Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Cell Phone Forensics On Wiping Out Data

By Gary Cook


Mobile phones hold some of the most treasured secrets. Everyone wants to wipe out data from the handset before selling or giving it away. In the age of data recovery, you might be surprised years down the line when your secrets are displayed in public. Cell Phone Forensics experts have given their tricks on clearing data to eliminate worry about unnecessary exposure. Here are some of these tricks.

The factory reset option will provide protection. This is usually the first option for most people. It deletes information that has been entered leaving your handset as clean as new. Using this option might lock out some functions for certain phones making it impossible to use by the new buyer. Depending on the extent of factory protection, you can conceal your information through reset.

Resetting factory settings does not wipe out data. It only locks it in a place that is irretrievable through your handset. With advancement in technology, such information may be retrieved with ease. If someone employs off-the-shelf techniques and technology, your secret information will be retrieved leading to compromise. You therefore need more advanced ways of concealing the information and erasing it completely from the system.

Data encryption is part of modern technology and a way of protecting information. There are phones with this as a default option. For other models, the option has to be activated. Encryption requires you to provide a code or retrieval key in order to access the files. To maintain the secrecy or security of such information, you must not share the code with third parties.

Some mobile phones have in-built encryption capabilities. Others require you to download certain applications. In fact, certain apps guarantee encryption of data that is transferred through them. In the era of hacking, encryption is only temporary reprieve because even highly secure apps have been hacked in the past.

Data can be protected by overwriting it. Devices will provide that option when you are saving information or files. It works by erasing the existing ones and writing others over them. Like resetting, overwriting only provides temporary reprieve where advanced technology can lead to access. A hacker is still capable of accessing this information.

Remove any external memory devices attached on the handset. These devices include SD cards and memory cards. They add to the memory of your device and will therefore carry information you might consider confidential. By removing them from your handset, all information that they carried cannot be accessed until the cards are put in other devices. The external memory devices will only work if you had chosen them as your storage option.

Technology advancement regarding information retrieval has complicated concealing. Even leaving a handset clean does not guarantee permanent hiding. The only guarantee most of these methods offer is inability to access by ordinary users. Phones provide directions on deleting information. Follow these directions to be on the safe side. However, the ultimate option when considering information security is to avoid having it on your handset if it posses any danger.




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