Toronto Data Recovery

January 30th, 2012

As the morning sun peeks through the skyscrapers of downtown Toronto and the warmth of its rays tickle your face, your world seems so safe, so tranquil, so at peace. You press the power on your laptop computer and are mildly surprised when the familiar beeps fail to materialize. Looking at your screen you see nothing but a flashing cursor. So with minimal concern you reset the power, gaze out over a waking Toronto and diligently wait for the familiar beeps before heading for your coffee. But unbeknownst to you, today will be a little different than the last 934 days. Today your computer won’t boot! Today you lost your data! Today you need data recovery!

Panic sets in as your brain begins to assess the gravity of the situation. You remember the 37 page proposal you’ve been working on non-stop for 3 weeks. Usually you would have copies of your data stashed on your desktop at work or even on your computer at home. But again, this time is different, there is no backup! GULP! The most important client you’ve had in years is expecting it tomorrow. If you get the contract, your worries will evaporate for months to come, maybe even years. If you don’t, well things could get really tough around here. .. 

data recovery Toronto

Toronto Data Recovery

Every day in thousands of businesses and homes across the Toronto GTA, across Canada and across the world, a similar scenario is unfolding. Data is being lost!

What would you do? Where would you seek help? Are you located in the Toronto area or close by in the golden horseshoe, perhaps Hamilton, Oakville, Kitchener, Waterloo, or even Markham?

If you’re like our Toronto friend above, Thomas McAllister, you called your IT manager for help. Once the IT manager determined that the hard drive had an operational problem, he recommended Memofix Data Recovery Services, Toronto’s oldest data recovery service provider.

Thomas called us just after 9 am Toronto time and the severity of his situation was not hidden in his voice. It was apparent he needed his data recovered by tomorrow’s sunrise or he would need to start working on his resume. To Thomas the situation was that critical. After discussing his case with him, we were able to assure him we had the parts in stock at our Toronto facility and we’re ready to attempt his data recovery within the hour of it being received.

By 11am we received his Toshiba laptop for hard drive data recovery. A quick analysis determined that one of the 4 heads was no longer functional. Within an hour we had replaced the complete defective head assembly and had the hard drive imaging, albeit with some read errors. Thankfully the disk drive was only 160GB and by 3pm our imaging of the used areas was complete. Although the data recovery had some damaged files as a result of the read errors, the most critical file was in pristine shape and was tested with no errors. Due to the small size of the file we were able to email it to Thomas at his office in downtown Toronto. By 3:30pm, Thomas was breathing a little easier and our mission was complete.

Now, not all our data recovery cases can be completed this fast, but if you’re in the Toronto area, be aware that our data recovery service lab, located in Vaughan, has the most extensive inventory of hard disk drive parts in Canada. While other Toronto data recovery service providers must wait days for parts and likely even charge more, we are often able to complete a data recovery in the same day. If time is not your friend … call on Toronto’s Memofix Data Recovery Services.

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USB Data Recovery for Flash Drives

January 24th, 2012

Today we will discuss typical data recovery techniques for recovering data from  physically defective USB Flash Drives, also referred to as Thumb Drives, Flash Sticks, USB Sticks, USB Pens, or Memory Sticks.  This Toronto based blog will not discuss the situations in which the USB flash stick is still operational.

The typical USB flash drive is made up of two main components:  the actual memory chip or IC (integrated circuit) and the controller chip or IC.  In the diagram below we can see a typical USB Flash stick taken apart to reveal the two main components. In many instances there will be an additional memory chip on the other side of the PCB or printed circuit board.

Inside a USB Flash Drive

Inside a typical Flash Drive

There are two basic approaches to recovering the data from an inoperative or inaccessible USB flash drive. Which approach we use is decided largely on whether the data on the memory chips is encrypted or not. Unbeknownst to the average Joe,  encryption is often being implemented on USB sticks automatically and invisibly.  We see this use of automatic encryption becoming more and more common. Over the years we have learned to identify many of the flash devices that use encryption but it will always be an ongoing process as the sheer magnitude of new devices being introduced is staggering.

