Data Recovery & Computer Forensics Blog

Flashback Data is proud to annouce that we have received our ASCLD/LAB International accreditation.  This makes us the first private/non-government organization in the world to be accredited for digital forensics.  This puts our digital forensic lab at the same standard as the FBI’s digital investigation labs.  We have been working hard on this and are extremely excited by the opportunity to broaden our clientbase. 

Press release

Most investigations begin with a suspicion.  Someone suspects that something has occurred on a computer and wants to determine what it is or what significance it has.  Sooner or later, the computer ends up in our laboratory for examination.  Whether it’s “sooner” or “later” may have a dramatic impact on the complexity and corresponding cost of the investigation.

Suppose, for example, that you suspect that an employee may be stealing company secrets – intending to work for a competitor.  You make a mental list of competitors that might be interested in your intellectual property and set to work to confirm your suspicions. Continue Reading »

Last night in front of hundreds of businessmen and women of Austin, Flashback Data took the first award of the night in the Small Business Innovation category at the 2009 Greater Austin Business Awards.  We are very excited to be recognized for our hard work in innovating our industry’s technology and processes.  This is a big step forward for Flashback Data to continue our mission of providing outstanding service and fantastic customer support.  We would like to thank the whole team at Flashback Data and everyone who has supported us throughout the years.

Austin Chamber Press release:

http://www.austinchamber.com/TheChamber/AboutTheChamber/NewsReleases/2009/2009_08_27.html

And Photos of the Winners:

http://www.austinchamber.com/TheChamber/AboutTheChamber/09bisaw/index.html

“I do not think that word means what you think it means”

-          Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

As with any other scientific specialty, computer investigations have their own lexicon of ideas and terms.  Many of them are foreign enough that a layman will require an explanation just to understand them, but several are words with which most people will be familiar that have a distinct meaning in the context of forensic examination of electronic evidence.  Some of these are outlined below.

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We have all heard the words: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”  But what does that mean today?  Drug companies write thousands of pages of disclaimers, and public servants lie about extramarital affairs all the time.  So what is “the truth”?

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A little understanding of electronic evidence and digital forensics goes a long way.  Because there are some terms of art that mean one thing to a forensic investigator and another to a layperson, it is important that you familiarize yourself with a bit of the lexicon before engaging a digital forensics firm.  This primer will help with the most commonly misunderstood terms. Continue Reading »

We recently received a hard drive turned over by a former employee of our client.  The drive would not work and had been sent in for data recovery.  Indeed, when we brought it into the lab, the drive was not powering on.  It was time to do a little investigation.

Examining the drive connectors, we noted some deep scoring on the connectors that was not consistent with any accidental scratches we might expect to see if a drive had been improperly disconnected.  A photograph of the scratches can be seen at right.  The scratches have been marked in the right-hand frame.

Having determined that there had  been some deliberate and intentional damage done to the drive, we continued to investigate – this time, with a keener eye for other intentional damage that may have been inflicted on the drive. Continue Reading »

The professions of medicine and law are somewhat similar:  they are expensive, often painful and we hope we feel better when the procedure is over than we did when we started.

Suppose one day you went to the dentist for a filling and while you were there, you mentioned that you were scheduled for heart surgery the next week.  If he told you that he could perform your bypass, would you take him up on the offer? Continue Reading »

They say you always remember your first one.

The deceased was brought into the lab and laid out on a cold, hard table.  Instruments were laid out on the table beside them, some eerily familiar and others strange and arcane.  In a few moments, we were inside, looking at the innards that held the secrets to the end of a life cut short.  What had happened that had struck this one down in his prime?  Who was responsible? Continue Reading »

Recently, we received a hard drive for investigation as part of litigation.  This drive had come from the work computer of an employee terminated by our client six months prior, now the subject of the litigation.

When we received the drive, it was apparent that it had been tampered with.  Hard drives typically come with stickers over one or more of the case screws.  These stickers are there to allow the manufacturer to void the warranty when the drive is opened by an unauthorized person.  In this case, the sticker was punctured and the screw was exposed.  Continue Reading »