Question about the FBI, Raid 0 and Data recovery...

[GSG-9]

Lets say I had some drives in Raid 0, and at some point formatted them, and sold them to a friend.

Now...lets say the FBI confiscated that rig in relation to pirating and distributing movies. (Not from the drives, from distribution of copyrighted material)

Since the drives were never used again do you think they can recover the data even though they dont know the drives were in raid, and if they do figure that out they don't know what controller it had?

These are hypotheticals..

[thebeephaha]

Yes they can get it back. At work we do data recovery and we can tell pretty darn quick if a drive was in software or hardware RAID and we then can try non destructive data recovery tools to get it back using hardware raid software emulation or other means.

The FBI has even better methods. If the FBI comes snooping my way I'd blow up the drives or something. Formatting does nothing.

[ShadowFold]

Originally Posted by thebeephaha

Yes they can get it back. At work we do data recovery and we can tell pretty darn quick if a drive was in software or hardware RAID and we then can try non destructive data recovery tools to get it back using hardware raid software emulation or other means.

The FBI has even better methods. If the FBI comes snooping my way I'd blow up the drives or something. Formatting does nothing.

Well thats good to know.

[intel igent]

that's kind of a silly question....... it's the FBI we're talkin' about here

[thebeephaha]

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

Well thats good to know.

Haha yea. Kinda scary when you think about it.

[mrw1986]

This wins for best thread because you know GSG is in trouble Best thing to do is drill out the platters...that's what I do

[exodusprime1337]

yeah always drill, i never sell hdd's if i sell a rig, i'll write zero's to a drive format it over and over, but in the end me and a carbide bit do the trick, it's how we did it in the navy, and it works really really well.

[rampage]

i think i would format with a shot gun

[GSG-9]

I dont have the drives, they were 2 80gigs I sold to a friend. He may have made a living selling/bootlegging copyrighted material. One of his confiscated rigs had said drives in it. I dont think they go back to me, hes probably in enough trouble as it is...

Originally Posted by mrw1986

This wins for best thread because you know GSG is in trouble Best thing to do is drill out the platters...that's what I do

Im not in trouble..yet...

[From_Nowhere]

Almost all data is retrievable from a hard drive unless it is physically damaged. So if the FBI is wanting to get data from it, and the drives are intact, they can get it.

[DaedalusHelios]

Zero'ing out the drives is fine. The FBI wouldn't go to the trouble to use an electron microscope to recover the data.

That is........... unless you are .... delving into things that are far worse than copyrighted materials.

[GSG-9]

Even if they do recover data I had on the drives (Windows XP Pro X64 Ed Trial, w/ lots of music and movies and games) I dont see it coming back to me, I just dont like it.

[Kreij]

It's possible that someone could find files on the hard drive that point to your computer. Many programs record information about the computer on which they were created.

That being said, I would not worry too much. The FBI does not get involved with copyright infringement. What it looks like, is they are going after him because he is copying and selling the material, most likely on an interstate level.

The FBI rarely go after "small fish". If they are after this guy he is most likely involved in something much bigger that just a garage operation (think country or global network of illegal activity).

[GSG-9]

Originally Posted by Kreij

It's possible that someone could find files on the hard drive that point to your computer. Many programs record information about the computer on which they were created.

That being said, I would not worry too much. The FBI does not get involved with copyright infringement. What it looks like, is they are going after him because he is copying and selling the material, most likely on an interstate level.

The FBI rarely go after "small fish". If they are after this guy he is most likely involved in something much bigger that just a garage operation (think country or global network of illegal activity).

He generated enough revenue to buy a boat, not sure how much that is or what he did with it all, but im staying away from this one.

I dont even have the same power supply as that rig. I could see them finding my old IP address, but I also have a different router than I had then.

[cdawall]

the FBI itself uses a method thats name i have long since forgotten but it erases and writes over the data 54 times i would just use that and run it twice lol

[mdm-adph]

Originally Posted by Kreij

That being said, I would not worry too much. The FBI does not get involved with copyright infringement. What it looks like, is they are going after him because he is copying and selling the material, most likely on an interstate level.

Well, I can agree with you that the FBI shouldn't get involved with civil matters like copyright infringement, but in today's world, they sure as hell do (you can thank the massive RIAA/MPAA lobby for that).

And GSG -- if you're this person's "friend," it really doesn't matter what data, if any, the FBI can glean from those drives -- you're already involved. Even if they didn't know your name before they nabbed him, they sure as hell do now that he's talked -- oh yeah, he's told 'em everything, down to what he had for supper four months ago. Doesn't matter if you're involved in anything he was doing or not -- I'd assume the FBI makes sure and interviews anyone who even had contact with a suspect, just as part of protocol.

But, don't worry, just get a good lawyer -- because IANAL. Oh yeah, and if you've got anything legit you don't want the FBI to find (nude pics of your girl/boyfriend, subversive literature, nothing illegal), go get some TrueCrypt and start encrypting. (Don't worry, they can't legally make you give up your Truecrypt password, either.) Then buy some new drives and copy your protected stuff to them.

And then zero write the old drives.

And then burn them.

And then burn down the house.

[flashstar]

The FBI cannot investigate unless you are selling illegal material across interstate lines. They are the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a reason!

[mdm-adph]

Originally Posted by flashstar

The FBI cannot investigate unless you are selling illegal material across interstate lines. They are the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a reason!

Yeah, I'm sure they totally can't put a wiretap on your house without a warrant, either.

I'm quite certain they will investigate anything and everything they want to anytime they want to -- it's called "abusing National Security Letters." It's the reason why they're currently being investigated by the EFF.

[Kreij]

Originally Posted by flashstar

The FBI cannot investigate unless you are selling illegal material across interstate lines. They are the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a reason!

The FBI can get involved in issues within one state, but it is usally something very serious (ie. murder, kidnapping, etc.).

They would not become involved in an individual downloading something unless there was a "federal" reason. They have enought to do as it is.

[Solaris17]

man that would be scary if one of my buds got busted for doing a crime bad enough to get the feds in volved id put in deriks boot and nuke and gutman the F#$% out of my drives..and destroy all dvd back ups....

[PVTCaboose1337]

The only way I would surely get rid of the data on my drive would to have a thermite mixture on top, and when the feds open the door, to set it off and run away. Now it would burn through the HD... and the table... and the floor... but it would destroy the data is a very neat way.

[ShadowFold]

Originally Posted by PVTCaboose1337

The only way I would surely get rid of the data on my drive would to have a thermite mixture on top, and when the feds open the door, to set it off and run away. Now it would burn through the HD... and the table... and the floor... but it would destroy the data is a very neat way.

I want some..

[Kreij]

You really don't have to go to that extreme. Enough magnetism will render a drive unreadable.

[razaron]

man thats some bad luck.........well atleast you aint brown otherwise they would've been asking where the bomb is

[Davidelmo]

Yeah that really sucks but at least you know better for next time.

Dariks Nuke and Ban would have worked - http://dban.sourceforge.net/

As someone earlier said, get Truecrypt and use that to hide anything REALLY don't want people to find.

But the FBI have much more important things to do than chase you for mp3s and a few movies. That said, I am 100% certain your name is already known to them because more than likely your friend will have told them where he got the drives.