cloud and SaaS

Nothing write-blocks a cloud account; the record is the method: tool, version, hash, authority, retention.

ServicePriceNot established
Cloud account collectionone mailbox, one drive$1,100per custodian; $450 each further, same tenant and exportAnything outside the retention window.
Tenant preservationholds applied, log exported$2,400per tenant, per platformThat a hold caught what preceded.
Audit log and sign-in examinationHourly, cappedThat an action did not occur; MailItemsAccessed is often off.
Logging and evidence-readiness review$4,200per M365/Google tenant; $1,800 per AWS accountThat a future incident is answerable; auditing logs forward.
SaaS with no export or audit facilityTriage firstThat a defensible collection exists.

Memory, network and malicious code

ServicePriceNot established
Volatile memory capture and examinationup to five systems inside emergency mobilisationHourly, cappedThe machine before capture.
Network, proxy and EDR telemetry; malware triageHourly, cappedThe person behind an address; behaviour is not authorship.

Incident response

What to do in the first hour is free to read.

ServicePriceNot established
Emergency mobilisationpreservation, triage of up to five systems, a written position and priced plan; credited$6,000per incidentA conclusion. It buys a position and a plan.
Intrusion and ransomware examinationHourly, cappedThat nothing was exfiltrated.
Business email compromiseTriage firstThe money back: banks and ic3.gov.
Breach data mining, notification listQuotedon record countWhether notification is required.
Tabletop exercise and plan reviewhalf-day, marked-up plan$6,500per exerciseReadiness. It tests decisions, not systems.
Standby agreementconflicts pre-run, rates fixed, out-of-hours authorisation pre-signed; credited$7,500per yearUnlimited availability. No surge rate either.

eDiscovery and litigation support

Per-unit prices and their review date are on the eDiscovery page.

ServicePriceNot established
Identification, preservation, legal holdHourly, cappedWhen your duty attached.
Processing and ingest$22/GBon source volume as collected, pre-deduplication; FIXED UNITA total; quantity is unknown beforehand.
Review hosting$9–$14per GB/month; $9 plain, $14 with analyticsThe duration; often the largest line.
Review platform user licences$75per user/month, passed throughAny margin to me.
Production$0.05per imaged pageThat a specified format serves you.
TAR protocol design and validation$6,500per projectRecall you have not measured.
Privilege filter protocolflagging only; FRCP 26(b)(5)(A) logHourly, cappedThe privilege call; the court decides.
Project management; Rule 26(f) conference$180/hrAgreement; counsel negotiates that.

Against my own interest: culling early moves a bill from five figures to four, and the larger bill is mine. Ask what hosting costs first.

Expert support and testimony

Testimony is billed whatever the outcome, never capped: the court sets the schedule.

ServicePriceNot established
Review of an opposing examiner's reportfindings marked supported, partly, unsupported, untestable$3,250flatThat an unsupported finding is wrong.
Consulting expert, non-testifyingHourly, cappedProtection; 26(b)(4)(D) has exceptions.
Declaration restating completed work$1,800per documentNew findings; fresh testing is hourly.
Rule 26(a)(2)(B) expert reportQuotedband, after examinationA price at engagement; cost tracks exhibits.
Deposition, remote$550/hr4-hour minimumA capped total; they set length.
Deposition in person; trial, hearing, arbitration$4,800 / $5,600per day or part, plus travelThat a reserved day resells.
Appointed neutral or joint examinerHourly, cappedNeutrality after the fact.

What I refer out, and what I decline

REFER OUT: I name someone, no fee either way. DECLINE: not at any price.

WorkPositionWhy
Chip-off, ISP, JTAG; implant reverse engineeringREFER OUTBoard-level work; I read the output.
Enterprise or multi-jurisdiction responseREFER OUTPanel-consultancy tier; I work alongside.
Managed review; information governanceREFER OUTPuts me both sides of culling.
Matters needing a certification or licence I lackREFER OUT / DECLINENamed in the engagement letter, or declined.
Handset repair or unlocking for convenienceDECLINENot forensic work.
Monitoring, managed detection, SOCDECLINEI cannot staff it.
Collection without the holder's authorityDECLINE18 U.S.C. § 2702.
Ransom negotiation, payment, actor contactDECLINESanctions and your carrier: counsel's.
Remediation on systems I examinedDECLINEI will not sell what I investigated.
Acting for both sidesDECLINEA mid-matter conflict stops work.

What is never charged

No minimum-hours charge; the only minimums are for testimony.

Free: the scoping and preservation call, up to 45 minutes; the call where data cannot answer you; the call where you do not need me.

Where a matter requires a certified examiner, an accredited laboratory or a licence, that is stated in the engagement letter, or I decline. Method follows ISO/IEC 27037:2012 and NIST SP 800-86: guidance, not accreditation. Not an ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory; nothing here promises a finding.

One of those free calls is probably yours. Ring me on 917-217-7975 and I will tell you whether this is even a forensics problem.