Data Recovery

Shivanand L.S. CSSE 592/492 Computer Forensics Dec 1st, 2012

Overview

What is Data Recovery? How can it be used? Techniques

Recovery Methods Secure Deletion Private vs. Government services Software vs. Hardware Solutions

What can you do?

What is data recovery?

Retrieving deleted/inaccessible data from electronic storage media (hard drives, removable media, optical devices, etc...) Typical causes of loss include:

Electro-mechanical Failure Natural Disaster Computer Virus Data Corruption Computer Crime Human Error
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Example

Cases of Recovery

FIRE
Found after a fire destroyed a 100 year old home All data Recovered

CRUSHED A bus runs over a laptop All data recovered

SOAKED PowerBook trapped underwater for two days All data recovered

Uses of data recovery

Average User:

Recover important lost files Keep your private information private Locate illegal data Restore deleted/overwritten information. Prosecute criminals based on discovered data

Law enforcement:

Software Recovery of data

Generally only restore data not yet overwritten. Do not work on physically damaged drives Undelete Pro, EasyRecovery, Proliant, Novanet, etc. Prices range from Free-1000 Example: dd on linux used on corrupt floppies

Private Recovery Services

Many private companies offer quick, secure, and confidential data recovery:

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20 GB from $195.00 46 GB and up from $895.00 External cases - $500 to $1500 Internal cases -$2500 to $4000 for a single hard drive Critical Response services start at $5,000.

Action Front http://www.datarec.com/

Data Recovery Services http://www.datarecovery.net/

Recovery Methods

Hidden files Recycle bin Unerase wizards Assorted commercial programs Ferrofluid

Coat surface of disk Check with optical microscope Does not work for more recent hard drives

More recently

Recovery Methods

When data is written the head sets the polarity of most, but not all, of the magnetic domains The actual effect of overwriting a bit is closer to obtaining a 0.95 when a zero is overwritten by a one, and a 1.05 when a one is overwritten with a one.

Normal equipment will read both these values as ones However, using specialized equipment, it is possible to work out what the previous layers contained

Steps include

Reading the signal from the analog head electronic with a highquality digital oscilloscope Downloading the sampled waveform to a PC Analyzing it in software to recover the previously recorded signal.

Recovery Methods

Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)

Uses a sharp magnetic tip attached to a flexible cantilever placed close to the surface to be analyzed, where it interacts with the stray field emanating from the sample to produce a topographic view of the surface Reasonably capable SPM can be built for about US$1400, using a PC as a controller Thousands in use today

Recovery Methods

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM)

Recent technique for imaging magnetization patterns with high resolution and minimal sample preparation. Derived from scanning probe microscopy (SPM) Uses a sharp magnetic tip attached to a flexible cantilever placed close to the surface to be analyzed where it interacts with the stray magnetic field An image of the field at the surface is formed by moving the tip across the surface and measuring the force (or force gradient) as a function of position. The strength of the interaction is measured by monitoring the position of the cantilever using an optical interferometer.

Recovery Methods

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM)

Recovery Methods

Using MFM:

Techniques can detect data by looking at the minute sampling region to distinctly detect the remnant magnetization at the track edges. Detectable old data will still be present beside the new data on the track which is usually ignored In conjunction with software, MFM can be calibrated to see past various kinds of data loss/removal. Can also do automated data recovery. It turns out that each track contains an image of everything ever written to it, but that the contribution from each "layer" gets progressively smaller the further back it was made.

How to Avoid Data Recovery

Companies, agencies, or individuals may want to ensure their data cannot be recovered. Simple deletion is not good enough. Faced with techniques such as MFM, truly deleting data from magnetic media is very difficult

Secure Deletion: Government Standards

Department of Justice:

Problems with government standards

DoD 5220.22-M Type 1 degausser, followed by type 2 degausser, then three data overwrites (character, its complement, random) Often old and predate newer techniques for both recording and recovering data. Predate higher recording densities of modern drives, the adoption of sophisticated channel coding techniques, and the use of MFM. Government standard may in fact be understated to fool opposing intelligence agencies.

Secure Deletion Techniques

Degaussing

Process in which the media is returned to its initial state Coercivity Amount of magnetic field necessary to reduce the magnetic induction to zero. (measured in Oersteds) Effectively erasing a medium to the extent that data recovery is uneconomical requires a magnetic force ~5x the coercivity. US Government guidelines on media coercivity:

Class 1: 350 Oe coercivity or less Class 2: 350-750 Oe coercivity. Class 3: over 750 Oe coercivity

Degaussers are available for classes 1 and 2. None known for fully degaussing class 3 media.

Techniques Secure Deletion Avoiding Recovery

8 mm metallic particle tape 1500 Oe

Commercial Degaussers

Type I

Type II/III

Deletion Techniques

Technique 2: Multiple Overwrites Use an overwrite scheme

Flip each magnetic domain on the disk back and forth as much as possible Overwrite in alternating patterns to expose it to an oscillating magnetic field. Overwrite with junk data several times Penetrates deeper into the recording medium

Use the lowest frequency possible for overwrites

Deletion Techniques

Peter Guttmans overwrite scheme:

Meant to defeat all possible recovery techniques (MFM, etc) Specifies 35 different overwrites Not all overwrites are needed if targeting specific recovery method (i.e. MFM)

Overwrite Data Pass No. 1 - 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32-35 Random 01010101 01010101 01010101 0x55 10101010 10101010 10101010 0xAA 10010010 01001001 00100100 0x92 0x49 0x24 01001001 00100100 10010010 0x49 0x24 0x92 00100100 10010010 01001001 0x24 0x92 0x49 00000000 00000000 00000000 0x00 00010001 00010001 00010001 0x11 00100010 00100010 00100010 0x22 00110011 00110011 00110011 0x33 01000100 01000100 01000100 0x44 01010101 01010101 01010101 0x55 01100110 01100110 01100110 0x66 01110111 01110111 01110111 0x77 10001000 10001000 10001000 0x88 10011001 10011001 10011001 0x99 10101010 10101010 10101010 0xAA 10111011 10111011 10111011 0xBB 11001100 11001100 11001100 0xCC 11011101 11011101 11011101 0xDD 11101110 11101110 11101110 0xEE 11111111 11111111 11111111 0xFF 10010010 01001001 00100100 0x92 0x49 0x24 01001001 00100100 10010010 0x49 0x24 0x92 00100100 10010010 01001001 0x24 0x92 0x49 01101101 10110110 11011011 0x6D 0xB6 0xDB 10110110 11011011 01101101 0xB6 0xDB 0x6D 11011011 01101101 10110110 0xDB 0x6D 0xB6 Random (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL MFM MFM MFM (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL MFM (2,7)RLL MFM (2,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (1,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL (2,7)RLL MFM MFM MFM MFM MFM Data Written Encoding Scheme Targeted

Deletion Techniques

Extremely Extreme Physical Destruction

Chainsaws Sledge hammers Drop in a volcano Place on apex of a nuclear warhead Multiple rounds from a high caliber firearm

Hard Drivers are tougher than you think

What can you do?

In the News

After buying 158 drives, ZDNet Finds:

Over 5,000 credit card numbers Medical records Detailed personal and corporate financial information Personal Emails Gigs of pornography

Pennsylvania sold used computer that contained information about state employees A woman in Nevada bought a used computer which contained the prescription records of over 2,000 customers of an Arizona pharmacy.

QUESTIONS?

Resources

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