Data can be lost from an information system due to several reasons. It could be due to negligence, corrupt system, system failure or sudden loss of power when transferring or processing data. Whatever the reason of data loss, it should be prevented and avoided at all cost. Systems should be upgraded and checked on regular basis to identify the errors and problems in the systems. There is distinction between the data lost and data not found. The first is the loss of the data that was in existence but get lost due to system inefficiency or negligence. The second is the condition where no such data is saved which is being searched. Either it never existed or has been removed before the search. Data can be loss due to several factors. There are various types of data loss. Some of them are given below:
Disaster
Catastrophes like tornados, hurricane, avalanche, earth quake, fire or flood are classified as the disasters which can result in Data loss. Science and technology have made great advancement. People have made inventions which can tell the expected time and intensity of an avalanche or a hurricane but this disaster brings a load of damage and as a result, computer hardware may be damaged or destroyed resulting in data loss.
Malfunction
- Sometimes the computer systems freeze or crash which results in data being lost. The freezing or crashing of a computer system can be avoided or prevented by keeping an efficient computer system which is regularly upgraded and is equipped with the latest programs to keep it safe.
- Hard disk crash can result in data loss
- There is a volatile memory in the computer which stores data while the computer is on. If there is a power failure this temporary storage is also lost.
- Corruption of data files also result in data loss.
Felony
- Sabotage, hacking or theft may also cause data loss. Ion such a case, data may be retrieved.
- Viruses or worms spread for specifically targeting the data also causes data loss.
Accidental action
- People can accidently or mistakenly delete a file or do not realize that the file they are deleting is the one they will need later on. This is the common problem that people face. Sometimes people transfer files to external storage devices for their use and then delete them from their systems and later on lose the storage device or they become corrupt which can cause data loss.
- Sometimes unknown file formats cannot be read. This inability to realize and recognize the file format also results in data loss since people cannot access that data due to unavailability of data in familiar format.
- There can be errors due to administration.
- External data stored in storage devices like CDs, MP3s and flash drives is dependent on the availability of these devices. If these are lost, the data will be lost too.
Deliberate action
People using the operating systems or someone else can intentionally delete data and information from the computer system.
