According to a friend in Federal LE, under the right circumstances they can recover portions of data from a CD or DVD. What those circumstances are and what tools they use I couldn't find out. HDDs are a little different. If the platter has been dinged, dented, scratched, touched, or anything of that sort, it is highly unlikely that you will ever be able to get anything off of it. So to solve that, I just use HDDs for target practice. Plenty of dirt, lead, and dings to keep everything out of someone elses hands. And they're very resilient, which means you can hit them multiple times!  

I now understand better. However, if "... you have to break DVDs in smaller pieces as a DVD fragment the same size you used to break CD's into may contain as much as 13 times the amount of information than a CD fragment." then I do not understand why are not at least a few reports of DVD fragments recovering, being at least 13 times easier to get data from them than from a CD.  

Last edited by williamsonn on Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

Or said more correctly: Not 13 times easier(as if there are no report then I suppose the difficulty has to be the same)but containing a DVD much more density of information perhaps I think it shoud be easier to recover data.  

I guess we are speaking two too different languages.

Information on DVD is "more densely written" than on CD's.

Reading smaller characters is more difficult than reading BIG ONES.

And we do not have even a single valid report of anyone actually reading data from a broken CD (i.e. written in easier to read characters).

When we will have one, then the technique applied may possibly be refined, bettered, made more accurate, so that even smaller characters could be read.


@sgreene2991
Well, the Fed's can also (or are sometimes cited as being able to) decrypt *any* encrypted hard disk:
www.wired.com/threatle...ap-mooted/
or maybe not:
www.theblaze.com/stori...ard-drive/

Some progresses must have been made since 2010:
www.theregister.co.uk/..._lock_out/



jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. - 

ABSOLUTELY clear now, jaclaz. Thanks  

I popped some corn and sat back in my easy chair to read this thread, instead of watching Alan Cumming introduce another fine Masterpiece Theater offering.

Solid performance from jaclaz...though, I must say that I was disappointed that the chase scene and subsequent shootout was cut short. When is the next episode airing?  

- csericks

Soliid performance from jaclaz...though, I must say that I was disappointed that the chase scene and subsequent shootout was cut short. When is the next episode airing?

If I were you, I would keep an eye on this one :
www.forensicfocus.com/...ic/t=9821/
it has all the pre-requisites to develop into .....

jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. -