Forensic Data Recovery from Failed Media

Evserver 01ery business should have a robust and tested disaster recovery plan, and if you do not then we can help set one up and optionally maintain it. That given, we would not have any recovery work if everyone had a robust backup and there are many scenarios where the backup either isn't available, is outdated or has been destroyed. We are seeing a rise in data vandalism from IT staff who are discruntled or have been fired as well as malicious damage from viruses either with or without randomware. 

Data Recovery can be divided into two distinct categories, Soft Recovery and Hard Recovery. We'll deal with each seperately. 

Soft Recovery

If the physical media is ok but the data on it has been corrupted, deleted, formatted or is otherwise inaccessable then we can in most cases recover part or all of the data. The time between the corruption happening and us receiving the media greatly effects the outcome so please do not delay in taking action and sending the media in for analysis. 

From magnetic media, that's hard drives, tapes & cartridges, we can often recovery most if not all of the data. For flash media, which is SSD's, Flash drives, memory sticks, SD Cards & CF Cards, we can often recovery most of the data assuming there is not a physical failure of the media. Flash/Nand media has a limited lifespan due to the method of storage and retrieval and when it fails there is often a chuck of inaccessable space that we must map around. Due to the high total failure rates, never use Flash/Nand media as your only copy of data.

Hard Recovery

Storage fails, either because of a fault or because of external damage such as physical shock, fire, flood or vandalism and recovering data from such media is always a challenge, but in many cases we do manage to recovery at least some of the data.

Hard Disks

Recovering from failed hard disks will require a strip down and physical repair of the drive mechanism and/or its electronics. Once the drive is operating again we will use dedicated tools to probe the media and start copying it in bulk to a temporary storage location. Once we have all the data from the drive then we begin reconstructing the data which is often a mix of automated and manual activity. 

Memory Sticks / Pen Drives

A very common device that arrives for recovery is usb removable media, mostly because cheaper devices are physically weak and the actual media is substandard, but there is still a fair chance that we can recover some data from it. The actual flash storage IC's can be removed and read using specialised media reading hardware. 

SD / MicroSD Cards

These are harder to recover especially where physical damage is evident because the actual flash chip that stores the data takes up most of the physical space meaning there's a high likelihood that it is also damaged. Having said that its always possible that we can recovery some of the data. 

Tapes and Cardridges

Recovering data from magnetic tape is something we rarely see these days but we still have the skills and hardware to facilitate recovery from DAT, Ultrium and DDS cartridges. 

No Reovery, No Charge

We recover data from the majority of media we recieve and have confidence in our staff and tools, which is why we only charge if we can recovery some data. If you would like to send media in to us for recovery then please visit the HelpDesk and create a ticket. We will use the ticket system to keep you updated during the recovery process. If you would rather discuss your needs before sending in media then use the Contact Us form and we'll give you a call right back. 

If you require Emergency Support then this can be accessed HERE

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