jacobroecker
February 8th, 2009, 01:42 PM
Ok this one has got my head hurting. I've got a rather nice computer from my neighbour who had a bit of a security issue right before it died. She wanted me to get the files off the machine, fix it up (install linux) and let her use it for her boys.
Ok, cool. Not the first time I've done something like this. So I start by loading the 8.10 CD in live mode so I can pull the files of the HD and onto an external. Once on the external I figured I'd just go ahead and scan them to clean them for bugs.
The Hard Drive wouldn't mount.
So it's got two drives. I'll install Ubuntu on the nearly empty drive and then be able to mount the other one.
The install wouldn't take on the secondary hard drive.
So I figured I'd just ignore the fact that I cared about her files, tell her there was no hope to save them, and install Ubuntu on the primary drive.
The install wouldn't take on the primary drive either.
So, I've never seen anything like this before. This is an area of computing that I need some help with. Her computer was obviously compromised. At 3:00am of the last day it was working someone was using her bank information to withdraw all the money from her account. Then "magically" both hard drives stopped working.
Can someone write a 'virus' or other bug to permanently damage the hard disks? It's just a little suspicious to me that both hard drives died at the exact same time, and that both are now 'beyond repair.'
I'd appreciate knowing if security issues like this are real, and I'd appreciate any advice on how to move forward before I just go find another hard drive and stick the thing in there.
Please advise.
-Jacob
Ok, cool. Not the first time I've done something like this. So I start by loading the 8.10 CD in live mode so I can pull the files of the HD and onto an external. Once on the external I figured I'd just go ahead and scan them to clean them for bugs.
The Hard Drive wouldn't mount.
So it's got two drives. I'll install Ubuntu on the nearly empty drive and then be able to mount the other one.
The install wouldn't take on the secondary hard drive.
So I figured I'd just ignore the fact that I cared about her files, tell her there was no hope to save them, and install Ubuntu on the primary drive.
The install wouldn't take on the primary drive either.
So, I've never seen anything like this before. This is an area of computing that I need some help with. Her computer was obviously compromised. At 3:00am of the last day it was working someone was using her bank information to withdraw all the money from her account. Then "magically" both hard drives stopped working.
Can someone write a 'virus' or other bug to permanently damage the hard disks? It's just a little suspicious to me that both hard drives died at the exact same time, and that both are now 'beyond repair.'
I'd appreciate knowing if security issues like this are real, and I'd appreciate any advice on how to move forward before I just go find another hard drive and stick the thing in there.
Please advise.
-Jacob