The Voice of Reason: How Digital Forensics Unearths Deleted Data

When a file is deleted from a computer, it is often not completely erased immediately. Instead, the file's data is marked as deleted, allowing new data to overwrite the existing space when the user elects to store new information on the device. Digital forensic examiners utilize specialized forensic software and recovery procedures, such as file carving, to recover partial remnants of deleted files for legal cases. Forensic examiners often perform detailed searches of the unallocated space on a computer to see if some files marked as deleted still remain on the device because they have not yet been overwritten. In cases where a deleted file is already overwritten with new data, oftentimes broken fragments of the original deleted file still remain if the new data did not overwrite the entire space occupied by the original file. In other words, if there is not enough data to overwrite the entire file, there will still be pieces of the file sitting on the device, much like when you delete a paragraph from a word document other paragraphs may still remain in a file. The remaining paragraphs give important insight to the original essay; however, the completed essay cannot be completely recovered when a paragraph is deleted from the original document. Timeline analysis allows a digital forensic examiner to consider the circumstances around the file that provide insight to when and why a file may have been deleted. By considering the life cycle of a file, forensic examiners track the steps of a user similar to when crime scene experts consider the timeline of events and surrounding elements associated with a crime. By utilizing different techniques, a digital forensic investigator oftentimes becomes the voice of reason that makes or breaks a legal case.

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