Inside the investigation
The surface tells you almost nothing.You have to go down.
An examination is not a report writing exercise with data attached. It is a sequence of six stages, each of which can end the work if the evidence does not hold.
Method
Connect. Analyze. Investigate. Substantiate. Quantify. Correct.
Connect
We take custody of the records that matter and preserve every original exactly as received, with an integrity value recorded on intake.
Analyze
We reconcile systems against one another over the same period to surface combinations that cannot all be true.
Investigate
Analysts examine every candidate, test alternative explanations, and discard what the evidence does not support.
Substantiate
A finding exists only when a named analyst can trace it to source records and an independent reviewer agrees.
Quantify
Exposure is computed deterministically, with stated inputs, calculation versions and a duplicate exposure check.
Correct
We map the control failures that permitted it and set out what recovery and remediation require.
Most of what matters
is below the last place anyone looked.
Difference
How this differs from an audit.
| Conventional review | PERISCOPE examination |
|---|---|
| Samples a population to estimate a rate | Examines the full population to name specific records |
| Tests whether systems reconcile | Tests whether the combined account could have happened |
| Reports issues and observations | Substantiates findings a named analyst traced to source |
| Estimates impact | Computes exposure deterministically, reproducible to the cent |
| Numbers cited without lineage | Every material statement traceable to preserved evidence |
| Findings assessed by the reviewer alone | Independent review, classification and certification before release |
Discipline
What we refuse to do.
- We do not substantiate anything an alternative explanation still accounts for.
- We do not report an estimate as a confirmed figure.
- We do not allow a model to calculate exposure or approve a finding.
- We do not count the same records twice across findings.
- We do not assert motive or intent from records alone.
- We do not publish detection logic, thresholds, weighting or rules.