Top Reasons for Data Loss

The digital goods and services company that undertook this survey of domestic computer users was not surprised when the majority quoted viruses as the top cause of data loss.

Next in line were other types of software related problems including any ways in which data might get deleted, corrupted or lost. Hardware issues did less well, with a sizeable part of the British population managing to cite only a hard disk crash as an example of hardware faults.

At the end of the list came a mixed lot of causes, natural disasters and human carelessness were both included in this category. The above data indicate how we see, or rather, like to see the reasons of data loss. Now let us look at the actual and official figures of what causes data loss.

The Statistics of Data Loss

Hardware or system component malfunctions / failure accounts for a total of 44% of data loss in the country. Next is the rapidly expanding category of human errors, accounting for over 32%of all data loss cases. Software faults of various kinds cause an overall data loss in 14% of the cases. Viruses actually account for data loss only in 7% of the cases. Data loss caused by natural catastrophes is the least harmful – at only 3% of all data loss cases.

The differences between assumptions and facts are quite clearly defined by this comparison. Hardware failures are somehow not acceptable as of yet, and people are usually unprepared for the casualty. One may assume that it is part of human nature to overlook the growing degree of ‘human errors’. Software flaws are more visible in general, and the threat posed by virus attack has been blown entirely out of proportion due to its high media coverage, and general level of public awareness.

Trends in Data Loss

Data recovery companies and digital magazines all over the world also keep track of the ‘trends’ in data loss, i.e. the rate at which reasons for data loss are growing or decreasing. In all surveys, both hardware related problems and human error mistakes are on the rise. In fact, human error related problems are ‘evolving’ as a trend, meaning that people are becoming more creative and frequent with their mistakes. Cases of taking out one’s anger or frustration on the machine are on the rise all over the world. Below, we have gone into the reasons behind some of the most prominent causes of data loss.

Hardware Failures

Hard disk crash is the most common form of hardware failure. This happens due to overheating, failure of any of the components, circuit board or motherboard getting blown, electrostatic discharge, mal handling of hardware devices, exposure to dust, temperature changes, moisture and impact. In case of hardware failures, it is strongly advisable to approach a professional data recovery company as soon as possible without tampering with the affected device in any way. Hardware defects are not manageable otherwise, and it is important that we do not complicate matters by trying to rectify things ourselves if we value our data.

Human Errors

People driving over their laptops, leaving USB drives sitting in someone else’s computer, scratching CDs and DVDs, electrocuting one’s own hard drive by mishandling it while installing new cards, deleting files by mistake, there are so many ways we can go wrong. And when the machine does not work properly, there have been instances of people throwing it out of the window, ripping apart parts of it etc.

Software Errors

This includes OS crash, accidental deletion of files, accidental formatting, fragmentation, corruption of files due to mismatching media or wrong ways of storing – these are all ways in which data loss can happen through software failures. It is now possible for home users to rectify minor problems by using DIY software themselves on their affected machines or devices.

Virus Attack

We all know what is antivirus software and how to install it, but thereafter we leave it like that instead of updating it and running regular scans. In the case of corporate firms, data oriented crimes are becoming alarmingly common with instances of hacking on the rise at a rapid pace.

Natural Disasters and Manmade Disasters

Natural catastrophes such as earthquake, fire, flood, wars or terrorist attacks are relatively rare, but when they do happen, the scale of such events cause massive data loss. Disaster recovery measures have been adopted in many countries for this now.