A method and system for searching and collecting electronically stored information are described. Consistent with an embodiment of the invention, configuration and execution of a search are separated in time and location. For example, a search configuration application executing at a first computer system is utilized to generate a search configuration file, which controls the operation of a search agent when the search agent is executing at a target computer system and performing a search of storage devices act of the target computer system. Encryption is utilized to prevent unauthorized access to the search configuration file as well as the search results file generated by the search agent.