17Apr
Why an unnetworked but powered-up drive can still leak data
17 Apr 2018
For those of us looking to keep our most sensitive data
safe, storing it on a drive that was unnetworked went a long way towards
ensuring it was secure.
The logic behind this principal was pretty straightforward:
data held on a piece of unnetworked storage media can only be accessed by those who can physically access it. In other words, hackers could not remotely access it and
retrieve data held on these drives. Now, though, this may no longer be enough
– provided the media is mains-powered.
A new technique, referred to in a recent report as the
‘PowerHammer’ method, makes it possible for data stored on an unnetworked drive
to be accessed remotely provided the drive’s security...
12Apr
Should my hard drive be making that noise?
12 Apr 2018
Hard drives have moving parts and when things move, they
often create sound. To put it another way, like a car engine, your hard drive
can be noisy and still healthy. Some sounds, though, indicate that something is
seriously wrong.
Typically, hard drives will make low-pitched whirring or
whining noises – particularly when they’re booting up or accessing/storing data
– or clicking noises. These are usually perfectly normal and not a cause for
concern. It’s also worth noting that it’s far from uncommon for people to
assume that something is wrong with their hard drive because of the noise
produced by their machine’s fan.
Just as you know that something’s wrong when an engine mak...
11Apr
The easy way to create a robust backup strategy
11 Apr 2018
The importance of ensuring that your critical data is regularly
backed up and readily accessible cannot be understated within the world of
business. Data recovery services are available, of course, but they can't prevent the short-term damage caused by data loss.
Thanks to growing awareness with regards to the role data
now plays within the world of business, most owners and decision makers
understand the importance of having such a strategy in place but, whether due
to a lack of technical know-how or naivety, their plans often lack the
durability that modern businesses need.
Threats to our vital data are becoming more and more
widespread. Ransomware, cyber-attacks and disgrun...
04Apr
Happy World Backup Day
04 Apr 2018
On Saturday the 31st March 2018, the world
mutedly celebrated what is, in the opinion of Fields Data Recovery, one of the most
deserving yet little-known awareness days there is: World Backup Day.
It’s understandable that this day doesn’t generate the same
degree of coverage as those designed to promote check-ups that could save lives
or draw attention to suffering, but the fact that so few of us are aware of
this day’s existence serves as proof of the fact that we simply don’t
appreciate the vital role data plays in our day-to-day lives - until they find they've lost vital data, at least!
Many of the awareness days that are held are designed to
raise awareness of various illnes...
29Mar
How to automatically backup your smartphone
29 Mar 2018
As phones have become more sophisticated, the way we use
them on a day-to-day basis has fundamentally changed. Not so long ago, the only
valuable data stored on our phones was a list of contacts but times have
changed: photos, videos, documents, games and more have now found a home in
what are now basically handheld computers. At Fields Data Recovery, we now regularly recover data from smartphones, but we'd been trading for more than a decade before these devices became a common site in our lab. Previously, the most common flash data recovery tasks assigned to us involving portable media concerned USB drives. Now, smartphones are far and away the most common flash device we work with.&nb...
27Mar
Five affordable ways you can store more data
27 Mar 2018
Running out of data storage? You’re not alone: recent
research has shown that a truly staggering 90% of all data has been created in
the last two years. So, in short, we’re constantly creating more and more data
which, in turn, means we need more and more places to store it.
The problem is that storage media can be expensive,
particularly if you don’t know what you need. Walk into an electronics store
and tell them you need more memory, for example, and they may well start
extolling the virtues of SSDs which, whilst extremely quick, are anything but
cheap.
Put simply, unless you need or are willing to pay for
exceptional read/write speeds, you can bolster your data storage si...
22Mar
Why is my hard drive clicking?
22 Mar 2018
When a hard drive begins making any kind of noise other than a reassuring
and subtle whir, it’s safe to say that there’s a problem that needs to be
addressed. When a drive makes an audible clicking sound, however, the problem
is also likely to be significant and the services of hard drive repair experts are likely to be needed. Why is this?
In order to write and read data, all hard drives use what are known as
heads. These write data on to what is referred to as a platter (essentially a
disk covered in a magnetic surface) when you save it, and read it from the
platter when you want to view it. If a hard drive begins to click, it almost
certainly means that these key components are...
19Mar
Data recovery: is it covered by a warranty?
19 Mar 2018
It might seem logical to assume that, should a type of storage media fail
whilst it is still under warranty, the manufacturer will not only replace
and/or repair the device, but should foot the bill for any data recovery work that
may be required too. After all, you wouldn’t have lost the data if the device
hadn’t failed. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t the case and Fields Data
Recovery is yet to come across a warranty that covers the cost of recovering lost data. But why is this?
Well, for one thing, data recovery can be expensive. If parts need to be
replaced or a clean room used then the costs of recovering lost data can grow.
Simply replacing a faulty drive with a brand new...
15Mar
Accidentally deleted a file? It can probably be recovered
15 Mar 2018
We’ve all, at some point in our lives, deleted a file that
we really wanted to keep. The process of recovering it is often as simple as
heading to the Recycle Bin/Trash folder and clicking a few buttons but, like
they say, even the best laid plans can go awry and we’ve recovered data for clients
that’ve accidentally deleted files permanently more times than we can
count! Provided you act quickly, though, it’s very, very unlikely that the file
in question won’t be recoverable.
When a user tells their device to delete a file, the actual
data itself is not removed. Instead, the device is basically told that the user
no longer wishes to keep this data and an internal file noting the...
13Mar
Can my Mac get a virus?
13 Mar 2018
Historically, Macs – when compared to machines utilising
Windows operating systems – have consistently been considered the better choice
for those whose main concern was security.
Whilst it remains true that Macs are still generally more
secure than their counterparts, though, their superior performance has led to
the growth of an untrue and potentially dangerous myth: that Macs are immune to
viruses of any kind.
The operating systems used by Macs – and, indeed, mobile
devices using iOS such as iPads and iPhones – have flaws that can be utilised
by hackers just like any other operating system. It just so happens that they
contract computer viruses with less regularity than oth...