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Commodore 64 Confuses Austrian Police

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the at-least-it-wasn't-a-trash-80 dept.

toomanyairmiles writes, "It seems that Wolfgang Priklopil, the communications technician who kidnapped Austrian pre-teen Natascha Kampusch, relied on a Commodore 64 as his primary machine. Interestingly this is presenting some problems to the Austrian computer forensics people. Major General Gerhard Lang of the Federal Criminal Investigations Bureau told reporters it would 'complicate investigators' efforts' and would be difficult to transfer the files to modern computers 'without loss.' Could this be the latest in the criminal world's security strategy? Can we expect to see Spectrums, Archimedes, and Atari STs turning up in police investigations soon?"

4 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why go that far? by iluvcapra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Quickly becoming a meme:

    Only a terrorist wouldn't use Windows.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
  2. Re:Question by MyNameIsFred · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ... but to say that it would be difficult to transfer files "without loss" is disingenuous at best...
    I assume that Austrian law requires some sort of chain of custody for evidence similar to that required under American law. Thus, the transfer is probably difficult because they do not have "certified tools" for the transfer. In the US, it is my understanding that simply copying the files with the copy command is not sufficient. That defense lawyers can question how the transfer was made, whether the copy is an accurate representation of the original, etc. I presume similar problems under Austrian law.
  3. missing the point by dirtyhippie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article, and most of these comments, are missing the point. The point isn't that you can't get the data off the hard drive - the investigators aren't that stupid - it's that they can't get previoiusly deleted or overwritten files off the hard drive using their standard techniques, because there is no way to image both a drive and the magnetic clues that these folks use.

  4. Re:Question by Arakageeta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The guy kidnapped a little girl and kept her for 8 years. He's obviously a nut case. I don't think you can back his choice to use a Commodore 64 with reason.