Residual Data is data that is unintentionally left behind on
computer media. In forensic usage, remnant data is typically
left behind after attempts have been made to delete the data,
after the data has been forgotten, or after the media on which
the data resides has been decomissioned. Residual data appears
at all levels of modern computer systems: - Computer systems
that are discarded. - Partitions in hard drives that are
deleted. - Files on hard drives that are deleted but not
overwritten. - Snippets of text in Microsoft Word files. - Heap
variables that are freed with free() - Automatic variables left
on the stack of languages like C or garbage collected in
languages like Java. Byers, Simon. Scalable Exploitation of, and
Responses to Information Leakage Through Hidden Data in
Published Documents, AT&T Research, April 2003 Chow, J., B.
Pfaff, T. Garfinkel, K. Christopher, M. Rosenblum, Understanding
Data Lifetime via Whole System Simulation, Proceedings of the
13th USENIX Security Symposium, 2004. Garfinke