RE: Recovering data from a wiped HD

From: MIKE F (friindy@a-znet.com)
Date: Tue Oct 02 2001 - 16:17:23 PDT

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    Some software such as evidence eliminator say that their software can defeat
    electron microscopes.
    I have no idea if the product is able to do what is says below,
    I am quoting evidence eliminator  5.054 Help Files,
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------
    "Secure Under-Writing of existing Files and Folders
    New World-Beating technology in v4.5 is now available. The disk space
    beneath existing files and folders can be securely overwritten with multiple
    passes of garbage according to your settings under the Mode Tab to defeat
    hardware analysis of deleted files by electron microscopes.
    
    Future advancements for this function have already been designed too, and
    will be available in new versions of Evidence EliminatorT as soon as we have
    manufactured and fully tested them for reliability and performance.
    
    This function may take several hours to complete on a large drive. On
    ULTRA-DMA drives with a single Zero overwrite set in the Mode tab we have
    achieved test results of around 10GB of drive space cleaned per hour. The
    time taken increases proportional to the number of overwrites you select in
    the Mode Tab and the size of your drives.........   """
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ------------------------------------------
    
    later4,mike f.
    
    lATER4,Mike Fiorentino
    Master Links 4 Master Investigators
    http://www.ml4mi.com
    e-mail: infoat_private
    OR
    friindy@a-znet.com
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Craig Earnshaw [mailto:Craig.Earnshawat_private]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 11:25 AM
    To: Mike Zanker
    Cc: forensicsat_private
    Subject: Re: Recovering data from a wiped HD
    
    
    Encase is one of the many computer forensics tools out there - one of the
    better ones though.
    
    In terms of recovering data from a wiped drive that has been overwritten
    your
    chances are slim (unless you've got a very big budget and are very
    determined).  If you're serious about wanting to do it you need to find out
    more about microscopy - the technique that can be employed to recover the
    data
    based upon the magnetic signal strength on the drives surface..
    
    In addition to this when data is overwritten many times (eg the DoD standard
    of
    7) the chances of a technique such as microscopy recovering the data are
    very
    slim.  I could go on and explain why, but it's rather boring.....
    
    Regards
    
    Craig Earnshaw
    Lee & Allen Forensic Computing Services
    
    Mike Zanker wrote:
    
    > At 14:50 02/10/2001, wim.remes wrote:
    >
    > > I've used Encase a few times to perform jobs like this...but I don't
    have
    > > a deep understanding of the product ... you can find information on the
    > > product on http://www.encase.com
    >
    > I didn't think Encase could recover completely overwritten data - it's a
    > software recovery tool isn't it?
    >
    > --
    > Mike Zanker                         | E-mail: M.Zankerat_private
    > AACS Network Development Team       | Tel : +44 1908 652726
    > The Open University                 | Fax : +44 1908 652193
    > Milton Keynes, UK                   | PGP public key available
    >
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