If there is no encryption present, we can physically desolder and remove the individual memory chip(s). These chips can then be  read in a specialized chip reader and their contents dumped to a file(s). Now the work begins as the data read from the chips is a very raw dump of every bit of data from the memory chips. The problem with flash is that there may be many copies of the same or almost the same data present on many data cells across the drive as a result of “Wear Leveling”. Wear leveling is where the Flash’s controller attempts to ensure equal wear of each data cell to ensure the device lasts as long as possible with no unreadable areas. Furthermore the controller has access to additional hidden data cells (10-15% above the advertised capacity) that can be used for relocating the data from questionable cells.  So the big problem is determining which cells are active, which have been remapped and in which order do the active cells belong.  And of course the market is new and there presently exists hundreds of manufactures all doing things just slightly differently. If we haven’t already reverse engineered a particular flash device and it’s storage techniques, we can spend literally days figuring it out. Of course, next time we come across that exact device it will be easy .. but the majority of the cases we see are unique!

Alternatively if we suspect that the controller chip  is bad and we are able to source an exact same controller, we can simply replace the defective controller and gain access to the device. But finding the correct controller is often impossible as USB flash devices become obsolete over night and the innards of two identical flash devices are often quite different.

If encryption is present it does no good to simply read off the memory chips as the data will still be encrypted.  In these cases, we must repair the flash device (replace controller or other discrete components) OR source an exact replacement USB flash drive and then xplant the memory chips onto it.

Regardless of what technique we use, if you require Toronto USB data recovery on a physically defective Flash Drive it can be time consuming and relatively expensive. Be prepared, be secure, and ensure your USB Flash device is always backed up.

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Warning: USB Flash Devices FAIL!

January 19th, 2012

There exists a belief that USB flash drives, also referred to as USB flash sticks, memory sticks, thumb drives, or USB jump drives,  are  robust, reliable and a very secure alternative for storing your data!  But every month we routinely service dozens of data recovery cases involving USB flash devices from the Toronto area, so we can tell you from experience that this belief is just plain WRONG!

recovering data from USB flash sticks

Do you need Data Recovery for a USB Flash drive?

Perhaps it is the knowledge that these USB flash devices use solid state flash memory chips for storing the data and consequently there are no moving parts to become defective. Or maybe people just don’t treat them with the same respect and care they would with a hard disk drive.

I know I often use them for bringing home files I plan to work on over the weekend. And yes I throw them in my pocket, carry them for days, forget about them, take them motorcycling or fishing in the rain for a weekend , and even have the wife wash and dry them, as I forget to remove them from my pocket on wash day, (YES,  my wife refuses to check pockets).  Sometime they work after and sometime they don’t.

But and its a big BUT, I never store anything on them that I haven’t already backed-up on some computer. And that is the correct way to use these USB flash devices; as temporary storage locations used to move existing data from one location to another. They are NOT intended to be long term storage devices and they should NEVER hold the ONLY copy of anything!

Besides deleting files or formatting your flash device, the USB flash devices we receive for data recovery suffer from either physical or ESD (electro static discharge) damage. Typical scenarios may include;

  • USB device has been inserted into a running computer and someone comes along and inadvertently bumps into the USB flash device and causes it to physically break off
  • OR in the same scenario as above, it bends enough to cause some of the connections to touch each other and short out electrically
  • Users often try to force an incorrectly oriented flash stick into a USB connection and cause physical or electronic damage
  • USB flash devices are often stepped on or even run over with a vehicle.
  • Flash devices are often accidentally dropped or immersed in liquids ie. coffee cups, toilets and washing machines.
  • Carry a USB flash drive in your pocket can often cause static electricity to build up and it can discharge causing electronic damage.

Canadians in need of our services can click here  for our Toronto USB data recovery services.

Or if the topic interests you further, please wait for my next post where we will discuss the challenges in recovering data from USB flash devices and why the process is so complicated and not always even possible. To ensure you don’t miss any of any of my new posts be sure to subscribe to the Memofix data recovery blog.

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Data Recovery for Dr. Dell in Haiti

January 11th, 2012

Data Recovery is often a thankless business. We can spend hundreds of dollars on parts and many late days attempting to recover someone’s critical data files. And in the end, if we are unsuccessful, we don’t get paid and rarely do we get a thanks for our efforts, no matter how hero like our recovery efforts may have been. So when we receive a great big thank you and some pictures showing the fruits of our labour in use, we really like to soak it up. :-)

“Hi Bob,

 you probably remember me from a few months ago. I had the hard drive from an X-ray machine in Haiti that had failed due to a power surge. I though you may be interested to know that thanks to the drive your company recovered the machine is now working again. I’ve attached some pictures for you from the mission in Haiti including pictures of the C-arm being used during a knee operation. The surgeon in the picture is Dr. Dell who covered the cost of the recovery. This surgery to implant a plate in a patient’s damaged knee would not have been possible without a working x-ray. I thought your team would appreciate seeing the results of a job well done.

