There are a number of issues associated with data encryption. We should carefully consider them if we want to safeguard our data. Many people think that their encrypted files will stay encrypted when moved or copied. However, this is not always true. We should know what happens with our encrypted folders and files when they are moved to a different location or copied. If we move or copy encrypted files from NTFS volume or partition to another NTFS storage, the encryption will be preserved. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that the encryption will be removed automatically when we move or copy it to a non-NTFS partition or volume.
It means, we should check whether the file is decrypted automatically after we transfer it. It also means that the encryption can be removed when we send the file through email. We should be aware that some encryptions methods don’t maintain their integrity when transmitted over the network. Another thing that many people forget is that they don’t delete the original unencrypted files. We should be aware that data can also be recovered when we delete them. There are different tools that people can use to recover these files. Even a formatted hard drive can be recovered using proper tools.
In this case, we need an industrial tool that can effectively delete information on the hard drive. As an example, the hardware will be formatted, rewritten with random information, reformatted, over and over again. After the repeated process, an unformat process is performed to confirm whether the original data is still recoverable.
There are different tools that we can use to encrypt the file. They often incorporate various features including wiping hard drive space. It can be performed on the whole hard drive or only on the specific locations in the hard drive. Critical files will be deleted and their locations on the hard drive will be marked. These locations will be wiped using specific methods to avoid people to undelete these files. We could configure how many times the rewriting and erasing process is repeated. The tool should also verify that there are no files that can be recovered the files. It may also move other files in our hard drive to reside on the wiped location, to further complicate hackers’ effort to recover the file.
Hackers will also scrounge our Temp folder for temporary files needed for recovery. The location of the temporary files is widely known in Windows operating system. To complicate hacker’s efforts, we could change the location of temporary files, by right clicking My Computer in File Explorer, choose Advanced > Environment Variables. This should allow us to change or edit the default location of our temporary files.
If we are concerned with data security, it is important to know that encryption isn’t enough. The computer should also be configured properly to make sure that all of our information remains private. We should be aware that information is unencrypted in its original form.
