Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity
    • IT Management
    • Small Business
    • Storage

    Digital Data Loss a Major Personal Risk, Concern: Carbonite Report

    By
    Nathan Eddy
    -
    November 2, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Although 51 percent of Americans have experienced a computer crash where they lost all of their digital files, more than one-third (39 percent) admit they have never backed up their computers, or haven’t done so in more than a year, according to the results of a survey released by Wakefield Research and online backup solutions provider Carbonite.

      The general lack of preparedness was “surprising” in light of the fact that 40 percent of Americans feel like they would never be able to recover, recreate or repurchase all of their documents and files if their personal computer crashed.

      The study also revealed that Americans are surprisingly trusting of their computer hard drives, particularly taking into account that over half have lost all of their personal files in a computer crash at some point. According to the study, 82 percent of Americans keep electronic files only, and the majority of these files are nowhere else but on their computer hard drive.

      The most popular files people store digitally are photos (55 percent), music (46 percent), resumes (42 percent), addresses (28 percent), phone numbers (27 percent), and financial documents (22 percent). Notably, the average American surveyed has more than $400 of digital music and movies on their computers and that, for one in four, the music and movies are worth more than the computer itself.

      “It’s interesting to contrast the way people insure their treasured possessions, like their home and their car, with the ways in which they leave their often-irreplaceable digital assets unprotected,” said David Friend, Carbonite CEO and chairman. “People have priceless photographs, critical personal financial information and hundreds of dollars of digital media stored on their computer. Most have experienced at least one major data loss disaster, yet are still not taking simple steps to protect the contents of their computer.”

      The study also uncovered the significant value many Americans assign to their digital content, with 50 percent saying they would rather lose all of their vacation time for an entire year than lose all of the files on their computer. Highlighting the importance of data loss, 38 percent of married Americans feel that it would be worse to lose everything on their computer than to lose their wedding ring.

      Sixty-two percent said they would pay to get back their lost data if their computer crashed, with 21 percent saying they would pay $500 and 27 percent saying they would pay as much as they needed to get their documents and files back. People would go to extremes to immediately recover all of their data if it were lost, according to the survey, with 34 percent claiming they would give up beer and wine for a year, but slightly less than a quarter (23 percent) said they would give up their cell phone for a month.

      Avatar
      Nathan Eddy
      A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Nathan was perviously the editor of gaming industry newsletter FierceGameBiz and has written for various consumer and tech publications including Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, CRN, and The Times of London. Currently based in Berlin, he released his first documentary film, The Absent Column, in 2013.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×