Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Easily Restore Deleted Files? Of Course!

 

recovering-deleted-filesEver been the new guy at a company and been given a huge project to work on? Your nerves are probably shot and your hands are probably shaking. You can’t afford to screw up but it’s more likely that this is when you will. Maybe you’re diligently working away on the Johnson file when you accidentally delete a file. No big deal, right? You can just recover it from the recycle bin. Except when you go in to recover it your shaky hands slip and you end up permanently deleting the entire file. Before you start panicking and wondering when you’ll get fired don’t lose hope! There are programs available to help you save your butt, and your job:

Few tech disasters can send your stomach into free fall quite like realising you’ve deleted something important from your laptop or phone, with no obvious way to bring it back. Luckily, if you find yourself scrambling to restore your deleted files, there’s still hope. Free tools and apps are widely available to help you recover your deleted data no matter what platform you’re using. Here’s what you need to know.

On most modern forms of storage, deleting a file doesn’t actually delete it — it usually just tells the operating system in charge that the space the file is using is free for other data. If you can get in quickly enough, it’s possible to bring your file back from its digital grave before something else has rushed in to take its place, so speed is of the essence.

Back up, back up, back up

[…]

If you want to stick with local file storage for your backing up needs, then OS X has Time Machine and Windows has File History, and of course there are a ton of third-party options to choose from as well. If you buy an external hard drive or networked drive, it will often come with a backup program included.

In the case of Dropbox’s apps, for example, load up the web interface, then click Deleted Files to see a list of recently erased files and folders. Click Restore next to any entry to bring it back. Deleted files are kept for 30 days or a whole year if you’ve signed up for Dropbox Pro and the Extended Version History add-on.

Windows and Mac

If your files are gone from the Recycle Bin or the Trash, then you need a dedicated third-party tool to search for and recover your erased files. Recuva is one of the best and most well-respected options for Windows, while DMDE and PhotoRec are both worth considering as alternatives for undeleting your data.

Via: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/06/how-to-restore-deleted-files-on-any-device/

Alright, have you caught your breath now? You’ll notice that there are options for every kind of operating system, so even if you’re doing work on your Android tablet and manage to royally screw up you should be relatively safe if you followed the steps in the article.

With this secret weapon in your back pocket you should be well on your way to moving up that corporate ladder.

Easily Restore Deleted Files? Of Course! is republished from Hard Drive Recovery Group Blog

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Deal With Ransomware Attacks Like A Pro

There’s a new waransomware-hackery to take hostages and it doesn’t involve your pets. Hackers now find a way onto your computer systems and hold your entire digital world for ransom. Unless you pay X amount of dollars by a certain time all your information is going to be deleted and you’ll lose that paper you were working on for your class or all your customer’s personal data will be made public. It seems no one is immune to these attacks but that doesn’t mean you have to be afraid of them. It’s important to know what to do to prepare and prevent ransomware from infiltrating your system and accessing your information:

You've likely heard all about "crypto ransomware," or simply "ransomware," a specific type of malware that attempts to hold your digital existence hostage by encrypting personal files and then offering decryption keys in exchange for payment. When the malware first takes root, it shows no outward signs that anything is wrong. Only after the malware does its nefarious work in the background are you presented with the ransom, typically via demands for Bitcoin or other forms of digital currency.

Some early ransomware was riddled with software bugs that made it possible to recover encrypted files that had been held hostage, but newer variants that use robust symmetric and asymmetric encryption are much more troublesome. (Symmetric encryption is typically used to rapidly scramble files, and the asymmetric encryption can then be applied to the original symmetric keys so data can only be recovered by cybercriminals with the appropriate private keys.)

Some of the latest ransomware variants are also designed to punish payment procrastination, and they double or triple their ransom demands as stipulated deadlines pass. The ransomware threat is very real, but proactive individuals and organizations can protect themselves.

Protection against ransomware attacks all about backups

Fortunately, it is relatively easy to duplicate corporate files, and regular, systematic backups are an effective strategy to combat ransomware. Of course, backups are useful only if they're created before a malware attack, so it's a good idea to immediately and regular backup important files.

Unfortunately, simple file backups aren't always enough. Some backup implementations are vulnerable to crypto malware, and backup archives can also be encrypted by cybercriminals. Some cloud-based file synchronization services replace good files with corrupted versions. So the capability to roll back to specific points in time for data recovery, and the duration of time backups are stored — as well as the amount of time and resources it takes to access stored files — should be crucial considerations for people and organizations that want to prevent ransomware complications.

Via: http://www.cio.com/article/3085164/backup-recovery/how-to-prepare-for-and-prevent-ransomware-attacks.html

There are three specific strategies that the article mentions such as using dedicated backup software, NAS backups and cloud backups. It’s important to read each strategy and determine which one works best for your life or business. You can prevent ransomware attacks if you are proactive instead of reactive.

Don’t get caught between a rock and a hard place. Cover your butt.  Your home life and your business will thank you for it.

The blog post Deal With Ransomware Attacks Like A Pro was originally published on http://www.harddriverecovery.org