Even when all the data on a drive is deleted, or in cases where a computer recognizes a drive as failed, data can still be salvaged using software such as Puran File Recovery.
These applications can easily pull data from files that were recently deleted.
Many free programs with friendly graphical user interfaces exist for data recovery, such as Priform’s Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. While in some cases recovery may require advanced techniques to find the information from previous users, often times these deleted files can be easily recovered. In addition, 11% of the resold drives contained recoverable corporate data that included company emails, customer relationship management records used for managing customer data and interactions, and spreadsheets containing sensitive information. While it may seem unlikely that this data would be recoverable after a deletion or reinstallation of the operating system, a recent study performed by the Blancco Technology Group showed otherwise. Based on analysis of 200 hard drives purchased from second-hand sites such as Ebay and Craigslist in the first quarter of 2016, they found a total of 67% of devices had recoverable information, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as names, addresses, and social security numbers. Yet, while the data may no longer be immediately accessible, personal and corporate data is often still available to people or corporations who acquire your device, with surprisingly little effort.
Savvier users will often reinstall the operating system from a recovery disk or a recovery partition on a computer to be absolutely sure that the data is removed from the device. Have you ever given away or resold a computer, smart phone, or electronic device? Before you disposed of it, how much time did you invest to ensure the data on the storage device was erased? In many cases, most users rely on the “Empty Recycling Bin” option found in the operating system to ensure their personal files are erased from the hard drive. Contact us about current cybersecurity services and approaches to data management. Editor’s Note: This post is more than 2 years old.