RE: Hard drives v. CF/Smart media/etc.

["Herman Frederick Ebeling, Jr." <hfebelingjr () lycos com>]

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- ----Original Message----
From: Alloishus BeauMains [mailto:all0i5hu5 () gmail com]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 October, 2005 14:50
To: gillettdavid () fhda edu
Cc: hfebelingjr () lycos com; security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: Hard drives v. CF/Smart media/etc.

: Yes and no. Delete may have a recovery option.
:
: However, formatting a drive with flash memory offers no protection
: that I know of, unless the information is cached (backed up) to a
: separate media.

I presume that your talking about a USB key, and not a HD that has a flash
memory cache, right?

:
: The reason is that flash memory is either there or it isn't, as
: determined by chip/connection logic.

I would have thought with that element to flash memory that there
isn't/wouldn't/shouldn't be a "ghost" image of the
data that had been stored there.

:
: However, on a normal hard drive or floppy disc with platters, there is
: a magnetic resonance that is left behind, so even if the electrons are
: scrambled, it is possible to still retrieve that information.

Yep, and depending on how badly someone wanted said data it is "always"
recoverable.

:
: So this leads to a side question: How to keep others from retrieving
: information from one of those media varieties?
:
: Answer: There are two ways: 1. Destroy the media. 2. Overwrite the
: media with garbage (Although this won't utterly completely keep
: someone from retrieving the information....whoever wanted it would
: have to pay dearly).

How many times of overwriting would it take to decrease the chances of it being
recovered?

:
: I am not aware of any tools that do data retrieval from a flash drive
: unless it is being copied to another location...so if anyone knows of
: anything different, let me know.
:
: On 10/18/05, David Gillett <gillettdavid () fhda edu> wrote:
::  Yes.  My dad accidentally deleted half the digital pictures of
:: his and my mom's "cruise of a lifetime" (50th anniversary) off the
:: flash memory card from his camera, and a garden-variety deleted file
:: recovery utility got them back.
::
:: David Gillett
::
::
::: -----Original Message-----
::: From: Herman Frederick Ebeling, Jr. [mailto:hfebelingjr () lycos com]
::: Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 4:26 PM
::: To: security-basics () securityfocus com
::: Subject: Hard drives v. CF/Smart media/etc.
:::
:::
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::: Here's a good question that I don't think I've seen any
::: articles on.  As we all know even though that just because a
::: file is "deleted" from a HD doesn't mean that the info is
::: really "deleted" as it can (depending on how badly someone
::: wants to) be recovered.  Does the same hold true for CF/Smart media/etc.
::: types of media?
:::
::: Herman
:::
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