You shouldn’t need to be told just how important it is to protect yourself against data loss. It can radically reduce productivity, erode client and customer confidence, and even see you facing legal action. At some point we’ve all lost important data and had to look for a company like can be found at https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/location/los-angeles-data-recovery-services/ to help us recover it. And although they’re great at what they do, prevention is better than cure which is why you should try to understand some of the most common causes of data loss. Only by knowing what they are, can you get started tightening up security and following best practices.
- Human Error
Yes, human error is one of the top causes of data loss. It happens all the time, especially when staff have not been well trained. They might delete the wrong files or open a malicious email that destroys your system or corrupts your data.
- Viruses and Malware
Viruses and malware spread like wildfire, and your data is the kindling. This is generally more of an additional problem than the main aim, but it’s still an issue you need to address. If any type of malicious software infects your system, it can either damage, delete, or corrupt your data. In the case of ransomware, data can be held hostage until you pay an unlock fee.
- Hardware Malfunction
Recent research indicated that over 40% of users lose data simply because of hardware or system malfunctions. What’s truly maddening is that such malfunctions are often entirely avoidable. You may, for example, continue using a hard drive that shows signs of breaking down, or you may fail to replace a PC that keeps turning itself off. There can also be many other ways to avoid losing data should a hardware failure happen, for example, a business could look to back all their data up using multiple data storage options, such as physical hard drives, cloud backup options, as well as using data centres that can also mitigate data loss with ease. Many businesses use data centres for storage capacity, for more information, you can learn more about 4D Data Centres or others that can be accessible for storage solutions.
- Water Damage
When we talk about water damage, what we often mean is beverage damage. It’s incredible how much data is lost simply because people are irresponsible when it comes to carrying coffee. Unfortunately, liquids can easily short circuit important electronic components, and this often makes recovery of data impossible.
- Power Outages
Finally, power outages can shut down your entire network without warning. All across the office, anything that wasn’t backed up will be lost. Even worse, the sudden shutdown can result in the corruption of existing files thanks to improper shutdown procedures.