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Blog — Data Recovery and Cybersecurity

Technical analyses, prevention tips and data recovery news from the experts at SOS Data Recovery, Swiss laboratory since 2006.

Cybersecurity & prevention

In-depth technical analyses

Expert practical advice

Why read our data recovery blog?

The SOS Data Recovery blog covers all topics related to data recovery, cybersecurity and the protection of digital storage media. Our experts share in-depth technical analyses, prevention tips and insights from over 20 years of laboratory experience.

Whether you are an individual looking to protect your photos and documents, or an IT professional managing RAID servers and NAS systems, you will find practical, verified information here. SOS Data Recovery is CyberSafe certified and CyberSafe partner and rated 4.8/5 on Avis Vérifiés (296 reviews).

Our articles : #Crisis Management

Active filter : #Crisis Management All articles

Data loss: the right moves in the first 24 hours

After a data loss, there is no single right move, there is the right move for your problem. This guide helps you recognise which case you are in and act correctly in the first hours. One reflex applies to all: switch the device off quickly (phone, drive, NAS, RAID) and do not tinker with anything before having it analysed. Some situations keep getting worse and require acting fast: water, extinguisher powder and chemicals, which eat away at the hardware even when powered off, as well as ransomware, TRIM on SSD and updates, which run as long as the machine is on. Others, mechanical failure, short circuit, formatting or deleted files, freeze once switched off and can wait. You will also discover the two pitfalls that doom your data: repeatedly restarting a drive and launching a RAID rebuild after an earlier failure.

September 03, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Backup #Crisis Management #Data protection #how-to guide #Server

Data Recovery After a Fire: What Heat Really Destroys (and What Survives)

Is a hard drive pulled from a fire lost? Far less often than people think. This guide explains why the chances of recovery after a fire are often good, especially for hard drives: the device is rarely exposed bare to the flames, and its metal tower, or even the melted material of the equipment, acts as a shield. You will learn the three forms of damage from a fire (heat, corrosive soot, extinguishing water), what makes a device truly unrecoverable, and the real work of a laboratory: thorough cleaning, replacement of the electronics, cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, opening in a cleanroom and migrating the platters to a donor drive. Above all, two vital reflexes: plug nothing back in, open or clean nothing yourself, and do not wait for the insurer or the cleaning company, because acidic soot keeps eating away and every day counts.

June 14, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Crisis Management #Data protection #how-to guide

Ransomware: can you recover your data without paying?

Can you recover your data after a ransomware attack without paying the ransom? Often yes, because ransomware encrypts files, it does not erase them: they stay on the disk, unreadable without the key. This guide explains what ransomware really does, why the direct decryption of a recent strain is out of reach, and above all what a recovery laboratory can still save without ever contacting the criminals: deleted but not overwritten RAIDs, snapshots (Shadow Copies), partially encrypted files, forgotten backups. You will find the steps to take in an attack (shut down, isolate, overwrite nothing), an honest decision on whether to pay, the shift toward blackmail by disclosure, your legal obligations in Switzerland (FOCS, nFADP) and the only real safeguard: an offline, immutable and off-site backup.

May 18, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Crisis Management #Cybersecurity #Ransomware

Flooded Hard Drive: Why You Must Not Let It Dry Out (and What to Do Instead)

A hard drive that has been in water is not doomed, provided you do not let it dry out as is. It is not the water that kills a drive, it is the corrosion that follows: when the water evaporates, the conductive salts and residues remain on the circuit board and keep eating away at the metal. This guide explains, with the chemistry behind it, the three destructive mechanisms (short circuit, oxidation, electrolytic corrosion) and details the right first-aid steps: never plug it back in, remove the circuit board, rinse it with clean water, dry it fast, never open the casing, and hand the drive over to a lab as fast as possible. You will also find the aggravated cases (mud, extinguishing powder, chemicals), the time factor and an insurance trap well worth knowing: do not let the cleanup company sort through or throw away your storage media.

April 03, 2026 Author Stéphane Chapuis Read More

#Crisis Management #Hard Drive #how-to guide

Swiss SME Cybersecurity: 2025 Summary & 30/60/90-Day Action Plan for 2026

The guide that transforms cybersecurity into 9 concrete actions for Swiss SMEs 10-250, with a 30/60/90-day plan adapted for both managers and IT teams (two reading paths).

January 13, 2026 Author Peter Senn Read More

#2FA / MFA #Backup #Crisis Management #Cybersecurity #how-to guide #Least Privilege #Phishing #Swiss SME #Zero Trust