When Partnership Goes Beyond Scope

The call came on a Tuesday morning. Our client’s client discovered they’d been victims of email spoofing – someone had impersonated our client to redirect a substantial payment. Both companies were pointing fingers, and our client faced potential liability for the full loss.

Technically, this wasn’t our problem. We manage our client’s connectivity and email services, not their clients’ internal processes. But when fraud targets our client’s business relationships, we consider it our responsibility to help.

Forensic Investigation Under Pressure

Within two hours of notification, we launched a comprehensive forensic investigation. The challenge was significant – we needed to prove definitively that our client’s email environment hadn’t been compromised, using only server logs and system evidence.

Our methodology was systematic. We analysed SMTP mail logs for the entire incident timeframe, expanding our search window by two hours on either side. No outbound emails to our client’s client appeared during this period.

We remotely accessed the user’s machine, confirming FortiClient EMS protection was active and checking Outlook for malicious rules or compromise indicators. The system showed no signs of intrusion.

Office 365 audit logs revealed no suspicious sign-in activity, confirmed two-factor authentication was enforced, and showed normal usage patterns with no external access attempts.

The Evidence That Saved the Day

The breakthrough came from analysing the fraudulent email screenshot. Technical inconsistencies revealed the deception – missing spaces between date elements, a capital ‘I’ instead of ‘L’ in the email signature, and formatting that didn’t match our client’s standard templates.

We validated these findings against actual email signatures and templates. The differences were clear and documentable.

Professional Documentation Prevents Litigation

We compiled our findings into a formal investigation report, complete with timestamps, log extracts, and technical evidence. This wasn’t just a technical analysis – it was legal protection.

The report demonstrated conclusively that no emails had originated from our client’s environment during the incident timeframe. We documented their email security configuration, confirmed DKIM and DMARC implementation, and provided evidence of their robust security posture.

From Crisis to Opportunity

The forensic investigation not only exonerated our client but revealed security training opportunities for both companies.  Our client recognised the need for enhanced phishing awareness training, while their client requested similar forensic capabilities for their own operations.

What began as a crisis became a business development opportunity, with both companies requesting cybersecurity training services and enhanced email protection measures.

Why Partnership Matters

Traditional service providers would have pointed to their service level agreements and walked away. This incident fell outside our contractual scope, but inside our partnership philosophy.

When our clients’ businesses face threats, we respond as if they were our own challenges. This approach builds trust that extends far beyond technical service delivery. The £42,500 fraud attempt failed because someone cared enough to investigate thoroughly and document professionally. The potential litigation evaporated because technical expertise translated into legal protection.

In business, the difference between vendors and partners becomes clear when problems exceed service agreements but partners respond anyway.