 Thanks and Blessings,  Geoff “

The Real Doctor of Recovery, Dr. Dell doing his thing in Haiti

Back in August, Geoff, an associate of Dr. Dells asked if we could recover data from an old Quantum hard drive being used in an older X-ray machine in Haiti. It was a 52 MB hard drive, yes 52MB or .052GB or .0000052TB, small by today’s standards that’s for sure. As the disk drive was very old and few data recovery companies other then Toronto’s Memofix Data Recovery Services had the experience or parts to deal with it, we were asked to attempt the hard drive recovery in Toronto.

As it turns out the hard drive had been damaged by a power surge and it’s printed circuit board or PCB was fried. Additionally and more detrimental to our data recovery efforts, the surge damaged a small pre-amp chip that is located on the head assembly inside the sealed disk drive compartment. The chip is used to amplify the signals from the individual heads to the PCB and without its proper operation, no recovery would be possible.

On a current modern hard drive, we would simply replace the entire head assembly but this older Quantum hard drive used a unique hybrid positioning  system  for controlling the heads and it could not be simply replaced with a new one if the data was to be recovered. This hybrid positioning system used a combination of an optical encoder for rough head positioning and an embedded servo system for fine positioning. As a result the relationship between the two positioning methods was critical and could not be altered or replaced with anything but the original mechanical parts.

With Memofix’s grey haired experience in repairing legacy hard disk drives we were able to replace the pre-amp chip on the original head assembly and restore the hard drive to an operating state. We then created an exact image of the entire original hard drive onto a new Quantum 52AT hard drive. Interestingly enough, we had a new Quantum hard drive sitting in our stock, still sealed in a bag we received directly from the now defunct manufacture in the early 90′s.

Sometimes it’s good to be a pack rat that’s been around forever!  Especially when our efforts in Toronto help a good doctor spread heath and healing through a country that really needs everyone’s help. May the forces of good be with the people of Haiti!

 

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Data Recovery after a MAC Format

January 4th, 2012

In my last post we discussed the consequences of formatting your hard disk drive using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 and whether data could be recovered after such an event.  In this post we will shed some light on how Apple implements formatting on the MAC, and the implications of their methods on data recovery.

First it should be noted that Apple does not use the standard Windows terminology when referring to formatting a hard disc drive. Apple calls their format process “Erase”,  but in essence it perform the same tasks as a Windows Format command.  The hard drive is re-initialized to appear as a fresh and empty drive volume with all of the disk space free for use.

Mac’s Disk Utility can be invoked from the  “Go-> Utilities” tab. A screen shot of the disk utility can be seen below. When a hard drive is selected you can then choose the type of  Volume Format and a name for the new drive volume.

MAC Erase and Format Utility

 

If you were to now press the Erase button, the drive would be formatted or erased according to the Security Options that are set.  To see what options are selected, press the Security Options button and you will see the screen shot below.

By default, an Erase is set to the “Don’t Erase Data” option. This option overwrites all the directory information used to find and access a file. It does not however erase the actual data. In this case, data recovery should be possible. This option is equivalent to a quick format on a Windows based PC.

Secure Erase Options on the MAC

 

The use of any of the other options will result in permanent data loss. Whether you overwrite the data 1 time,  7 times or even 35 times makes no difference in the real world of data recovery. The data will be gone, so be careful.

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Recovering Data After a Format

December 13th, 2011

For many years it’s been common knowledge among the more technically savvy computer enthusiasts, that even if you format your hard drive, the data can be recovered. Any simple data recovery software program and even most computer stores with a service department should be able to quickly restore your hard disk drive data after a format. And while this rule has been true for many years, there’s now a new sheriff in town, and he plays by different rules. With the advent of Vista and Windows 7, formatting your disc drive may now permanently destroy your computer data. Read on for the details …

In Windows, there are two types of formats that can be implemented; a quick format and a regular format. In the picture below, a quick format is selected, while un-checking the box would perform a regular format.

