Hi Friends
Hope you all are fine , Take Care.

DUe to physical restrictions due to covid and to tap larger geographical area , I am planning to start remote recovery services.
Initially it will be restricted to simpler cases only.
I want to know how it is done. Some of the softwares offer client / server options but client is to be installed on customers end.
This will reveal which software we are using and today"s smart customers will easily bypass us.
I want a solution which will blackout customers display and can treat remote storage as local one.
Option to create encrypted bit stream image of source (typically I am going to start this for memory cards & pen drives).
Recovered data will be kept on encrypted folder but we should be able to create list and see preview.
Against customer approval and payment we should be able to decrypt it.
Some advanced features like storing image on our PC will have lot of advantages as we can do multiple tests.If interrupted due to link failure , program should resume cloning from where it has stopped.
Is anyone offering this type of service.
Thanks

What you want sounds a bit like ransomware

I recover data from memory cards and pendrive images on a regular basis. After I explain client how to create the image file just by writing down simple instructions or showing in a video, they send me image file and I get to work. I suppose I could also do it for them using TV or similar.

This requires non of the complex and probably expensive solutions you desire and does not make it appear of me taking over their PC, which to me sounds some thing I would not want, and certainly not for recovering data from a pendrive.

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Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

TV and Anydesk can black client's monitor, BUT I suggest you reconsider taking over their computer or copying their files on your PC because this could be illegal (depends on the country/zone) and it's definitely not GDPR compliant

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http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

terminator2,
Don't waste your time. Many have tried-remote data recovery business. It practically doesn't work because of a bunch of reasons. It doesn't even make sense to list them. Therefore, it is better to immediately build a classic scheme.

Hi guys
Thanks for expressing your views.
Here is my take further for this discussion.

1) It is illegal to take control of someone's pc without his knowledge and permission.
2) However if customer wants his media to get analyzed remotely then GDPR compliance does not come into picture. If that is the case then remote service provider companies wouldn't have thrived. Just check with "Team Viewer" , how it has grown.
3) Millions of system admins , tech support peoples are using remote session for diagnostics , driver installation etc. There is no question of legitimity
in this. If this is so why microsoft has included it in every windows ?
Arch Stanton is microsoft also operating ransomware business since it has remote desktop embedded ?
4) VNC and many other companies are giving service to large enterprise customers for decades now.
5) Due to covid concerns its not possible to bring media to lab now a days.
6) Consider this case ---
You got a call for Memory card /pen drive Recovery. Customer is located 500 Kms away . In remote session we can get sector view of the device and conclude whether this is plain logical corruption or electronic failure saving clients 1000 Km journey,
7) Many companies in europe / USA are offering professional remote recovery services.
My required features are already there in winhex forensic version which is too costly.If it was illgeal then why it is part of such old and respected forensic software ?

In some countries where recovery costs are too low as compared to europe /usa ( typically $25 to $100 max) Its impossible for clients to visit lab nor its affordable for labs.
Like northwind said using TV and blakening screen is partial solution.
Ontrack is offering remote recovery besdies ace in all over usa.

Did you notice the

For the rest I didn't say it's illegal or anything, the legal arguments seem far fetched to me, I just said I do a similar thing but I just don't refer to it as remote data recovery. If someone wants me to do a logical data recovery from memory card or USB thumbdrive then all I need is the drive image. I already said, that I simply explain them how do create that, and also that I suppose I could do it for them using TV. But once I have the drive image I can run whatever software is needed. I make recovered data available using Google Drive.

In essence I see no difference in what you intend to offer, so all I was wondering is if you'd need all that complexity and overhead.

Indeed Windows itself has everything on board to become the most effective ransomware ever

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Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

Yes agree

I am getting lots of issues in convincing customer about imaging.
Particularly sensitive cases like survillience disk must be forensically imaged first.
However to cut costs customers often insist to work directly on crashed disk which is not professional.
Is there any compliance terms for data recovery in GDPR or with NIST or else where.
In short is there any universal data recovery policy framework of international standards which we can point out to customer.
We can defend that we work as per XXXX protocols and standards and as per them ,disk cloning is a must.

Why are you offering the customer this as an acceptable solution? This would appear to be a communication and understanding issue between your business and your customer rather than a technical one.

GDPR is designed around the protection of personal data, the emphasis is on your business to ensure any processing (which is a broad term) of personal data is compliant , there are no requirements for a data subject themselves, however if you are processing personal data of others and it's likely in a business to business situation you will be, your client needs to ensure you comply with GDPR. GDPR is an absolute nightmare.

I may be completely wrong but reading the thread it would appear you are concerned that if you use, for example r-studio to recover the clients data and the client is able to see this, they will simply buy a license for r-studio and do the recovery themselves and you will have lost the work.

If this is the case then you need to look at your business model - in todays environment information and tools are readily available to the end user, because they can buy a wrench they don't automatically become a mechanic.

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Data Recovery Services in the UK.
https://www.usbrecovery.co.uk/

Hi Lardman
Actually I have nothing to do with GDPR as I don't operate in europe . I was keen to know whether there is any standards in Data Recovery services .
A framework which is authorised by international agency or any respected national agency like NIST etc.
for example while giving data sanitization service we often refer to standards like DoD 5220.22 -M etc.
some times corporate customers ask about details of the process done ,we can claim we adhere is so and so standards.
Sometime back there was some organization who used to certify data recovery business based on there skills ,infrastructure and other criteria.
I was looking for a such kind of thing.

I am not aware of any professional regulatory body or association, but some of the larger training organisation do offer accreditation to their standards.

I'm not sure recovery could even be covered like that, some of the unconventional things we do to get data from a drive Over here parts are covered by legislation such as the data protection act / GDPR and there are other frameworks such as ISO 9002 and Cyberessentials which more corporate clients may want the flags waved about.

If you're working with a more forensics bias it probably best to discuss any legal requirements with the client or a solicitor as they're probably going to be regional/nation.

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Data Recovery Services in the UK.
https://www.usbrecovery.co.uk/

This is going nowhere.

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Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

Most of my remote recovery support has been limited to assisting other data recovery labs with PC3000 or MRT, with the odd case where I've recovered some stuff off of an external drive. I also connect into client systems after they get their data back to assist them on locating their files on the destination media.

The challenge with offering professional data recovery remotely, it requires a stable and relatively healthy patient drive. Best practices requires we get a full clone of the drive and then recover the data from the clone.

Basically, the only things that can be done safely remotely are those things that the end user could do themselves with most data recovery software for less than $100. The only exception might be handling a RAID recovery, which might be too complex for an end user to figure out.

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

This association was present long back , in fact Data Recovery association related thread is also present in our forum .
But this seems not working now.
Thanks all of you for expressing your views.

You may also find reference to "Global data recovery alliance" I know at least 1 UK based site claims to be a founding member. They're to my knowledge just membership schemes.

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Data Recovery Services in the UK.
https://www.usbrecovery.co.uk/