Wednesday, April 18, 2018

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.

Reset your handset to factory setting. Most people would go for this option before trying others. This will clear any information that was entered since you began using a handset as brand new. There are phones that give the option of locking some functions like retrieval. Unfortunately, the new owner will not use the handset effectively. This functionality depends on phone model and limits the extent to which you can safeguard your information.

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.

Modern technology has enabled data encryption to protect your information. Certain phones offer this option as a default setting while you have to activate the function on other phones. Encrypted messages demand a retrieval code to access the information. Without this code or a secret PIN, your information will be safe. You have to ensure that you do not share this key or 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.

External memory devices like SIM cards and SD cards should be removed. They are storage devices which hold files and information that you may consider confidential. Once you remove them from the phone, all the information that was stored in them disappears and cannot be accessed by the phones again. It can only be accessed once the cards are returned. This option will only work if you had chosen external storage for your data.

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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