Data Recovery Services

Windows Format Screen


On older versions of Windows, up to and including Windows XP, a quick format overwrites the beginning of the MFT or Master File Table. The MFT is an index of all the files stored on a volume. Formatting re-initializes the MFT to appear to contain no data files by truncating the length of the known MFT. However, the orphaned index entries from before the quick format are still intact and can be used to recover all the previously existing files. With older versions of Windows, a regular format does exactly the same but it also tests for bad sectors across the entire drive. This test is non-destructive and does not overwrite any other data areas, so again all data files should be recoverable.

On newer versions of Windows, from Vista on and including Windows 7 and 8, a quick format does the same as with older versions and the data should be recoverable. BUT the regular format has changed substantially. It now overwrites “every” sector on the hard drive and as a result no data will be recoverable once this command is executed.

So why would Microsoft change the regular format to now erase every trace of data? Personally I believe it is in response to the increased awareness over data security and in particular the news coverage of personal data being discovered on tossed computers (see this interesting story on one couples adventure with leftover data files). Now, with just a simple regular format, Microsoft allows an end user to effectively do a complete and secure erase of all your hard drive’s personal content.

With new power comes new responsiblity, so be sure you know what you’re doing before formatting any hard disk drive, because even your friends at Memofix Data Recovery Services may not be able to help you.

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Data Recovery Second Chances

December 1st, 2011

Here is a story that our head of client services in Toronto wishes me to tell. It’s a story that happens just a little bit too often …

A few weeks back we had a gentleman drop by with a Western Digital hard disk drive for possible data recovery services. The client was quite anxious so we did a while-u-wait evaluation and quickly discovered the disc drive couldn’t spin up because it had a defective PCB or printed circuit board. After reading off the original NVRAM memory contents* and transferring them onto a compatible PCB we soon had the drive spinning again. However we still couldn’t access the client’s data and further analysis revealed there was a second more complicated problem with the drive’s SA or “system area” modules, (kind of a secret operating system stored on the drive’s disks or platters and for its own exclusive use). After some attempts to repair the damaged SA modules it became apparent that it would take further research and time to solve the corruption. We did however believe we had enough information to quote the customer and we proceeded to do just that.

With multiple hard drive problems we don’t typically charge twice as much but we do add a premium and this recovery was quoted at $800. And as often happens, the client was aghast at the figure and decided to decline our data recovery quote. Fair enough, we realize the real value of the data can only be determined by the owner so we packed up the case and handed it back to the gentleman. See this older blog post “Data Recovery Pricing and Why were not the Cheapest”  to better understand the data recovery pricing process.

A week or so goes by and we get another visit from the same gentleman. This time he is ready to agree to our quote and he leaves the drive with us. However, once we get the disk drive back into the lab, we see stickers on it from one of our competitors, the largest data recovery company in the world ! And worse yet, the drive’s bubble or sealed environment where the disks are located had been opened.

Oh oh, why would they open the drive? Our initial evaluation revealed no problems with the actual disc media or the read/write heads, so we better take a look. Under class100 clean room conditions we open the hard drive and find a crash forming on the top surface minimally. The crash has formed a ring and can only be created by continuing to operate a crashing hard drive. We then remove the head assembly and inspect each head for damage and contamination. This process reveals additional crashes have developed on the lower disk surfaces. The damage is so severe; the odds are against us recovering anything of value!

We contact the client who admits he did bring it to a competitor BUT he swears it was only for another evaluation and quote. He was trying to find a better price. After “evaluating” his hard drive recovery for 2 days, the other data recovery company told him it was unrecoverable!

This is where the illusion of two totally different outcomes must be addressed and the difference in data recovery processes exposed! Here’s what happened …

The world’s largest data recovery company receives a hard drive for data recovery. The drive is received and they immediately attempt to recover all the data possible. If they can’t recover any data they declare it unrecoverable. If they can recover some data they send the client a list of what they can recover and a firm quote. The recovery is already attempted, the results are already in. There is no proper “do no harm” evaluation or diagnosis. There is little chance of anyone doing any better once they are finished with it. Any  2nd chances are effectively destroyed!

What makes matters worse is what happened with this case. What would have been a 99% chance of a successful recovery with Memofix Data Recovery Services turns into a 100% unrecoverable situation. Whether the new damage was caused by mishandling during its transportation or whether it occurred during our competitors “evaluation” cannot be said, BUT I can tell you the result is the same. Somebody is not going to see their data ever again.

