The 2008 Australian study of remnant data contained on 2nd hand hard disks: the saga continues

This study looked for remnant data on enterprise level hard drives that were purchased through auctions. The drives were analysed for information, be it topical or formatted. In the event that drives were formatted, forensic tools were used to recover this data. This years study revealed a high level of not simply un-erased drives, but drives which contained information that related to critical infrastructure providers. That such a small sample size yielded such a high rate of un-erased drives is of considerable concern, and it may be necessary for the government to become involved.

[1]  Craig Valli,et al.  An investigation into the efficiency of forensic erasure tools for hard disk mechanisms , 2005, Australian Computer, Network & Information Forensics Conference.

[2]  Craig Valli,et al.  A UK and Australian Study of Hard Disk Disposal , 2005, Australian Computer, Network & Information Forensics Conference.

[3]  Craig Valli,et al.  Oops they did it again: The 2007 Australian study of remnant data contained on 2nd hand hard disks , 2007 .

[4]  Craig Valli,et al.  The 2006 Analysis of Information Remaining on Disks Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market , 2006, J. Digit. Forensics Secur. Law.