General Discussion on Data Loss & Protection

VIRUSES
These continue to cause much grief, especially to poorly and unprotected protected systems.
NEVER be complacent about your anti-virus defences.

HACKERS
Quite prevalent. Connect any system to an "always on" internet connection and it will likely be
automatically probed by potential hackers within a few hours. Always use a good Firewall.

BY ACCIDENT
Documents get overwritten
A User Moves or Deletes a file/Directory
A Cleaner unplugs or 'bashes' a PC/Server
A User drops a Laptop
Coffee/tea/Water spills!

EQUIPMENT FAILURE
Power glitches: These can be casued by power cuts, power surges,
lightning strikes,faulty wiring, roadworks, etc.

Hard Disk failure: This is very common & usually fatal to data.
Laptops are especially vulnerable as they often have relatively poor cooling,
so the Hard disk constantly operates at high temperatures.

Motherboard, Power Supply or Other failure: It can happen that when one item in a PC fails,
it can cause others to fail, basically by power surge - hard disks included.

RAID Disk failures: There are many types of RAID systems, but none are reason for complacency.
A problem on one hard disk can easily be copied to the other(s), especially if the problem is caused
by a User or software. If more than one hard disk fails - ALL data can be lost (it happens!).
Similiarly, the hard disk controller can fail causing total data loss (it happens!).

Improper Shutdowns and "Hangs":
PCs and software often "hang" and have to Reset or turned off manually. This can easily corrupt data.

FLOODING
Internal: Much more common than you realise. Every building has a water tank in the roof - big offices
have very large ones! These fail and gallons of water can cause irreparable damage.
All those water pipes and their joints also often fail. Baths, Taps, Washing Machines, Dishwashers,
Overflows, Showers, Blocked Drains and People - they can all cause floods.

External: Heavy rainstorms can overload drains and sewers. These can then flood groundfloors and basements - where computer rooms often are! Blocked gutters and drainpipes often cause
water to overflow into a building.

THEFT
Too often Offices are ransacked and the Data Backups are taken as well, or found to be inadequate,
or completely useless. Laptops are especially vulnerable.

DIGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE
It happens!

FIRE
Rare, but it does happen. Smoke damage is much more likely to be the cause of problems. A fire can
easily render a building unsafe, so denying access to data - even in (supposedly) Fireproof Safes!

TERRORISM
Very rare but cause more disruption than is usually realised. During bombings, buildings close to
bomb blasts are sometimes closed for weeks after, with no access to data at all.

OFFICE CLOSURE
Not uncommon. Sometimes caused indirectly by terrorism or an unrelated incident, such as a fire or
natural occurrence. Unaffected Buildings in a given area may still be closed due to events in the
vicinity - such as at the Hemel Hempstead Oil Depot fire.




General Discussion on Data Loss & Protection Vigilance is an ideal part of a Security Plan, a Disaster Recovery Plan, and any Business Continuity Plans. Fundamentally, NO single system can be TOTALLY relied upon; events outside of anybody's control can affect many parts of a system, at any time. Here is a brief discussion on some of the many ways data can be lost: (in roughly the order of prevalence we tend to see them)

VIRUSES These continue to cause much grief, especially to poorly and unprotected protected systems. NEVER be complacent about your anti-virus defences. HACKERS Quite prevalent. Connect any system to an "always on" internet connection and it will likely be automatically probed by potential hackers within a few hours. Always use a good Firewall. BY ACCIDENT Documents get overwritten A User Moves or Deletes a file/Directory A Cleaner unplugs or 'bashes' a PC/Server A User drops a Laptop Coffee/tea/Water spills! EQUIPMENT FAILURE Power glitches: These can be casued by power cuts, power surges, lightning strikes,faulty wiring, roadworks, etc. Hard Disk failure: This is very common & usually fatal to data. Laptops are especially vulnerable as they often have relatively poor cooling, so the Hard disk constantly operates at high temperatures. Motherboard, Power Supply or Other failure: It can happen that when one item in a PC fails, it can cause others to fail, basically by power surge - hard disks included. RAID Disk failures: There are many types of RAID systems, but none are reason for complacency. A problem on one hard disk can easily be copied to the other(s), especially if the problem is caused by a User or software. If more than one hard disk fails - ALL data can be lost (it happens!). Similiarly, the hard disk controller can fail causing total data loss (it happens!). Improper Shutdowns and "Hangs": PCs and software often "hang" and have to Reset or turned off manually. This can easily corrupt data. FLOODING Internal: Much more common than you realise. Every building has a water tank in the roof - big offices have very large ones! These fail and gallons of water can cause irreparable damage. All those water pipes and their joints also often fail. Baths, Taps, Washing Machines, Dishwashers, Overflows, Showers, Blocked Drains and People - they can all cause floods. External: Heavy rainstorms can overload drains and sewers. These can then flood groundfloors and basements - where computer rooms often are! Blocked gutters and drainpipes often cause water to overflow into a building. THEFT Too often Offices are ransacked and the Data Backups are taken as well, or found to be inadequate, or completely useless. Laptops are especially vulnerable. DIGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE It happens! FIRE Rare, but it does happen. Smoke damage is much more likely to be the cause of problems. A fire can easily render a building unsafe, so denying access to data - even in (supposedly) Fireproof Safes! TERRORISM Very rare but cause more disruption than is usually realised. During bombings, buildings close to bomb blasts are sometimes closed for weeks after, with no access to data at all. OFFICE CLOSURE Not uncommon. Sometimes caused indirectly by terrorism or an unrelated incident, such as a fire or natural occurrence. Unaffected Buildings in a given area may still be closed due to events in the vicinity - such as at the Hemel Hempstead Oil Depot fire.
A useful feature: By it's very nature, Vigilance backed up data can be restored to any location. We have clients who use it as an occasional transfer medium between offices and homes. Click here for 20 Good Reasons to use Vigilance Click here for some useful Data Loss Statistics.
(c) Saracen, 2007