1) (9 pts.): Find the detailed technical specifications for a commercial hard dr
ID: 645016 • Letter: 1
Question
1) (9 pts.): Find the detailed technical specifications for a commercial hard drive. The specifications will identify a precise minimum or total amount of storage provided on the hard drive. Using this information, report the following:
a) The hard drive's advertised size in bytes
b) The exact, or minimum number of bytes of storage actually provided by the hard drive
c) The number of bytes of the power of two, or small multiple of power of two, that is closest to the hard drive's advertised size
2) (10 pts.): Search the Internet for a description of a court action whose decision affected how computer equipment and information may be used as evidence. Describe the legal problem and the court's decision.
Explanation / Answer
1) The table below shows the list of the amount of storage space provided on the hard drive and the actual space provided.
This is because a manufacturer considers 1 Megabyte to be 1000 Kilobytes, 1 Gigabyte to be 1000 Megabytes, 1 Terabyte to be 1000 Gigabytes and so on. This is correct considering that kilo means 1000 and mega means 1000000 (10^6). However, computers calculate on base 2 and to them, 1 MB is actually 1024 kilobytes, 1GB is 1024MB and 1 TB is 1024GB. This difference in the method of computation is responsible for this "missing space."
Lets take an example of a 500 GB hard disk.
From a manufacturer's point of view, the 500GB will have 500*1000*1000*1000 = 500000000000 bytes.
From a computer's point of view, 500GB is actually 500*1024*1024*1024 = 536870912000 bytes.
So, a hard drive that promises to have 500 GB storage space will actually display 465.66GB, 536870912000-500000000000 = 36870912000 bytes (34.34GB) less storage space when connected to a computer.
2) The ability to convince the court that digital evidence is worthy of reception into the criminal process is dependent on the qualifications and competence of the tendered expert, the skill and knowledge of the prosecutor in leading such evidence and the quality of the digital evidence itself. Digital evidence has been successfully led in many jurisdictions in the United States and Canada over the past decade.
New scientific techniques are subject to admissibility hearings under Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (1923, D.C. Circuit Court) or the more restrictive federal test in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., 113 S. Ct. 2786 (1993, United States Supreme Court). The Daubert test is being utilized in a number of state jurisdictions as well.
A review of case law dealing with digital evidence is instructive.
Case Law Review
English v. State of Georgia, 422 S.E.2d 924 (September 28, 1992, Court of Appeals of Georgia)
Facts
An undercover agent videotaped a cocaine sale. The videotape was digitized and images of the defendant were subjected to
Space Promised Displayed on a computer Difference 100GB 93.13GB 6.87GB 250GB 232.83GB 17.17GB 500GB 465.66GB 34.34GB 1TB 931.32GB 92.68GB 2TB 1862.64GB 185.36GBRelated Questions
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