Quick question!

[Haz222]

If I delete a file off my computer, am I still legally in possession of that file?

It's just something I've always wondered... :-)

[Axw_JD]

since it can most likely still be recovered, yeah.

That's why you should download or accept anything illegal ;)

[jacktheawesome]

Yes u r

[TheMatrix]

To truly remove it you would need to use a disk eraser(a software program and not a magnet :P) to prevent recovery using data forensics tools. There was some bloatware installed on my Windows computer that claimed to do that, maybe there is on yours, too.

Of course, it can probably be traced back to you, just like if you rob a bank but give somebody else the money. Just because you got rid of it doesn't mean that you can get away with it. It may not be in your possession, but you still had to do with it.

[FantaSauce]

To truly remove it you would need to use a disk eraser(a software program and not a magnet :P) to prevent recovery using data forensics tools. There was some bloatware installed on my Windows computer that claimed to do that, maybe there is on yours, too.

Of course, it can probably be traced back to you, just like if you rob a bank but give somebody else the money. Just because you got rid of it doesn't mean that you can get away with it. It may not be in your possession, but you still had to do with it.

If you use something like a disc scrubber there is not really any trace left at the point.

To truly truly get rid of a file you need to delete it and then overwrite it about 27 times, This means that you save a file in the location that it was previously held by.
I had a memory stick that i used to use to watch pirated films on my Xbox, Then i stopped using it for that and only used it for data transfer between my laptop and computer for about a year.

I recently began a university course in Forensic Computing and this is the kind of stuff we are looking at using £3500, $5000 Software for a single License, And i put my memory stick in there and saw what came up, The filename of every file that have ever been put on there had come up even though i'd deleted them all, also i'd Windows Formatted it.

You're not legally in possession of the file but if it's recovered it proves that you WERE legally in possession of it, and that is an indictable (Prison sentence) offence, The things most commonly with this are stuff like CP, Snuff, Blackmail, Bestiality and any other Serious computer crime.

Also slightly off topic but sort of relevant to the serious crime, If you ever have any images that relate to the above "Serious Crimes" and don't report it to the police, Say you stumble onto it on a Hidden part of a website or deeb-web, Then you are just as liable as the next person for owning that content.

I hope this was indepth enough for you if you have any questions please let me know and i'll do my best to answer them for you :)

(Source, 1 Year of University + A lecturer who has been doing this for over 10 years as a job)

[TheMatrix]

If you use something like a disc scrubber there is not really any trace left at the point.
Yes, but that's destroying the evidence. Imagine a museum robbery. You may have smashed that rare vase to bits("scrubbing" the disk) when you learned they were coming for you, but that still doesn't change the fact that maybe somebody saw you steal it(like your ISP). And witness testimony does play a role in it. You're in a forensics class, you should know that.

To truly truly get rid of a file you need to delete it and then overwrite it about 27 times, This means that you save a file in the location that it was previously held by.


That only works if you get the exact same part of the hard drive. And there is not necessarily a promise of that(I don't know much about file systems, but it can save to a variety of different places on your disk, physically I mean).

[FantaSauce]

Unless you are caught in possession of the file then there is no proof, even if someone sees you download it, How do they know that it was YOU on the computer at the time.

And yeah i know that's how the overwrite works,

[TheMatrix]

Unless you are caught in possession of the file then there is no proof, even if someone sees you download it, How do they know that it was YOU on the computer at the time.

Well, it was your internet connection, so try to prove it wasn't you, first. And unfortunately, the rising trend seems to be "guilty until proven innocent".

You might have already noticed, but school is always some sort of ideal situation, whether that is in the many college courses or even high school.
Presumably you have scenarios and mock cases in your textbook. But for some reason they always have some sort of conclusion that is easy. But the real world is not like that. Criminals usually don't want to be caught. And you may very well be going in circles, taking a long time before you just decide somebody guilty. But they don't put any of that in textbooks, as you could very well write an entire book on that itself!

If it has been decided that you are guilty, what can you do? Not much, it would seem.

[FantaSauce]

Well, it was your internet connection, so try to prove it wasn't you, first. And unfortunately, the rising trend seems to be "guilty until proven innocent".

You might have already noticed, but school is always some sort of ideal situation, whether that is in the many college courses or even high school.
Presumably you have scenarios and mock cases in your textbook. But for some reason they always have some sort of conclusion that is easy. But the real world is not like that. Criminals usually don't want to be caught. And you may very well be going in circles, taking a long time before you just decide somebody guilty. But they don't put any of that in textbooks, as you could very well write an entire book on that itself!

If it has been decided that you are guilty, what can you do? Not much, it would seem.


Untrue, To prove that the person had control of the file you have to use a software such as Encase or Forensic Toolkit that has been approved for use in law by a committee.

This generates a report of hidden files that you might find and anything of interest. Internet records are not indictable as they don't prove anything since it can be any machine on a network. Especially if it's unsecured.