IF a data recovery company can’t give you an evaluation without doing further harm to your hard drive then they don’t know what they are doing, period!  Memofix stands by every evaluation we perform and furthermore our processes do NO harm. Consequently if you get a 2nd opinion after a Memofix diagnosis it should confirm exactly what we discovered.  Of course actual  data recovery pricing  for the same diagnosis may differ between competitors, especially in Toronto.

IF a data recovery company uses a process where they attempt to recover the data immediately from any data recovery case they receive, don’t use them. Even if they successfully recover your data, their attempts may have denied anyone else a chance of recovering your data AND consequently they can hold you over a barrel as they have the last obtainable copy of your data in the world.

Remember, the 1st attempt at recovering data from a hard disk drive is typically the most successful. The longer a failing hard drive is operated, the worse your chances of seeing your data again. Choose a data recover provider with the same care that you would use to choose a surgeon, your data may depend on it.

*PCB swapping on most HDDs is not a straight exchange (even with an exact firmware PCB),  as the PCB stores settings specifically tuned for its original set of disks and heads. .

 

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Memofix Professional Data Recovery Services offered at NCIX

November 21st, 2011

Professional Data Recovery "Made in Canada"

 

 

 

 

 

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Toronto and Vaughan RAID Data Recovery

November 16th, 2011

Enterprise level RAID arrays often use SCSI or SAS (serial attached SCSI) attached hard drives.  Compared to PATA and SATA IDE hard drives, SCSI and SAS are quite rare. And as a result few data recovery companies have much experience with them.

Fortunately, Memofix (located in Vaughan, Ontario) has been around for so long that we still remember when all servers and RAID arrays used SCSI hard drives.  I too have been “around” for a long time and during all of my 12 years at ActionFront and Seagate Recovery Services I was the “go to guy” for all SCSI recoveries.  By the end of my career at these other Toronto GTA  based recovery companies, I was full-time management with the exception of working exclusively on all our cases that used SCSI hard drives. As a result,  I became thee expert at resurrecting dead SCSI and SAS drives. And as they were most often being used in RAID arrays, my skills at rebuilding RAIDs was also exceptional.

At Memofix this expertise has been passed on, but I still personally monitor every SCSI, SAS and RAID array we receive. I believe we are the best in the industry whether that RAID is used on a MAC. Windows, Unix or even a Solaris operating system. If you need some expertise on your failing RAID call the professionals. http://www.memofixdatarecovery.com/data-recovery-raid.php

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Data Recovery Machine, Myth or Reality?

November 8th, 2011

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.

Some people believe that data recovery service companies have automated “data recovery machines”. Basically, a data recovery technician physically removes an individual disk or platter from the inaccessible hard drive, inserts the disk into the machine and automatically reads off the data. While several recovery companies have attempted to create such a data recovery machine, in reality there exists NO such device!

Even if such a machine existed it could’nt solve “all” the data loss situations. In many cases the physical damage to the hard drive’s discs prevents any chance of reading the discs and successfully recovering data. The drive’s disks are coated with an extremely thin layer of magnetic material and when a crash develops on the disks it physically removes this coating and turns it into a black magnetic dust. That dust is the actual data and nothing will ever be able to put it all back together …period.

But the real problem with developing a data recovery machine would be the customization required to support the overwhelming number of different hard drive families in existence. Each family shares similar hardware, architecture, and encoding schemes. When you send data to a hard drive to be written, it is typically encoded 5 different times before it is actually written on the physical disks. These encoding schemes are usually quite different between families of hard drives and are constantly being updated in pursuit of higher data densities. In my estimation there are thousands of different schemes that would need to be reverse engineered in order to decipher data from just today’s current drive models, let alone the equal amount of non-current hard drives still in use.

Back in the late 1990’s there was a Scandinavian data recovery company called Ibas that developed a data recovery machine called the Patan for Pattern Analyzer. http://web.archive.org/web/20021101051021/http://www.ibas.com/technology/hard-disk-repair.htm Of course the company claimed, ambiguously that it could recover data from independent hard drive platters or disks, but in reality it

Data Recovery Machine

PATAN Data Recovery Machine

could recover data from just one family of Seagate hard drives, and even then it was a non-current family of MFM hard drives.  (ST4000 series)

More recently (early 2000’s) in my prior life at a leading data recovery company, we developed a machine to read data off the disks of a Western Digital SCSI hard drive and a few other similar PATA models.  http://www.channelscience.com/files/Drive-Independent_Data_Recovery.pdf But again, the device took talented engineers many years to develop, could recover data from just a few specific models and required constant tweaking and attention. As of today, it’s my understanding that this dust gathering machine has been largely used as a slick marketing tool.

