Unauthorized Repository Exfiltration Prior to Resignation
Forensic reconstruction of git clone events, push/pull activities to unauthorized private repositories, and external media downloads prior to departure.
Technical expert for trademark and software disputes · Forensic Expert Witness · Software Copyright & Trade Secrets
Source Code Theft, Unfair Competition & Software Plagiarism.
Party-appointed technical expert witness and digital forensics investigation for corporate victims of unauthorized code exfiltration by former employees, contractors, or co-founders. Deep Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) code comparison, trade secret misappropriation defense, and expert declarations for preliminary injunctions.
Common Code Theft & Infringement Scenarios
Party-appointed technical expert witness and digital forensics investigation for corporate victims of unauthorized code exfiltration by former employees, contractors, or co-founders.
Breach of Confidentiality & Trade Secret Protections
Establishing statutory secrecy requirements: technical security measures implemented by claimant (access controls, 2FA, NDA) and the proprietary economic value.
Servile Copying, Substantial Similarity & Market Clones
Demonstrating systematic copying of backend architecture, core algorithmic pipelines, database schemas, and proprietary user workflows.
Ex Parte Seizure Motions & Temporary Restraining Orders
Drafting specialized technical affidavits supporting emergency applications to impound devices and preserve server evidence.
Forensic Code Comparison Methodology
Source Code Theft, Unfair Competition & Software Plagiarism.
Parties misappropriating code routinely disguise copied logic by renaming variables, reordering functions, or refactoring syntax. Deep forensic analysis operates on abstract semantic layers that expose unauthorized copying.
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01
Static Analysis & Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) Comparison
Structural parsing of abstract syntax trees and control flow graphs (CFG), completely unaffected by token renaming or surface code formatting changes.
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02
Git Commit Forensics & Cryptographic Hash Matching
Identification of identical commit histories, co-located code anomalies, identical comments, and residual proprietary build scripts.
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03
Third-Party & Open Source Component Segregation
De-coupling publicly available open source libraries (GPL, Apache, MIT) to focus comparison exclusively on claimant’s proprietary code.
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04
Court-Ready Evidentiary Dossier & Side-by-Side Analysis
Producing an accessible, visual forensic report for judges and juries featuring side-by-side code alignments and statistical similarity indices.
Cybersecurity & Reverse Engineering
Deep systems security and reverse engineering experience
Salvatore Vacante brings hands-on cybersecurity, exploit analysis, and binary deobfuscation expertise: indispensable for dissecting complex technology theft.
Forensics & Trade Secrets
Scientific proof of code copying, unauthorized repository duplication, and unfair commercial exploitation.
Methods
AST similarity analysis, Git hash match, log extraction, deobfuscation
Legal Basis
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), EU Trade Secrets Directive, Copyright
What Counsel & the Client Receive
- Court-admissible forensic code similarity expert report and witness statement
- Scientific Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) similarity metrics with confidence ratios
- Side-by-side comparative code alignment tables highlighting duplicated logic
- Digital forensics timeline of exfiltration events (Git, server logs, USB metadata)
- Technical verification of trade secret protection measures implemented by claimant
- On-site technical assistance during court-ordered search and seizure executions
Frequently Asked Questions on Code Theft Forensics
Can infringement be proven if the competitor rewrote the code in another language?
Yes. Deep forensic analysis of control flow graphs, unique data structures, proprietary business logic formulas, and database schema mappings reliably proves derivative copying across languages.
What threshold of proof is required for an ex parte seizure order?
Counsel must provide clear forensic evidence of unlawful access, ownership of the original code, and an imminent risk that evidence will be deleted if advance notice is given.
How does software copyright differ from trade secret protection?
Copyright protects the expressive textual form of the code, while trade secret law protects the underlying undisclosed technical architecture, algorithms, and commercial know-how.
What if the infringing code has been processed with an obfuscator?
Obfuscators obscure identifier names but cannot eliminate program flow semantics. Decompilation, deobfuscation, and dynamic execution comparison reveal the underlying logic.
Request forensic code review
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