Failing hard drives tend to make noises (though not always, as we’ve discussed in other articles). Solid-state drives are more subtle: They may not give any indication whatsoever that they’re near the end of their operational lifespans.  The most...

In simple terms, data corruption occurs when the data within a file or on a storage device is altered from its original state, rendering it unreadable or unusable. You’ve likely experienced this before: a photo that’s suddenly gray or distorted,...

In a recent federal indictment, two employees of the cybersecurity firm DigitalMint were accused of secretly collaborating with one of the world’s most prominent ransomware gangs — and leveraging their positions in a sophisticated extortion scheme. Per the Chicago Sun-Times...

Double-extortion ransomware is an attack where criminals both encrypt your files and steal (exfiltrate) your data. Triple-extortion simply adds a third layer of pressure such as a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack or harassment to your clients or staff. It’s simply...

A decade-old bug in the Linux kernel is now being actively used by ransomware groups to gain full root control of a server, according to a new warning from CISA.  This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-1086, is exceptionally dangerous because it...

Electronic components generate heat, and ventilation is certainly a factor in the long-term health of your computer. Most modern computer cases are designed with adequate airflow, but a failure in ventilation can lead to catastrophic data loss.  When internal fans...

In 2024, about 59% of organizations were hit by ransomware, per a report from Sophos — and while that number is shocking, it’s actually slightly lower than the numbers for 2023.  For bad actors, ransomware is a lucrative business, and...

Occasionally, people lose crypto due to catastrophic blockchain failures or multi-layer attacks from sophisticated hackers — but preventable user error is far, far more common. For various reasons, people fail to treat crypto like real currency, and given the high...

Yes, your Solid-State Drive (SSD) can and will eventually fail. No storage device is perfect — and while SSDs don’t have any moving parts (depending on how you define “moving parts,” if you want to get technical), it’s still susceptible...

Data can often be recovered from a self-encrypting drive (SED), but the can be complex. Successful recovery rarely involves “breaking” the encryption, which is — by design — virtually impossible.  Instead, engineers must repair the underlying issue that is preventing...