Cybersecurity seems to be one of the biggest concerns these days. With nearly every aspect of our lives going digital in one way or another, it can feel overwhelming keeping up with the information and warnings given to us by cyber threat experts.
Even if it feels like too much at times, they are right, and you need to take the right precautions to make sure that your information is not at risk for thieves on the internet to take advantage of. Here are some important reasons for permanently deleting a file.
Contains Sensitive Personal Information
Probably the most pertinent example of why you would want to permanently delete a file is because of the threat it poses to your sensitive and personal info. This information can be anything from financial records to your SSN to information on you or your family and can be used by hackers to steal your identity, so the experts at Shred Cube show how crucial it is to get rid of these files permanently. This helps protect you in case of a potential breach and keeps you worry-free that your information has fallen into the wrong hands.
Tracks Your Activity
A lot of files can contain information that can link you back to websites, like cookies or other tracking software, which hackers can use in any number of ways. It could be related to your personal info, or it could be that they know how to spoof your networks and connections when they know where you are active online. Being able to remove any breadcrumb trail keeps them from following your online activities.
Legal Reasons
Maybe you work for a law office or an important business, even for the government. You can’t rely on the delete function to do the work that it needs to do to make sure that files don’t fall into the wrong hands. Deleting a file only does so much, so these documents and files need to be scrubbed so that incredibly sensitive material doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. If you are tasked with handling documents that are this important, you better be confident they are being scrubbed permanently when you delete them.
Prevent Second-Hand Users From Using It
Many people forget to remove a lot of their information from a computer, phone, or another electronic device, and this can be troublesome if you end up selling it second-hand. Second-hand users might not have malicious intent, but if you end up leaving a lot of your documents on a computer that hasn’t been properly wiped, this information is now ending up in who knows where with who knows what. It is important to permanently delete things you know you don’t want people touching if this device will be used by others.
Deleting files is only one part of the solution. There are more ways to protect yourself from possible cyber threats and permanently deleting them is the answer instead of just sending them to your trash bin.
