Can a Hard Drive Be Repaired?

One of the most common questions that we receive goes something like this:“Can you repair my hard drive — and if so, can I keep using it?” There are two answers here. First: Yes, hard drives can be repaired...
January 23, 2024

Report: 75% of Organizations Hit By Ransomware in 2023

In a report from software company Veeam, 75% of businesses said that they’d dealt with ransomware or malware attacks in 2023. The attacks were cited as the most common cause of technology outages, and many organizations were subjected to multiple...
January 18, 2024

How Long Can I Wait Before Sending a Hard Drive for Data Recovery?

If you need data recovery, but you can’t quite afford it, you might consider putting your hard drive (or solid state drive, or other device) into storage until you’re able to get the money together.  Clients often ask us whether...
January 15, 2024

Do You Still Need to “Safely Remove” USB Flash Drives? 

For years, “unsafely ejecting” a USB flash drive was a serious misstep — one that could lead to corruption and permanent data loss — but in 2024, it’s not as big of an issue.  Here’s why: Operating systems have implemented...
January 12, 2024

Data Recovery for a Bent MicroSD or Bent SD Card

Flash memory isn’t as susceptible to physical damage as hard disk drives (HDDs). Even so, physical damage occurs — particularly for microSD, SD, and other media formats that are designed for portability.  If you’ve accidentally bent an SD card, the...
January 9, 2024

$1.2 Million in Bitcoin Mysteriously Sent to Satoshi’s Wallet

Satoshi Nakamoto — the pseudonym used by the founder of Bitcoin — is a little bit richer this week.  On Friday, January 5, Nakamoto’s first cryptocurrency wallet received a deposit of 26.9 bitcoin (BTC). The transaction was valued at about...
January 8, 2024

Black Basta Ransomware: Free Decryption Tools Released

A team from Security Research Labs (SRL) has released a set of free decryption utilities for victims of specific Black Basta ransomware attacks.  Of course, the tools are not perfect: Data recovery depends on the size of the file and...
January 3, 2024

How (And When) To Use Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery Tool

Windows 10 and 11 include a built-in file recovery tool, which is capable of restoring corrupt or deleted files in certain circumstances. It does not have a graphical user interface (GUI) — it’s a command-line utility — and like all...
December 28, 2023

Why You Shouldn’t Dry a Water-Damaged Hard Drive or SSD

It’s a common misconception that electronics and water don’t mix — in fact, they mix extremely well. That’s precisely why you don’t want to get your computer wet.  But if you need to recover from a water-damaged hard drive, solid-state...
December 27, 2023

First Bitcoin Spot ETF Could Cause Crypto Rally in 2024

According to a report from Fox Business, the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) is on the verge of approving a “spot” bitcoin exchange-traded fund. A bitcoin spot ETF (exchange-traded fund) would allow stock market investors to peg their money...
December 26, 2023