The Downside of File Recovery
File recovery utilities are life savers when it comes to retrieving your lost or deleted data. After all, you thought your data was gone for good and with a few simple clicks you have it back! Even if you accidentally re-formatted your hard drive, you can recover your data with a good file recovery program.
However, file recovery technology in the wrong hands can be a financial disaster. Remember how you disposed of your last computer? Did you sell it on eBay or give it to a friend? Did you take it to the computer recycling counter at your local computer retailer? You probably took a few precautions with your data such as deleting your personal files. In fact, you may have even been smart enough to re-format the hard disk drive so that your financial and personal data wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
Sorry, but with file recovery tools readily available, anyone can recover data – even from formatted hard disks. This means that when you dispose of a hard disk, you need to thoroughly destroy your data or it could fall into the wrong hands.
Even if you trust your friend not to invade your privacy, you can't control how he will dispose of the computer when he's done with it. If you think the computer retailer won't pry and will simply safely dispose of your computer, you are wrong. Many computer recycling operations get outsourced. You can't know where your computer parts, including the hard disk, will end up. Identity thieves can use file recovery utilities and gain immediate access to your data! This is the downside of file recovery. Technology in the wrong hands can wipe you out.
How do you deal with this new threat? Because of file recovery concerns, you must shred the contents of your hard disk drive. This doesn't mean you need to dig out the chainsaw, it means you should buy a file shredding utility. Find one that meets Department of Defense overwriting standards.
File shredding utilities work against file recovery programs by continuously overwriting data. As you may know, file recovery is possible for a limited time after a file is deleted or a drive formatted. When deletion or formatting occurs, Windows removes the reference to the file from the system but not the file itself. Until another program or process comes along and overwrites the data, file recovery is possible. A file shredder comes in and overwrites the data replacing it with useless data. You can set the shredder to overwrite the data over and over until it's impossible for file recovery to take place.
Physically damaging an unwanted hard disk isn't enough. While your computer may not be able to read from a scratched or warped disk, there are professional file recovery tools and techniques available that make it possible to retrieve data from physically damaged disks.
Don't take chances with your data. Use file recovery software when you need it but understand the downside and use a file shredder when the time comes to dispose of your hard disk.
