Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
More.complex.encryption.schemes.can.be.extremely.dif-
icult.or.even.impossible.to.break.through..Again,.there.are.
tools. that. your. friendly. neighborhood. computer. forensics.
expert.will.have.that.will.make.the.cracking.of.dificult.pass-
words.possible..But.even.they.can.fail.at.times,.and.often.it.
can.be.a.very.long.and.complicated.process.
Encrypted.data.can.be.a.real.problem.if.the.data.are.rel-
evant.to.a.case.or.necessary.for.some.project.you.are.work-
ing.on..If.you.have.no.way.to.gain.access.to.that.data,.you.
might. have. to. declare. it. not. reasonably. accessible. and. look.
for.other.ways.and.places.to.gather.the.electronic.evidence.
you.require.
5.2.4 Deleted or Corrupted Data
Of.course,.any.data.can.be.deleted.by.accident,.or.in.some.
cases.simply.corrupted.so.that.it.is.no.longer.accessible.by.the.
applications.or.computer.operating.system.
Whenever.someone.deletes.a.ile.on.a.computer,.the.oper-
ating. system. makes. a. small. change. to. the. data. that. makes.
up.that.ile,.basically.placing.a.lag.consisting.of.a.couple.of.
bits.of.information.at.the.beginning.of.the.bits.and.bytes.that.
make. up. that. ile.. That. lag. tells. the. operating. system. (and.
any.application.that.interfaces.with.it).that.this.storage.space.
is.available.and.that.the.information.stored.here.can.be.writ-
ten.over.with.new.data.whenever.the.space.it.is.using.on.the.
electronic.storage.device.is.needed.
Sometimes.due.to.a.problem.with.the.operating.system,.
a.virus,.or.something.wrong.in.an.application,.some.of.those.
bits.and.bytes.that.make.up.a.ile.or.other.piece.of.informa-
tion.can.be.destroyed,.changed,.or.moved.out.of.sync.with.
the. rest. of. the. ile.. This. can. make. that. data. unreadable. or.
inaccessible.by.the.application.that.created.it..This.is.called.
corruption.of.the.ile.
In.both.of.those.cases.what.is.important.to.understand.is.
that.most.often.a.large.part.of.the.data.is.still.intact.and.still.
available.if.you.have.the.tools.and.skills.to.ind.it..The.bits.and.
