Data recovery is a much broader term, and refers to everything from a jammed printer or a corrupt log file right up to the crashing of the server of a national security network by terrorist hackers. Disaster recovery refers specifically to accidents and natural disasters that cause physical loss of data. Two more terms need clarification in this context. Physical loss of data happens when the medium that holds the data is physically affected – the data itself may remain physically intact. There is another case – that of logical data loss – where the medium remains unscathed, while the data becomes corrupt or lost. The most stereotypical example of this type of data loss is a virus attack, where the hard disk remains physically intact but the data contained in it is affected. The chance of recovering data after a physical damage is much less.

The Importance of Data and its Protection

One of the Lilliputians observing Gulliver had noticed the great importance he attached to his watch. Not knowing what the object was, he decided that it must be an idol of the God worshipped by him. In the world today, data occupies much the same position. It is almost divine in its importance, and losing really precious data can spell doom for the company. Corporate data loss can spell the death of the firm, and cause damage to thousands of innocent people. The effects of a fire in one of the government offices like the Central Registry or the Pensions Department can be well imagined. For private firms, it is much worse, since they are answerable to their customers immediately. If a bank puts up a lame excuse such as “Well, there was this thunderstorm, and we were not properly protected, so the day’s transaction has just been deleted in a flash.” This would definitely be the last functioning day of the bank. Strangely enough, while organisations take immense care to ensure that hackers do not enter its work zone and are paranoid about virus attacks, they take very few measures against disasters. The general presumption behind this is the comforting idea that we are too clever, careful and lucky for something like a fire or accident happening to us. It is exactly like insurance, we never want to admit that we are vulnerable until we break a leg falling downstairs, and have to pay the massive hospital bills. Data protection measures are important, and it is also equally necessary to take steps that ensure ample coverage against disasters.

What is to be Done

The guidelines for a company are simple and, therefore, all the more important.

• All equipment and intellectual property should be registered and insured.
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• Complete fire protection is mandatory, and there should be provisions for water damage in hurricane-prone zones. This is more true of the USA than the UK, though.


• Accidental dropping of a laptop is one of the most common disasters around, and literally hundreds of people are damaging their laptops somehow everyday. All company laptops should have backups that are regularly updated.


• In case of a catastrophe, many companies make things worse by stepping in with inexpertly handled DIY kits. Corporate data loss is a serious issue, and data recovery professionals should be called in at the first opportunity.