Data or hard drives that store data are one of the most valuable assets of any business. Apart from being valuable, it is also extremely vulnerable at the same time. In simple terms, you can gain a competitive advantage based on your data, but at the same time, losing data means a huge loss in business.
As a result, all businesses try to protect their data so that they won’t lose face in front of their customers. Therefore, for the protection of their data, they use data loss prevention techniques or reach out to data recovery companies for sd card, cf card recovery, ssd recovery and more. Thus, in this article, we will explain data loss prevention-its cost, and effectiveness.
Data Loss Prevention
Data loss prevention or DLP is a special set of tools that ensure that sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorized personals. It’s a strategy used to protect data to make sure users won’t send sensitive and critical information outside the company. It enforces remedies by alerts, encryption, and other protective actions.
The main components of the data loss solution are:
- Securing data in motion
- Securing endpoints activities
- Protecting data at rest
- Monitoring data in the cloud
- Protecting data in use
- Data identification
- Data leakage detection
Data Loss Reasons
Many people argue that why you need data loss prevention. Therefore, in this section, we will explain some of the common reasons for data loss. It would be easy to understand the importance and need for data loss prevention once you look at the causes of data loss. These are:
- Human errors
- Virus and malware attacks
- Hardware damage
- Software corruption
- Hackers attack
- Hard drive formatting
- Power outrages
- Liquid damage
- Disaster
- Computer theft
Reasons Why You Need a Data Loss Prevention
In this section, we will explain common reasons why you need a data loss to prevent the presence of a data recovery company. The main reasons are:
● Personal Information Protection:
Organizations and businesses that store personal identification information, protected health information, or payment card information needs compliance regulations. And we all know compliance regulations require protection of customer’s sensitive data. This is where data loss protection comes handy as it can identify, classify, and tag sensitive data.
● IP Protection:
Each business has its trade secrets and intellectual property they want to protect at all costs. And the loss of these secrets can seriously affect business health. Therefore, companies use data loss protection to restrict the sharing of business secrets outside the organization. Moreover, it is an effective method that can save you cost as loss of data costs you a huge sum of money.
● Data Visibility:
Another reason for using data loss protection is to see and track your data endpoints, the cloud, and the network. This will give you an insight into how individual users within your organization interacted with data.
These are the three main reasons; however, apart from these three, there are numerous other reasons for using data loss protection.
When your Windows system gives a warning saying “Windows detected a hard disk problem,” or Mac displays a file icon with a question mark when starting up, you should know that a potential hard drive failure is imminent. When this happens, it is advisable to seek professional help if you have data you cannot afford to lose on the hard drive. Alternatively, there are a few things to do if your aim is to just retrieve some selected files from the hard disk or get it temporarily running again.
Doing it yourself
Firstly, power off the system and remove the hard drive from the device if you can, otherwise stop using it. Additional actions can reduce your chances of retrieving the files you need. One positive thing is that when you delete a file on a drive, the data files doesn’t get deleted completely, the computer only deletes the information indicating the location of the data, which remains intact until it is written over. This makes recovery a possibility.
To confirm that the problem is actually the hard drive failing; For a Windows system, endeavor to remove the hard drive from the affected computer and plug it into a functioning system. If the drive works well, this will confirm that the hard disk is probably not the one failing, but ensure to copy out the essential files you need regardless. For a Mac, it’s a little easier. Mac uses the “target disk mode tool” to help connect a non-functioning Mac to a working Mac, such that it treats that un-operational Mac like a large USB drive. Connect the two computers with a connector, press and hold the T key while you power up the faulty Mac. Alternatively, follow these steps if the Mac is already running; Apple -> System Preferences -> Startup Disk -> Target Disk Mode. If this works, use the working Mac to copy out your important files. Once you’ve done that, you’re can wipe or repair the disk.
Using Recovery Apps
If the computer housing these files is operational but you’ve deleted a file that you need again, first conduct a wide search on the system and also check the Recycle Bin/Trash. If you still can’t find the files/ the hard drive is dead, remove the drive from the computer and attach it to a functioning computer. Ensure that a recovery application such as: EaseUS, Recuva, Prosoft Data Rescue, Ontrack, etc. is installed on the system. These apps scan and search the affected drives for missing/recently deleted files. Although the results are never guaranteed, you still get to see some/all of your missing files.
Consult a Professional
If you’ve lost extremely sensitive and important files and you can’t risk doing any of these yourself, shut down the computer and get professional help. Their services may not be cheap, and they may not be able to guarantee results if the device is too far gone.
Final Words
Data loss protection is a strategy to protect your business secrets and confidential data. Therefore, it is a must component of any business. Moreover, apart from being effective, it can save your cost as well.
