Data security is the practice of keeping data protected from corruption and unauthorized access.
The aim of data security is to make sure privacy is implemented in protecting personal data.
Data is raw information that is stored either in a database or somewhere lying inside your hard disk drive.
It can be any kind of information you store, privately safe or publicly viewable.
However, no matter how secured we want our data is, there comes a time that our private data are breached even though we know how to secure files into our system.
Here, is where we mostly miss these things: Data or files do not actually gets deleted in the drive.
The operating system simply forgets where your file is located to make room for more files.
Formatting won't make the files permanently unrecoverable.
It will just make room for more files in the disk.
Here, are some data security tips you need to do.
Back up your important data and keep it safe.
Select the most important data in your disk, do this every time you update the file or have a new and important data to keep.
This may be tedious, but there is software to back up the files.
Password-protect your files.
Even though you make frequent backups it is never very time-consuming to get your file protected knowing that it can cause a very wonderful security to your data.
Here, are some ways to password-protected your files: Your operating system should have a password protect option if it doesn't or you feel that theirs are not secured enough here are some other ways to password protect your files: Use a compression tool and password protect it.
A file compression archive uses AES encryption with 128-bit keys.
The password can still be recovered using a dictionary attack and brute force attack, but it sure gets eliminates people from viewing your important files.
Encrypt your important file.
File encryption is another level of data security wherein the file is contents is scrambled, and only the password provided can open the contents of the file.
In Windows, there is an EFS option which will allow you to store selected data in a hard disk to prevent unwanted access to files.
Here, is how its done.
Right click on the folder you wish to encrypt then click properties.
Click on the General tab and click on Advanced.
Select the Encrypt folder to secure data and then click Advanced.
Don't forget to back up your encryption certificate if it is the first time you have done file encryption.
Keep antivirus and anti-spyware up-to-date.
You may have these into your system so do not forget to update it regularly as new viruses are released in "the wild" every hour.
Make sure you only download files from reputable websites.
Some downloadable software act as software or a game, but it is actually a virus.
This kind of virus is called as a Trojan Virus.
Do not outsource critical functions.
It may be convenient to sync seamlessly files online but you may not know if your files are encrypted or their servers cannot be accessed by hackers.
If you really need one, consider hiring an outsourcing professional to help you with the outsourcing needs you or your business may require.
Use a data sanitation method if you have to sell or throw away hard disk drives.
Here, are some data sanitation methods you can perform: Data wiping.
Data wiping or also known as secure wiping involves irreversibly removing data.
You have two ways to perform data wiping.
1.
Selective file wiping.
Involves the use of a file wiping software to delete the file in an irreversible manner.
It writes random 0s and 1s to the file so the actual file is overwritten; therefore, no data are recovered.
2.
Clean up the Entire Drive.
This method instantly removes any hard disk mounted in your computer.
An effective way if you have multiple drives to clean up.
Dead hard disks should not be thrown too because it also has files in it.
The reason it become broken is not because of the files but only because of the hardware itself.
So if, the platters are clean without damaged and minimal scratch it is recoverable.
So here are some ways to make it permanently unrecoverable.
Use hard disk destruction machines.
Hard disk destruction machines crush, grind, or saw the disk in half so that disk are completely unusable and the platters inside, irreversible.
These kinds of machines are very expensive that is why there are hard disk destruction companies that can destroy drives but for a small fee.
If you don't want to use any kind of service to get your disk destroyed, you can destroy hard disk data yourself using common tools found at home like hammer, saw, or drill.
The aim of data security is to make sure privacy is implemented in protecting personal data.
Data is raw information that is stored either in a database or somewhere lying inside your hard disk drive.
It can be any kind of information you store, privately safe or publicly viewable.
However, no matter how secured we want our data is, there comes a time that our private data are breached even though we know how to secure files into our system.
Here, is where we mostly miss these things: Data or files do not actually gets deleted in the drive.
The operating system simply forgets where your file is located to make room for more files.
Formatting won't make the files permanently unrecoverable.
It will just make room for more files in the disk.
Here, are some data security tips you need to do.
Back up your important data and keep it safe.
Select the most important data in your disk, do this every time you update the file or have a new and important data to keep.
This may be tedious, but there is software to back up the files.
Password-protect your files.
Even though you make frequent backups it is never very time-consuming to get your file protected knowing that it can cause a very wonderful security to your data.
Here, are some ways to password-protected your files: Your operating system should have a password protect option if it doesn't or you feel that theirs are not secured enough here are some other ways to password protect your files: Use a compression tool and password protect it.
A file compression archive uses AES encryption with 128-bit keys.
The password can still be recovered using a dictionary attack and brute force attack, but it sure gets eliminates people from viewing your important files.
Encrypt your important file.
File encryption is another level of data security wherein the file is contents is scrambled, and only the password provided can open the contents of the file.
In Windows, there is an EFS option which will allow you to store selected data in a hard disk to prevent unwanted access to files.
Here, is how its done.
Right click on the folder you wish to encrypt then click properties.
Click on the General tab and click on Advanced.
Select the Encrypt folder to secure data and then click Advanced.
Don't forget to back up your encryption certificate if it is the first time you have done file encryption.
Keep antivirus and anti-spyware up-to-date.
You may have these into your system so do not forget to update it regularly as new viruses are released in "the wild" every hour.
Make sure you only download files from reputable websites.
Some downloadable software act as software or a game, but it is actually a virus.
This kind of virus is called as a Trojan Virus.
Do not outsource critical functions.
It may be convenient to sync seamlessly files online but you may not know if your files are encrypted or their servers cannot be accessed by hackers.
If you really need one, consider hiring an outsourcing professional to help you with the outsourcing needs you or your business may require.
Use a data sanitation method if you have to sell or throw away hard disk drives.
Here, are some data sanitation methods you can perform: Data wiping.
Data wiping or also known as secure wiping involves irreversibly removing data.
You have two ways to perform data wiping.
1.
Selective file wiping.
Involves the use of a file wiping software to delete the file in an irreversible manner.
It writes random 0s and 1s to the file so the actual file is overwritten; therefore, no data are recovered.
2.
Clean up the Entire Drive.
This method instantly removes any hard disk mounted in your computer.
An effective way if you have multiple drives to clean up.
Dead hard disks should not be thrown too because it also has files in it.
The reason it become broken is not because of the files but only because of the hardware itself.
So if, the platters are clean without damaged and minimal scratch it is recoverable.
So here are some ways to make it permanently unrecoverable.
Use hard disk destruction machines.
Hard disk destruction machines crush, grind, or saw the disk in half so that disk are completely unusable and the platters inside, irreversible.
These kinds of machines are very expensive that is why there are hard disk destruction companies that can destroy drives but for a small fee.
If you don't want to use any kind of service to get your disk destroyed, you can destroy hard disk data yourself using common tools found at home like hammer, saw, or drill.
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