http://emergentchaos.com/archives/2008/01/how-taxing-is-it-to-read-a-tape.html The Emergent Chaos Jazz Combo Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:20:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://emergentchaos.com/archives/2008/01/how-taxing-is-it-to-read-a-tape.html/comment-page-1#comment-4273 rybolov Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:57:54 +0000 http://emergentchaos.com/?p=2616#comment-4273 Hi Adam It depends on how old the tape is--the older it is, the less chance you have of being able to read it. Truth be told, I found a DLT in my building lobby and did not successfully identify the owner of the tape, even though we tried to read it--after a dozen man-hours, we had reached the point of diminishing returns. Just because you have a mysterious tape doesn't mean you have either the right version of equipment (DLT-IV v/s DAT) nor the right version/kind (NetBackup v/s Backup.exe) of backup software nor the right application (MS Word v/s binary backup of Oracle data) to read it. I think the key is that it's hard for the average person to read tapes if they found/stole them, but for a moderately-large organization/attacker, it's possible. Hi Adam
It depends on how old the tape is–the older it is, the less chance you have of being able to read it. Truth be told, I found a DLT in my building lobby and did not successfully identify the owner of the tape, even though we tried to read it–after a dozen man-hours, we had reached the point of diminishing returns.
Just because you have a mysterious tape doesn’t mean you have either the right version of equipment (DLT-IV v/s DAT) nor the right version/kind (NetBackup v/s Backup.exe) of backup software nor the right application (MS Word v/s binary backup of Oracle data) to read it.
I think the key is that it’s hard for the average person to read tapes if they found/stole them, but for a moderately-large organization/attacker, it’s possible.

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