Data Recovery and File Carving

The Advantages using File Carving in Data Recovery

File or data carving is a term used in the field of Cyber Forensics. Cyber forensics is the process of acquisition, authentication, analysis, and documentation of evidence extracted from and/or contained in a computer system, computer network, and digital media. Extracting data (file) out of undifferentiated blocks (raw data) is called ‘carving’. Identifying and recovering files based on analysis of file formats is known as file carving. In Cyber Forensics, carving is a helpful technique in finding hidden or deleted files from digital media. A file can be hidden in areas like lost clusters, unallocated clusters, and slack space of the disk or digital media. To use this method of extraction, a file should have a standard file signature called a file header (start of the file). A search is performed to locate the file header and continued until the file footer (end of the file) is reached. The data between these two points will be extracted and analyzed to validate the file. The extraction algorithm uses different methods of carving depending on the file formats.

How is it different from Automated Recovery Software?

Such Techniques are different, we can remotely attach to a machine and perform sophisticated analysis using these carving techniques attempting to recover lost data, even if they are completely deleted. It is important to get in touch with us before you start using your machine, when you delete something, it’s still there, the way Operating System works, is it informs that this file is deleted, but in the raw sector, it is still there, and the more you use the machine, the more it will overwrite the data, which then starts to be lost within the cluster.

It is also important to understand that not all data can be recovered, and if the hard drive still works physically, such as spindle works, but is not detected, we can still be able to try and recover lost files. It also could be that, even if recovery is attempted, it could be permanently damaged. 

Data Recovery and File Carving are ideal for analyzing the possibility of restoring deleted data from SmartPhones, Memory Cards, Pcs, Notebooks, Servers.