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Recovering Data from USB Storage Devices

Written by James Walsh
Thursday, 07 June 2007
Top government officials in Holland came under a fire when an Intelligence Services Officer misplaced a USB drive with security codes on it. The LA Times reported that a flash drive was being offered on sale for $40 outside the Bagram Airbase at Afghanistan. It contained details of Taliban and Al Qaeda strategies as reported by Afghan spies. A hospital nurse in London got sacked because he had lost patient account information stored on a USB drive. And in a survey done on the number of digital goods lost all over the world through sheer human carelessness, the USB came second only to the mobile phone. And in a survey done on the number of digital goods lost all over the world through sheer human carelessness, the USB came in second only to the mobile phone – which is lost in all the continents in overwhelming numbers. How does Data Loss Happen in USB Drives? Before we broach the topic of <a href="http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk">data recovery</a> from flash drives, it is important to know how data was lost from them in the first place. Each digital storage device, be it the hard disk or the floppy, has two kinds of vulnerability when it comes to data security. Firstly, there are certain broad dangers that haunt digital technology in general, and come as an added disadvantage with all formats that use it. Apart from this, there are generic defects/disadvantages of each form of digital storage that is peculiar to it. Going by this logic, the following points explain the average dangers that the USB drive has, like all other digital media. · Virus Contamination: Data loss through virus attack is one of the most common threats faced by everyone who uses some format of digital media. Obtaining intermediate downloads of music and picture is a common way in which viruses can come in from the internet and infect the disk.· Data loss through overwriting or accidental erasure: This is another typical way in which data disappears from all digital media. Unfortunately, the USB being quite small in memory size, overwriting can become a serious threat if the file is fragmented too much.· Physical damage: All digital media can lose data through fire, water and shock. The USB drive has the disadvantage of being tiny and delicate, but at the same time it has two distinct advantages. Firstly, it does not contain any moving parts, and secondly, the protective plastic covering shields it against dust, humidity and, according to some companies, water. One manufacturer has claimed that their plastic is totally waterproof – but it is generally considered a bad idea to drop your pen drive into a glass of water. Now we can come to those methods by which data loss happens particularly for the USB device. · Physical misplacement: The very convenience of being a tiny and handy device has proved to be its greatest danger. People forget their pen drives everywhere – dropping them, leaving them attached to a computer, not realising when it falls out of the pocket. Extremely confidential data may also be lost in the way. The USB memory stick has more space than the floppy or CD. As a result, people often can transfer large chunks of data in it – and then lose it all by physically misplacing the tiny object. · Corruption through faulty mounting: Users often do not take adequate care while removing or plugging in a USB device. · Read-only USB drives: Some USB drives come with a switch that can transform it into a read-only device, thereby preventing viruses from coming in from the infected computer to which it is attached. However, most drives do not have this inbuilt option Methods of Recovery There are basically four options left to the user who has lost data from a flash drive. · Avoid physical loss of the pen drive. Many disks come attached with key rings and chains. One may hang it around the neck or attach it with the belt, but chances of leaving it behind are lessened if it is carried on person.· No confidential data should be shared on a USB disk. This is, of course, a bad idea. But one should make sure that the USB is not the only copy of any data – backup is a must.· There are encryption tools that can ‘lock’ data by setting a password. These can be bought or downloaded.· If all the above methods have failed, it is time to call a data recovery company. There are several of them all over the UK, and they can be contacted through e-mail and phone. If the data lost is really precious, then it is better not to take a risk and hand it over to them. For more information on Data Recovery see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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