Cell Phone Forensics On Clearing 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.

There are inbuilt capabilities to encrypt data. However, there are software that allow encrypting of information as an added feature. This means that you have to download such applications. Even these options do not guarantee safety because applications and systems have been hacked despite appearing secure. While some encrypt by default, you will need to activate such options for some phones.

Overwriting the existing data is also an option. The phone provides this option when you are about to save files. This creates more space for new files that need to be saved. It is also a way of damaging the existing data. This approach will allow you to skip the deleting element and head straight to saving data. It will still be possible for someone to retrieve information using advanced software despite overwriting.

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.

Data recovery technology has made it almost impossible to permanently delete information from phones. However, since recovery relies on advanced technology, it is still possible to conceal files and data from unauthorized persons. Follow the directions of your handset to guarantee security. If you would not want any information to fall into the public eye, do not generate it in the first place.




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