What is DeNIST in eDiscovery?

Posted on Apr 20, 2018

It's not a typo! DeNISTing is a powerful eDiscovery tool designed to make legal document review much easier.

What is DeNIST?

DeNIST is, in short, removing known system applications and files unrelated to discovery from your document review (.dll files, for instance). NIST stands for National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST maintains a list of these applications with the National Software Reference Library project, so to "deNIST" is to remove all the applications and files against this master list.

How Does DeNIST Work?

DeNISTing with A&A Office Systems eDiscovery uses the MD5 Hash Value. A "hash value" is a digital signature, unique to every file. DeNISTing checks the hash value to safely remove unnecessary files from discovery. Deduplication works in the same way; removing duplicate files with the same MD5 Hash Value to reduce overall review.

Is DeNIST Safe?

DeNISTing (and deduplication) is completely safe. NIST continuously updates the master list with the National Software Reference Library. It's understandable that some lawyers may be reluctant to just pluck files from eDiscovery, but the process is not arbitrary. A&A Office Systems can even produce a list of files marked for deNIST and deduplication upon request.

If you are considering other document management solutions, why not contact a A&A representative today?

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