Reply #16: Not necessarily [View All]

[Tiberius]

I'm in IT, and a normal system, implemented in a normal way, will have emails retained at a number of different points along the way (backups, hard drives, etc.).

It would be possible, however, to design a system in such a way that you electronically "shred" emails after a certain period, you make sure you don't send backup tapes off site, or you don't do backups at all.

Upon an investigation, you can have a sudden server crash, made to look legitimate, when in reality it was caused by someone wanting to cover their tracks.

Bottom line - if the system was designed with these protections in mind, it certainly is possible to make email disappear. The old adage that email "never really disappears" only applies to the standard implementation of the infrastructure, such as in a corporate environment.