NFW.

I'd build a new machine from scratch, at a different datacenter, using pristine code and data from backups.

Once a machine has been in an adversary's possession, not even the data is safe.

That said, the FBI probably just imaged the drives. They're not as clueful/devious as many think they are.

>> "That said, the FBI probably just imaged the drives. They're not as clueful/devious as many think they are."

I would agree, but it also doesn't seem like some kind of act of charity that they plugged the thing in and tried to reconnect it and made sure it was apparently working before they left.

They do hire clueful contractors once in a while.

Correct. But the guys were probably Special Agents and were from the data forensics group that are recruited into the DoJ specifically for their IT skills.

It's also possible that there was a Special Agent + Contractor team working.

BTW, they are probably not very happy that video evidence of their activities was captured and published. Don't look for them to make that mistake again.

They are doing something like that, but auditing the machine first to see if they can get any information on why the FBI returned it so quickly.

At least keep it around in a closet somewhere--at some point in the future it might be fun to play with whatever nasties are on it.