What does "data carving" refer to?

"Data carving" is a technique used primarily in digital forensics to recover files from a storage medium even when the file system is not intact. This process operates by scanning the raw data on a disk and looking for file signatures or header/footer patterns that indicate the start and end of a file. Since this technique doesn't rely on the file system structures, it can retrieve deleted or corrupted files that might otherwise be inaccessible.

This is particularly useful in scenarios such as forensic investigations, where the objective is to recover lost or hidden evidence from digital devices. Techniques like data carving are essential because files may still exist on the physical storage medium, but the file system metadata that normally provides information about them is damaged or missing.

The other options describe different technical processes that do not pertain to data carving. Splitting large data sets, duplicating data for backup, and designing user interfaces each fall within distinct areas of data management or software development, but they do not involve the recovery of files through the analysis of raw data without the aid of a file system. Thus, the focus on file recovery through signature matching firmly establishes why the correct answer is centered on the recovery of files without the presence of file system structures.