“FBI Says Data on VA Laptop Not Accessed”

by Walter Olson on June 30, 2006

“Social Security numbers and other personal data on 26.5 million veterans and military troops were not copied from a Veterans Affairs computer missing for eight weeks, the FBI said Thursday.” Which of course means the lawsuits will now be dropped. Right? (Hope Yen, AP/ABCNews.com, Jun. 29). Earlier: Jun. 26.

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{ 3 comments }

1 markm 06.30.06 at 1:03 pm

How would the FBI know? Copying files does not leave tracks.

2 billb 06.30.06 at 2:47 pm

Sure it does. Every modern filesystem records creation, modification, and last-access time for every file and folder. If the access time for the file is before the date of disappearance, odds are at least reasonable that the file hasn’t been copied. Someone who knows what they’re doing can reset these times to anything they want, but that can leave a trace, too.

Depending on the OS, and method of copying, there are other traces left by the copying process.

3 Glenn Tomlinson 06.30.06 at 6:12 pm

Cloning a drive doesn’t leave a trace. I can then work on MY copy any way I want.

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