Oftentimes we’re presented with cases where it’s crucial to recover data and records from electronic devices; usually, it’s a client who needs to find out what internet activity is happening in their home. Maybe there are other users in the house accessing certain content. How do you find this information? In many cases, the router itself has retained some of that information.
Here’s a story from the New York Post, where a person purchased a used router from Goodwill. When they looked inside, they found all kinds of records from the previous user of the device. Let’s take a look at what was there…
In this case, the previous owner’s files dated all the way back to 2010. Instead of just one backup, there was a whole list of backups. The buyer ended up contacting the prior owner to let them know what they found. They found credit card numbers, flight information, bank account numbers, life insurance balances, and even photos from emails that were sent through the device.
So if you have records that you need to recover from prior internet use, you may find that your router or other devices will retain certain records that may be useful. Sometimes they’ll retain internet traffic, email and communication history, cookie information, search queries, etc. Electronic devices are a treasure trove of internet data to get records for a court case, fraud investigation, or another type of case that requires this type of information.
Wanted: The Truth
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