Due to the extreme and constant technical advancements in hard drive technology and the presence of several distinct and competitive hard drive manufacturers I doubt we will see any additional attempts at creating a drive independent data recovery device. And with many of the newer data recovery techniques we have developed, the need for such a machine is becoming a distant memory. So, once again don’t forget Memofix Data Recovery Services www.memofixdatarecovery.com for those occasions when you just can’t live without your data.

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Data Recovery and the Thailand floods

October 31st, 2011

If you’re not aware, Thailand, the 2nd largest producer of hard drives in the world, has been experiencing some intense flooding which in turn has significantly depleted the worldwide supply of hard disk drives.  Western Digital appears to be the worst hit and as result will likely lose its ranking as the #1 producer of disc drives.

Does this affect the data recovery business? YES, you may pay more.

The majority of Data Recovery cases require the replacement of various defective hard drive components and in particular the head assembly. These individual hard drive components cannot be bought on the open market and consequently data recovery companies source complete hard drives for breaking down into parts. This need for specific hard drive parts has in turn fostered a growing business in used hard drive sales.  And while a disk drive may have originally sold for $79, these vendors have long been demanding double the price when supplying a data recovery service provider.

NOW, with the worldwide shortage of new hard drives, the used hard drive market is exploding and prices are exploding even more.  Many data recovery companies will need to start charging higher rates to cover the increase in parts cost. However, Memofix Data Recovery Services sources 98% of its parts drives from our mother company Memofix Hitech Services and as a result we rarely need to order parts. Memofix has over 26,000 hard drives in stock and services up to 3000 new hard drive every month. With such a large supply we charge less, try harder and complete recoveries quicker. When it matters, call Memofix!

http://www.memofixdatarecovery.com/data-recovery-hard-drive.php

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Data Recovery & Encryption, foe or friend ?

September 26th, 2011

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

To most of us, the word “encryption” conjures up images of spies and secret disks containing information that must be guarded at all costs.  Few of us realize that we all rely on and use encryption almost every day in our normal lives. Whether making a cell call, sending an email, buying something with your debit card, or accessing the web wirelessly, we are using and being protected by this not so simple process.

What is encryption? Encryption is the process used to transform and disguise data so that it is unreadable or undecipherable to anyone without a pre-determined secret code or password.  Basically, the data to be encrypted is sent through an elaborate algorithm using the secret code or password to scramble the data into indistinguishable rubbish.

Please note, that password protection is NOT encryption. Password protection “may” prevent access to the data, but it does not alter the actual data. Password protection can be easily bypassed.

Encryption has also become common place for protecting data on computer based storage device like hard drives and USB flash sticks. Encryption can be used to protect an entire volume, a folder or even a single file. There are several distinct implementations available:

  • SOFTWARE, Users can buy or use free encryption programs that make it possible to encrypt files, folders or even their entire hard drive or flash device using software routines to intercept and modify the data on the fly. The entire encrypting and decrypting process is handled by your computer’s CPU or processor.  Popular examples include SafeGuard, SecureDoc, PGP, TrueCrypt and Safeboot. Starting with XP Professional, Microsoft includes a built in folder and file encryption feature called Encrypting File System or EFS for short. Software encryption methods are popular as they are inexpensive and can be implemented on any existing storage device. However, they are generally much slower, typically 20% slower than hardware based methods.
  • HARDWARE, There are external hard drive devices that use a standard hard drive connected through a “hardware based” encryption interface board. In many cases this encryption process is performed without the user even being aware. Many Western Digital external boxes use this method allowing 100% data protection if the drive is ever removed from the enclosure and its encrypting interface board. Hardware techniques are considerably faster than software methods.
  • SELF ENCRYPTING, Users can now buy hard drives and SSDs that utilize on-board hardware to encrypt and decrypt the data on the fly.  These devices encrypt the entire contents of a storage device and are referred to as SEDs or self-encrypting devices or drives. These drives carry a premium price tag but are the ultimate in safety and speed. Some hard drive manufactures such as Seagate may also refer to this self-encrypting as FDE or Fixed Disk Encryption.

