Um...if for some reason the scheduled system backup failed and no one checked it to make sure, they could have assumed there was a good backup and just told Hitachi they had one. Then when they went to restore...OOPS!

So much for QA, huh? lol

Sounds like someone is in a mad rush to find a scapegoat quick...no matter how convoluted it sounds. I'm surprised they have not blamed this on terrorism.

Just accept the blame and bend over.

A program that wiped all their off-site tapes (presuming they had any)? That's some program.

I read the full article on Apple Insider, interesting read. The real problem is that Danger was running Linux/Oracle due to contractual obligations with T-Mobile. Apparently Microsoft's Forensic Team has 0 experience in that department and can't track down what really happened.

Overall the management setup between Danger/Microsoft/T-Mobile was just a mess waiting to happen.

Seemed to work to my advantage...got my wife out of the TMobile contract she was in WITHOUT PENALTIES and got her on my plan (different carrier) due to this snafu.

AppleInsider cites a anonymous source that is saying "Sabotage!"?

Attacks made towards one of the iPhone's biggest competitors, the Sidekick?

Sounds like this is one for the Jobs Mob conspiracy buffs.

I smell a created scapegoat to take the fall for Danger's/MS's upgrade screw-up.

(I am not saying the story is true, but...)

I work in IT dealing with the daily backups (and restores) of data for a mid-sized company. The story could be true if the following were true in their enterprise:

1. Their backup software resides on the same SAN as the actual data. (Very plausible.) This would erase the "catalog of backups" and the actual backup program at the same time as the data. (Formating an entire corporate SAN is NEVER done.) If backups of the backup software's catalog were not done correctly, or if paper/other records of these backups were not kept, then trial-and-error of "which tape to use" would be the only solution to get the data back.

2. Same situation as above, with the data and backup catalog being deleted/corrupted at the same time, but this time the "former employee" at Danger was the Backup Administrator. Due to his/her position, he could easily have destroyed/corrupted all records of the backups. (This could have been done manually... OR... as the suggestion states, with a time bomb program.) Again, paper (or other electronic records, such as emails to multiple parties), are the only solution to correct this one.

In short, if Danger's corporate policy did not require more than one person to be involved in the backup process (even X years ago prior to the merger), and "other forms" of records were not the norm now, then this is plausible.

The fact that this story is coming from Apple Insider makes it more believable. Apple Insider isn't exactly known for unbiased articles why in the world would they write an article shifting the blame AWAY from Microsoft?

People actually read Apple Insider? It is the Fox News of technology!

Sidekick users should jump ship while T-Mobile is letting them break contract with no penalties and get a phone with local storage of user data.

incompetence of great enough scale is the same thing as sabotage

Uh oh, sabotage, must be the North Koreans again!

Undercover Apple "Genius" is definitely behind this...

I would believe this over them neglecting on doing a backup. I work for a hospital and before any type of system migration or upgrade backups are done and checked a few times before we go ahead with maintenance.

Ohhhh I can't stand it, I know you planned it!

...Beastie Boys know whats up

It could've been some rogue backup admin messed up with the backups. Microsoft should've tested the backups for validation.

maby their server is running Os X and they upgraded to Snow Leopard?

Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage.

"Man, I don't mean to rub it in, but Sidekick users must be getting more mad with each passing day."

More mad... Lol..

I call BS. It would be virtually impossible to destroy backup tapes with a worm unless they resided in a tape library and in that case incompetence is more to blame than sabotage. If they resided elsewhere, then they COULD be restored from, it might just take awhile. And if there were indeed no backups, then incompetence is almost completely at fault.

In any case, at least partial blame falls to the admins and their management.

(obviously the ISO/UDF DVD idea isn't going to get very far for a massive database.)

I have recovered data on erased raid arrays before. Where are the old drives? Even if formatted the data should be readable with the proper tools. ENcase for example.

Welcome to the Cloud everyone.

What if the backup administrator committed some crime that was caught and recorded with a Sidekick. So in order to cover is tracks he wipes out the whole system. Sounds like a TV show plot?

Do other mobile device providers keep a backdoor that could be exploited to perform an identical function? Think Amazon Kindle.

this is one of the reasons why i will never bother to buy digital files of movies or music or books.i know we are talking of a different thing in this post but the point is i want to make sure i own what i buy so if it is lost due to accident i wont lose my stuff.

and i do own a cellphone and use it as a phone.and all my contacts/numbers are backed up on a piece of physical paper.

remember to not trust to computers and back up your possesions.

I don't know about sabotage, but why would there be no backup at all? Seems very odd.

I'd venture somebody deep in IT had a serious porn collection or something else really weird (and massively illegal - like maybe some money transfer program that grabbed a penny from every financial transfer or message) hidden in the system files that would have left tracks and been discovered if it was erased deliberately and decided it was time to make it go away in a manner that could never be traced.

Let's see here... A microsoft issue, and an appleinsider expert. Yeah, I believe this 'report'

Didnt Steve Jobs just come back from an extended hiatus?

I bet he was working undercover at Danger the whole time.

Sneaky bugger.

Hey, Tina. You know that guy we laid off that fed the little square things that looked like tapes to the refrigerator looking thing? Yeah, um, do you thing HR might have his number still?