A Critical Evaluation of the Treatment of Deleted Files in Microsoft Windows Operation Systems

Recent discourse regarding security vulnerabilities within Microsoft Windows® operating systems has called for the removal of these vulnerabilities. Perceived security weaknesses within these operating systems typically involve computer system intrusion or data storage security. This paper calls attention to conflicting normative values regarding the concept of secure data storage. A perceived security risk is associated with the file management system's policy of allowing deleted data to remain intact. Some argue that lingering traces associated with deleted files should not exist. An alternative view perceives usefulness from the ability to retrieve accidentally deleted data. This view is also held from within the forensic computer science field. This presents a dilemma for software designers seeking to provide operating systems that meet the security desires of society. This paper discusses arguments of these conflicting views, and it encourages more research to provide a foundation on which to base suggestions to resolve this quandary.