Why use encryption? Most of us have heard a story or two about personal financial data falling into the wrong hands due to a corporate laptop being stolen or lost. Or the often recreated news story about reporters picking computers out of the trash and finding “valuable” info left abandoned. Yes it does happen, as someone who regularly buys previously used hard drives can attest. But just how many of us actually have super sensitive data on our computers in the first place?  If you are one of the few that must keep your data from prying eyes, then by all means encrypt away. But if you don’t need to … DON’T!

Besides the potential loss in performance, there are several other reasons not to use encryption.

  • LOSS OF PASSWORD OR KEYFILE: If you can’t remember the password or can’t find the keyfile you made 3 years ago, you will NOT get your data back, period. While there are numerous recovery techniques for decrypting or accessing encrypted volumes, they all require some form of a username/password combo or a special key file created by the encryption software.
  • OPERATING SYSTEM FAILURE: If an encrypted drive’s operating system becomes corrupted, perhaps due to a simple virus and the drive is no longer bootable or accessible, there is no easy way to repair the file system and regain access. To resolve the issue you must first decrypt the entire volume. Again you will need a user/password or keyfile (and specialized programs) to perform such an operation. Once the volume is decrypted, the  file system damage can then be repaired using the file system’s own repair utilities, i.e. chkdsk.exe
  • READ ERRORS: Over time storage device can easily develop read errors and if these read errors affect the operating system files or an area used to store pertinent encryption parameters, it can become impossible to access your data. As above, complicated procedures will be required to decrypt the volume and access the data. A single read error can stop everything.

Is encryption breakable? Theoretically, with enough computing power and enough time, any encryption scheme can be broken. But if the process takes a thousand years, the value of the data may be very limited. And fortunately the increase in computing power to break the key is easily outstripped by the exponential increase in difficulty by adding an additional bit to the encryption key. Presently, most credit card companies recommend transactions using 128 bit encryption keys. 128 bits keys are considered by the experts to be safe until about 2030 although some recommend 256 bit keys due to the advent of the “quantum computer” where theoretically the difficulty may be halved.

There are 2 basic ways of breaking encryption. The hacker either breaks the password by guessing the password or the hacker uses crypto analysis to guess the message based on the natural frequency and composition of the characters in a given language. To guess a password is often very easy as people tend to use real words and they are often chosen from an individual’s personal life or interests. Even brute force using a pre-created word list is often successful. To be sure your password can’t be compromised in your lifetime it has been recommended that your password should be at least 20 random characters. Of course few of us can remember such a long sequence.

In the real world, getting around the encryption is often much easier than either of these methods. Keyboard recorders are simple to install devices that can be used to record all the keystrokes of a user including their passwords. Or perhaps a hidden camera could provide the same results.  Another technique can be utilized if a user leaves their computer unattended, as the contents of RAM memory are not encrypted and there are ways to dump the RAM contents and retrieve a password. Additionally, a group of researchers/hackers recently discovered that the contents of RAM memory do not disappear as soon as the power is removed. In fact if the RAM chips can be kept cool, the data may be retained for 10 minutes or longer. Theoretically reading the RAM contents could be possible even if the power is turned off. But this isn’t really so much about breaking the password as it is about stealing the password.

Can Memofix recover your encrypted data? Usually YES, but we need your keyfile or username/password combo … PERIOD. If we could recover your encrypted data without these credentials then what would be the point of using encryption in the first place.

We regularly recover data encrypted with PPG, Safeboot, SafeGuard, SecureDoc, EFS and most other software encryption programs. We are also very successful recovering hardware encrypted hard drives where the encryption is performed by an interface board separate from the storage device. i.e. the popular Western Digital My Book.

However, SEDs or Self Encrypting Devices present a real problem. It is estimated that by 2017 over 80% of all hard drives and all SSD or Solid State Drives will be SED or self-encrypting devices. There are NO decryption methods available for these SEDs and if consumers and businesses are to adopt these new SEDs, this concern must be addressed by the manufacturers.

Encryption is here to stay whether you need it or not. If you do choose to encrypt your data, we suggest you always create a key file and store it in a secure location. Additionally, record all usernames and passwords in a secure location and until the SED manufactures create a solution for authorized decrypting, we suggest you steer clear of their products or be sure to regularly backup.

As always, when things don’t quite go as planned remember your friends at Memofix http://www.memofixdatarecovery.com/ are always willing to help!

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