canaria (asker) Sep 9, 2010:

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions on this. Given the rest of the text, I share your opinion on the rather strange French.

Neil Coffey Sep 9, 2010:

Agree it's nonsense I essentially agree with Terry -- "clignotement de données" is just nonsense and I think it's time to stop trying to rationalise it and just go back to the client.

Terry Richards Sep 9, 2010:

Something not right here While it's theoretically possible to scramble data on an optical device with a bright enough light, why would anybody bother to break into an office and lug in the necessary equipment (which would not be small/light weight)? If all you want to do is scramble data, you can do a much more effective job with the aid of a simple, cheap and relatively light-weight hammer! The only reason to do it with light is so that the scrambling would be undetectable, in which case, the employee won't detect it!

In my opinion (based on 30 years in IT), the original French is what is scrambled here. It makes no sense whatsoever and you need to go back to the client for "clarification".

canaria (asker) Sep 8, 2010:

Ian, your suggestion seems feasible to me. Having said that, I'm almost completely devoid of knowledge in this field, hence the question!

Adam Warren Sep 8, 2010:

Could this refer to optical data? If so, exposing a CD-ROM or DVD to intense light (particularly UV) could damage the data imprint.

canaria (asker) Sep 8, 2010:

The subject matter is what an employee must do if his/her office computer has been tampered with during a robbery/break-in

Neil Coffey Sep 8, 2010:

"No context" I'm assuming there's *some* context -- what's the generaly subject matter?