In ancient times, “data recovery” was a matter of either remembering or hoping that important papers didn’t catch fire. With the advent of magnetic storage that changed dramatically. In the past, you could shred or burn files to get rid of them. But with magnetic storage, “deleted” files do not disappear until you overwrite them. Hackers quickly found out that they could still access these files, for good and for ill. While many people recovered priceless photos and term papers, nefarious people recovered personal information such as credit card numbers. Adrian Jean from Evolution Business Data Recovery in Bath talks about the future of data recovery and what we can look forward to from technological advances.
Changing Storage Types
The advent of solid state storage eliminates this “phantom file” issue. This is why most phones and laptops now use solid state storage. But advances in the way software works, and in how devices store data, creates new problems. Modern devices have a large storage capability. They also tend to keep track of almost everything. This is an enormous data security risk when someone steals them. Compounding the problem is the way that information is increasingly stored offsite and in the cloud. With a cloud backup, even if you physically control your device, a hacker can still steal your data.
Protect Your Data!
Fortunately, there’s a lot that you can do about this. Most phones have a way to do an offline, off-device backup. You can then store safely in your fire safe or other offsite location. Likewise, both Apple and Google phones have cloud backups. You can recover all of your data from a cloud backup by logging in. The problem is that a hacker can also recover all your data. As such, it’s important to have a complex and hard to guess password for your cloud backups. Do not use a single word. Instead, use a whole phrase or sentence, complete with punctuation. This will make the password impossible to guess.
Our Glorious VR Future
In the future, passwords may not be necessary. New VR technology is now being used to recognize a person through their face, eyes, or fingerprint instead of a password. Since you cannot replicate an eye, face or fingerprint, these phones can’t are unhackable. While this still means that users should do a complete factory reset on their phones, as well as remove all removable media, before recycling or selling their device. After all, a hacker can always find a way. The safest data is data that isn’t there at all.