File Recovery
Restoring Deleted Files in Linux
© Gernot Krautberger, Fotolia
If you thought that you couldn’t restore deleted files in Linux, you didn’t get the whole truth. The truth will set you free and possibly recover those deleted files.
Special Thanks: This article was made possible by support from Linux Professional Institute
It is common knowledge that once you remove a file on a *nix filesystem, it’s gone—gone forever, and you can’t get it back. Well, that’s not exactly true anymore, and I’m not 100 percent convinced that it ever was true, but that’s a whole separate discussion. There are some effective methods for recovering files on all filesystems, including *nix ones. This article covers one of the methods using the forensics tool, Foremost. That’s right, we have to turn to one of the “pro” methods for restoring files. Foremost can restore certain files based on their headers, footers, and data structures. Foremost is a forensics tool used by law enforcement to restore deleted files, but it is freely available for anyone to use.
Foremost restores a somewhat limited list of files that includes some document types, zipped files, sound files, graphics images, C source, OLE files, and some movie formats. These types of files are the ones that are most targeted by law enforcement and associated with illegal activity.
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